I remember reading something somewhere that said that under Mehta, the New
York Philharmonic was the Mack Truck of orchestras...it could plow through
anything.  I find this assessment to be right on the money.  Mehta is at
his very best, simply mediocre.  There is no raw emotion that you would get
with a Sinopoli or Tilson-Thomas.  There is no supreme musicality and
precision that you would get with Furtwangler or Karajan.  There is no
supreme craft and lush sound you would get with Szell or Munch.  There is
just Mehta, in all his supreme blah-ness.  One mitigating factor in his
defense, however, is the fact that he worked with the New York Philharmonic
for a lot of his career.  I've had little respect for the NYP in my life.
I've found it to be cumbersome and inflexible.  George Szell summed it up
best when he took over shortly before his death in 1973.  He said "Give me
ten years, and I'll make them an orchestra." Truer words were neve spoken.
Masur, semi-lifeless as he is, at least has German precision flowing
through his veins, and that has benefitted the NYP immensely, since they
have had no precision at all since the days of Toscanini.

Comments?

Charles Dalmas <[log in to unmask]>