Robert Palmer wrote:

>I have both of these recordings and appreciate the commentary by Mr.
>Zander.  However, IMHO, I think his style is more for adult listeners--I
>don't think he would have the charisma to keep young people involved.

Au contraire!  In my opinion, Zander's greatest contribution is not the
Mahler or Beethoven recordings.  We have tons of those.  (For what it's
worth, I'm not as crazy about his recordings as are are some--the Mahler 9
seems a bit calculated to me.  I haven't listened closely enough to say for
sure--I'm still waiting for the time--but that is not the point.) Rather it
is his work with young people, particulary in his capacity as conductor of
the New England Youth Philharmonic.  (I forget the exact name.) This is an
orchestra of high school kids from the eastern MA reason.  The performances
he elicts from these kids are astonishing.  PBS did a program on one of
their tours to Chile, and it is very interesting and informative.  I'm not
saying Zander would, without question, be the ideal person for this job.
I don't know enough about the inner workings of his orchestra, etc.  But
judging from what I've heard and seen, he'd be at or near the top of the
list of people I'd be thinking about.  My guess is he could do a good job
of aiming his material at his audiences.  Only one way to find out!


Roger Hecht