Dear List:

I recently acquired two DVDs with Muti conducting the Filarmonica della
Scala in compositions by Haydn, Mozart, and Porpora.  These are excellent
recordings and I am happy to have them.

But one thing about Muti strikes me as somewhat odd--he seems to be
conducting as if he were a machine--no smile, no lighter-hearted gesture
of any kind ever.

The only other conductor I remember seeing on tape that behaved like
that is Richard Strauss.

Jacek Niecko
Washington DC