Word: szell
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...brass section prepared to blast away with dignity when the time comes, as it often does. It also needs a conductor with an ear attuned to its harmonic piquancies and piston-engine rhythms. Slatkin and his crack orchestra, who are evolving the most exciting orchestral partnership since George Szell transformed the Cleveland Orchestra about 30 years ago, have what it takes in full measure. They impressively realize the score's biting sardonicism and icy beauty...
Most administrators agree that the current crop of leading conductors is too small and the temptations of jet travel too great for the widespread return of the old-fashioned music director like George Szell in Cleveland or Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia. Says Gideon Toeplitz, executive director of the Houston Symphony: "If Ormandy were young today, nobody would expect him to stay 40 years with his orchestra." The globetrotting, if-this-is-Tuesday types are not about to be tied down. "It's easy to stand up and beat time and have fancy choreography and a good tailor, but that...
...Cleveland Orchestra. Under the late George Szell, the Clevelanders were honed into an ensemble of breathtaking precision, eminently suited to the music of Mozart. During the regime of Conductor Lorin Maazel (1972-82), Szell's high technical standards were maintained, but the sound of the orchestra became fuller, richer and more flexible, and thus up to the challenge of the romantic repertory; by the end of Maazel's tenure, the Cleveland Orchestra was the best-sounding band in the land. Today, standards have unavoidably slipped a bit as the orchestra awaits the arrival in 1984-85 of Maazel...
...lessons well, he is aware of human limitations, as Callas, with her temperamental voice, always was and as Toscanini, with his fiery temper, usually was not. Levine's musical ethos, demanding though it is, is still far from that of old-fashioned tyrants like his mentor, George Szell, or Fritz Reiner. "Perfectionist is one of the stupidest words in the English language," says Levine. "Take any performance. I promise you that there will be a pizzicato chord that's not together; somewhere or other a horn will crack. If there are a number of magical and successful moments...
...Szell died in 1970, and Levine's apprenticeship came to an end. What he required now was a break, and luck was obliging. The San Francisco Opera needed a conductor for the last few Toscas of the season and hired Levine. By chance, a Met administrator heard him, and was impressed. Levine made his Met debut the next year, also with Tosca. His career began a rapid ascent, aided by Levine's manager, Ronald Wilford of Columbia Artists Management Inc. Wilford oversees the livelihoods of many major conductors, including Mstislav Rostropovich of the National Symphony and Seiji Ozawa...