Felix Delbrueck in a bright posting writes:

>John's concept would seem to me to fit better onto a country
>like Germany, where almost everything - religion, patriotism, tradition,
>romanticism, 'pathos' - has been discredited and can only be looked at
>through the lens of irony and demonstrative emotional distance.  There's
>not much to be done about that - what can flourish in the moral ashes of
>Nazism? - but to see it in the flesh is bloody depressing.

We'll get to music presently, but first:  religion may have lost its
thrall here in Germany--but the churches are spectacularly maintained
and all kinds of sects flourish; patriotism expresses itself no longer in
terms if the Iron Chancellor, but, Monday mornings, read the Franfurter
Allgemeine's front-page sports roundup and write me when you find any
foreigner mentioned; tradition?--go visit *any* German cemetery:  the grave
of de Gaulle at Colobey doesn't stack up to good, middling quality here;
romanticism?--venture out on any of the Autobahnen and, as you cruise along
at 80 mph, experience the romantic uplift vouchsafed you by by the Audi TT
overtaking you at 40 mph, relative; pathos? --take just one long look at
Bundestag in Berlin, from the outside, first, then from the inside.

As for music, yesterday the Intendant of the Berlin Philharmonic, Elmar
Weingarten, announced he was quitting as of the Summer of 2001, though
he was generally expected to remain around for a much longer innings.
Reason(s)? Well, as Herr Weingarten is both quitting and sticking around,
one must read between his lines.  One line attributed to the BPO" the
function of an example..."; another pleaded that it behooved the orchestra
to demonstrate " how one can comport oneself with dignity and retain
musical integrity even in these our times of cross-overs and events."

The day Weingarten announced he was quitting, the orchestra, at its own
behest, caused a stand to be opened at the Philharmonic that peddles
souvenirs, memorabilia, recordings by and writings about the orchestra.
And it was the orchestra, of course, that elected Simon Rattle, a man with
a modern reputation, as its musical director (who nonetheless is reported
to have sympathized with Weingarten in the latter's political set-to with
the orchestra).  Moral:  yes, Germany is changing, perforce, but
underestimate not its inveteracy.

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]