Jim Tobin:

>In another thread,  Nick Perovich confesses strong and demanding
>preferences for particular recordings of music in the Austro-German
>tradition, but not so much for other music.  I have long suspected
>that this attitude is widely shared and, what is more, that this is a
>significant reason for some expressions of downright hostility  (not
>by Nick) to some conductors for whom that tradition is not their
>strong suit.  Any thoughts?

Of course.  I agree.  In fact, I'd go farther and say that we define
the Great Conductor by how well he or she does this music.  When we look
for the next one, we're really looking at those who do Beethoven, Brahms,
Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, and possibly Mozart well.  I suspect that, for
example, when most people look at, for example, Bernstein, with his
enormous range of repertoire, and call him great, they really think of
only his Mahler and don't hold the rest against him.  However, I must say
that Bernstein first really impressed me with his Stravinsky and Copland.
Very few people seem to care about the next great Berlioz, Debussy, Verdi,
Russians, British, or Moderns conductor.  This appears to me as a major
reason why conductors like Paray, Ansermet, Boult, Stokowski, Mravinsky,
Rosbaud, Monteux, and Munch appear so rarely in Great Conductors lists.

Steve Schwartz