Jim Lee wrote:

>Sort of damning with faint praise there, aren't you? What exactly is it
>that he _does_ do well? What one recording that Mehta has done would you
>consider do you prefer to all other versions?

I mentioned a lot of Mehta recordings I've liked, but I'll admit that much
I find admirable about them is their sound.  AFter all, in the world of
audiophiles, it's always nice to find a performance that resembles live,
even if you have to give a notch musically.  That said, I can think of
three Mehta recordings that are competitive with the better ones, even the
best.  Turandot, the Planets, that Bloch disc Steve Schwartz mentioned, and
in some ways Enigma Variations (though best wouldn't apply here, for sure).
Mehta had his moments.  Not as many as one would like, of course.  There I
have no argument.

>Erich Leinsdorf referred to conductors who gave average performances all
>the time as routineers.  That's Mehta to me, a routineer.

It's Leinsdorf, too.  For me anyway, though recently, I've softened on him
and found things he's done that I really do like.  But he's far from one
of my favorites.  I'm not sure how many Leinsdorf recordings I'd put near
the top.  There'd be a few, but not a huge number.  Prokofiev Symphonies,
Lohengrin, maybe.  Off the top of my head.  Bad memory, maybe?

For the record, I've heard both Mehta and Leinsdorf live a few times.
Mehta recently with the Israel Phil.  The Elgar Concerto was okay, but
Zuckerman was not inspiring.  The Eroica was very very good.  The two
Leinsdorf performances were long ago, of course.  (Boston and Chicago.)
THey were okay, nothing special, but I don't remember much beyond that.

>A collection of great players does not necessarily make a great orchestra.
>A section player, whether principal or not, has to work with the other
>section members.

This hits at the crux of the problem in many orchestras, Boston foremost
among the ones I know.  It is one of my main complaints about Ozawa.  So
many sections of the orchestra have fine players, but players whose sounds
and styles don't match.  Some principals and assistants sound diametrically
opposite.  I can hear chords where I can pick out the individual players
because their sounds are so different.  As my wife and I have said many
times, we have no idea what Osawa is listening for when he chooses players.
Matching sound certainly doesn't seem to be a criterion.

>As an example, the current principal flutist of the BSO, Jacques Zoon, is
>a fine player but his use of a wooden flute produces a very curious section
>blend.

Some people I know around here like that wooden flute sound.  I'm not one
of them.  Maybe I'll change my mind after more concerts, but I doubt it.
Interestingly, a friend of mine went to a BSO concert at Tanglewood and
said that the second flute player (a man, so I assume it was Fenwick Smith,
the regular 2nd) was also playing a wooden instrument.  That would be a
first for Fenwick, as far as I know.  It's called adjusting, I guess, and
it's not uncommon in orchestras, at least from what I've heard.

>As a contrary example, the VPO has very few, if any, players on the level
>of many of those NYPO players, but as far as producing a unified sound
>section by section they have, IMNSHO, no peers.

Absolutely none.  Anyone who loves orchestral music and can afford to do so
must hear them live in the Musikverein.  Such a sound I've never heard on
earth before or since.

Roger Hecht