Word: stokowsky
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...walkie-talkies, radar units, aircraft and mobile ground communications equipment, satellite signal receivers, and submarine-detecting "Sonobuoys"-stands at $152 million. As if all that were not enough, Magnavox has entered the wooden-furniture business, and it is entering the organ field with an electronic instrument used by Leopold Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra...
...Thank you for setting us straight on Leopold Stokowski [June 3]. His genius has been far more profitable to the musical world than his few past antics have been abusive. Presently, all we are asked to contend with are his Dionysian method of conducting (which is, for many, a more valuable visual aid than some are willing to admit) and certain liberties he may take with an orchestral score. Those who may feel they are not supposed to like such things need to remember what Brahms once said to Conductor Arthur Nikisch after Nikisch's fiery interpretation...
...Stokowski can get away with adventuresome programming simply because he is the undisputed boss of the whole works. Since all of the players are hired on a one-performance basis, Stokowski can hire and fire without interference from his old nemeses, the unions and the trustees. Whenever a musician makes a mistake, he is painfully aware that there are replacements waiting ten-deep in the wings. Each week Stokowski auditions 20 aspirants in his penthouse on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, carefully grades them, and enters their names in a black looseleaf notebook that bulges with his ratings...
...Their Toes. In the name of quality, Stokowski can winnow the ranks ruthlessly, has already gone through two concertmasters and eleven of the original twelve woodwind players. When one violinist came late to rehearsal, Stokowski ceremoniously pulled out his book and made a big circle around his name. Next day, a replacement was sitting in his chair. He can also be the very soul of charm. Says one musician: "He is like the morning fog. When it lifts, everything is wonderfully lucid and beautiful. When it falls again, he is absolutely inscrutable...
...scare tactics keep the boys on their toes, and in the end, they make beautiful music together, pouring out the big, lush organ-like sound that is the maestro's trademark. While Stokowski's days as the glamour boy of the podium are behind him, the long slender hands still dance like birds when he conducts, the silver mane still shakes in splendid disarray, the great craggy profile still sparks a response. And as always, he still juggles the orchestra's seating arrangements to gain special effects, still edits Beethoven and Brahms to suit his own taste...