This past fall, the Philadelphia Orchestra selected the German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch as its new Music Director, succeeding the Italian Riccardo Muti. In so doing, Philadelphia was following in the footsteps of the New York Philharmonic, who last spring chose the German conductor Kurt Masur as its new leader, succeeding the Indian Zubin Mehta. There are indeed significant artistic and career differences between Sawallisch and Masur: perhaps the most important difference between them is Sawallisch’s identification with the opera house, whereas Masur’s image is that of a performer of orchestral music.

But there is one similarity among these two men that bears repeating, and should provide us with much food for thought about the future of American musical life. Both conductors, whether in the orchestral or in the operatic literature, are authentic and unabashed representatives of the German musical tradition, a...

 

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