Jim Tobin raises the interesting question of hostility toward conductors
who do not excel in the works of the Austro-German tradition, though they
may excel in other areas.  (He is kind enough to make it clear that I am
not accused, so I have no reason to feel defensive; I hope what I say
doesn't come out that way.) I think the way we express our indifference
in careless or unguarded moments may well sound like hostility.  I am
relatively indifferent to French and Russian music, to Italian opera, to
American music.  (By relatively indifferent, I mean that I may like it well
enough to want to find and acquire a single good performance of such works,
but I will not obsessively go after multiple performances, often multiple
"historical" performances, in an effort to wring as much as possible from
my listening.) So that when I come across a conductor who seems to excel
in these areas of less concern to me (I think of Colin Davis, Leonard
Slatkin, and Tullio Serafin in the categories I mentioned), I suppose my
indifference could come across as a tacit (or maybe explicit) put-down.  It
becomes more complex if you're dealing with someone who really thinks the
Austro-German tradition is intrinsically superior to the others.  (I know
that for many, no such claim would be made; their preference is simply a
matter of taste.  Unfortunately, I'm less clear about where I myself stand
here.) Then the indifference could easily be mixed with comtempt, couldn't
it? Anyway, I would like to propose that the distasteful attitude Jim has
in mind is more likely to be a patronizing "who would bother to make a
career out of conducting such inconsequential stuff?" than what I think of
as hostility.  But maybe such an attitude is hostile enough as it is.

Nick
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