The deaths of Barbirolli and Szell leave a gap in the musical universe. This year, both were scheduled to give a large number of guest concerts with the New York Philharmonic, and several other orchestras. It will certainly be impossible to find men of equal stature, and it will be difficult to find competent men to replace them. There is a hiatus in the world of conductors at the moment; many of the older greats have died and retired, while the talented younger men are still too immature to take their places. A premature elevation to high status can ruin a promising conductor, and the deaths of Szell and Barbirolli would be even greater tragedies if they ruined the careers of younger men.
OTHER musical figures passed away this summer. Among them was Jonel Perlea, an ill-fated man whose promise as a conductor was never fulfilled. A dedicated teacher and inspired conductor, the fates seemed to conspire against his ever achieving the success which he deserved.
Perlea's career was marred by a
series of disabling strokes which left him physically unable to continue conducting. He did sustain a teaching career, and a few of the operatic recordings which he made before he was forced by illness to quit entirely are highly prized by connoisseurs.
Perlea, Szell, Barbirolli-all dead. Each of them leaves something of himself in his recordings, in the orchestra he led, in the students he taught, but there is no doubt that the world of conducting has been robbed of some of its finest people. Who will take their places? At the moment, it is hard to tell. Most of the men taking over major orchestras today are young, perhaps too young to command the positions they hold. Pierre Boulez has reached the stage where he is ready to take over the New York Philharmonic, but Michael Tilson Thomas is, alas, too immature for the arduous duties which. William Steinberg's illnesses have forced on him at the BSO. Seiji Ozawa is starting to change from 'the young conductor' to 'the conductor,' but he has yet to prove himself in the difficult circle of the conductors. Colin Davis is certainly ready to assume his role at the top of his field, and there are many more waiting in the wings.
The age of Szell and Barbirolli has come to an end. The school of conductors which they represent has been virtually laid to rest. Composers have changed, and conductors need new training, and new attitudes, to meet the requirements of the new music. It is hard to say where music is going, but easy to see that it is at a crossroads. Music is now a plastic art, and musicians also must be plastic. Conducting has come far from the day when the first conductor beat time with a large wooden staff. Each of the conductors we have recently lost added something to the art, contributed something to its future. None of them, however, could predict where the art would go after their deaths. The future of the art is in new hands, in the hands of men who will have to live up and add to the tradition and the greatness of Barbirolli and Szell.