Peter Horvath:

>The question here, I think, is doing the job and earning the respect of
>the musicians.  In no way, shape or form is Welser-Most on a par with
>Bernstein.  The musicians of the LPO called him "frankly worst than most".
>I think that speaks for itself.

I disagree.  Already three of his CDs are better than almost every one
of Bernstein's in the past 15 years of his life.  His Mahler 4th is far
better than any of Bernstein's goes.  Details provided on request.  Also,
the NY Phil sounded better under Moest than it ever did under Bernstein.
Furthermore, the NY Phil, while he was music director, generally hated
Bernstein.  What does that say about Bernstein's musicianship? Absolutely
nothing.  They also disliked Mahler, Barbirolli, Boulez, and Masur, even
though Masur built the present glorious incarnation of the NY Phil, who
now sound and play better than at any time during my memory.  I predict
the orchestra players will be talking about the good old days of Masur
and Boulez, just as they do now for Boulez.

Orchestras divide naturally into factions.  Often, the fights are over
nothing important.  Players often view conductors as their natural enemy.
In some cases, they're probably justified; in other cases, not.  Long ago,
I learned to be skeptical about a player's view of his resident conductor.

The point is, I suppose, let's see what he does in Cleveland, rather than
dismiss him on the basis of what somebody else says.

Steve Schwartz