Kevin Sutton wrote:

>Allan Kohrman wrote:
>
>>My longshot is Jeffrey Tate, who knows his way around the Mozart- Beethoven
>>repetoire in ways that few others do.  But he has a physical handicap and
>>thus lacks the charisma of Barenboim, Ozawa, Muti, and other musical
>>mediocrities.
>
>What on earth does having a physical handicap have to do with having (or
>not having) personality? I find that Mr. Tate is quite capable of holding
>his own in the charisma category.  Have you ever seen Thomas Quasthoff in
>a live performance.  This man has a tremendous physical handicap which one
>instantly forgets when the man opens his mouth to sing.

Sutton misunderstood what I stated about Tate.  I do not care about Tate or
Quastoff's handicaps.  But lots of people do; they prefer their conductors
to be handsome and/or charismatic.  Hence the popularity of Barenboim,
Mehta, and Ozawa.  And I did see Quastoff sing Das Lied von der Erde with
the BSO and Ozawa; Quastoff was magnificent, but Ozawa was bland, at least
in comparison to Levine's performance of a few years ago, which I also saw.

>I also have problems with your tendency to make blamket statements
>about musicians, calling them musical mediocrities as above.  Mediocre
>musicians do not rise to the level of Muti and Ozawa and especially
>Barenboim and stay there for long.  You may not agree with their styles
>and interpretations, but if you are so good...well, let's just say that
>I haven't seen your name at the helm of a major orchestra of late.

I have listened to numerous recordings by Mehta, Ozawa, and Barenboim; for
me they seldom if ever rise above the mediocre.  My credentials are that
I have been listening to classical music seriously for forty years and had
the great good fortune to live in Cleveland during the Szell years.  And if
only because I have heard Szell, Sir Colin Davis, Jochum, and other great
Haydn interpreters, I think I would have some notion of how to judge
whether or not candidates for the BSO post would be worthy.

If you or others think Barenboim and the others are great conductors, fine.
Feel free.  Disagree with me if you want.  But you needn't stoop to
personal attacks.

Allan Kohrman
Newton, MA