Abbado conducted 2 concerts here at Tanglewood and I was sorely disappointed. He's long been one of my standard choices when I'm stumped on 'who's recording to get?', and I was very excited to see him conduct live, especially Mahler 7. Unfortunately, although he magically produced a more glorious sound from the orchestra than I had heard before, his interpretation seemed really lacking and, well, boring---at least compared to Boulez and Horenstein. However, he conducted the Tannhauser Overture at Tanglewood on Parade and it was about the most magical, warm, and glowing performance I'd ever heard of this piece (especially the opening chorale). I would personally vote for David Robertson to be conductor in Boston. Marcus Maroney [log in to unmask]