Norman Lebrecht asks:

>Good or bad, a conductor can change the way we perceive a piece of music,
>even the way we feel about life itself.  But how do they do it, and does a
>ten-grand conductor always do it better than one who is lucky to get paid
>at all?
>
>Is there still mystery and magic in the podium, or is it all done with
>vanity mirrors and a world-class hairdresser? And while we are on grace
>and beauty, why are women excluded from the top jobs?

Can't answer most of these questions.  However, I do want to speak to
the "mystery and magic" by asking another question:  Why is it that while
almost every professional conductor can "get through" a piece, only a very
few convince you that their interpretation is "right" or meaningful?

One could very well apply such questions as Mr.  Lebrecht's to any area of
endeavor.  What the questions imply is that the less competent sometimes
have bigger careers than the more competent.  This is news?

As to why women are excluded from the top jobs:  1.  As much as I like
Jo Ann Falletta and Marin Alsop, I can't say that they've impressed me
musically as much as, say, Klauspeter Seibel or Raymond Leppard has.  I
can't claim to have heard every woman conductor out there, however.  So
does Mr.  Lebrecht have a candidate? On the other hand, I do find Falletta
and Alsop far more musical than James Levine.  But we then get back to the
lack of complete agreement between competence and career.  If Mr.  Lebrecht
is asking why a less competent woman doesn't have the plummiest job, I
would answer that undoubtedly sexism plays a part, since less competent
males sometimes get lucky.  On the other hand, for a person of either sex
to lead a professional symphony orchestra at all and get paid for it is an
incredible feat.  After all, *I* don't lead one (and don't deserve to
either).

In my experience, musical and non-musical, most people who hire have
little idea what they want, what they need, or how to spot a decent
employee.  They depend - even over-depend - on certification:  what
your grade-point average was, where you went to school and for how long,
your fashion sense, your hobbies, little awards, and so on.  There is,
of course, some correspondence between a good employee and some of these
things, but it's really after the fact.  Thus employers go about it
bum-backwards.  That conducting is any different in this regard strikes
me as naive.

Steve Schwartz