STOKOWSKI HISSED

Curiouser and curiouser are Leopold Stokowski's programs. Visiting Manhattan in the wake of the great, departing Toscanini, he led his Philadelphians--instrumentally the world's finest--through what many a critic pronounced "the poorest orchestral program of the year." Three U. S. works were introduced: Prelude to a Drama, by Sandor Harmati, conductor of the Omaha Orchestra; Study in Sonority (for 40 violins--title by Stokowski), by Wallingford Riegger, New York pedagog; Indian Dances, by Frederick Jacobi, of California.

To the dismay of sensitive folk and the delight of the pugnacious, the audience hissed, hissssed. Ironically, Conductor Stokowski motioned his men to rise, to receive an ovation never given. The few faithful who remained after the interval heard Mozart's G minor Symphony and the Third Leonore Overture.

Stokowski is said never to read the newspapers, to disdain his public. Nevertheless, he scheduled for his next and last New York concert, a sure-fire Bach-Wagner program.