Two-Castle Man

By HP-Time

"Once upon a time," says Japanese Conductor Seiji Ozawa, "nearly every major orchestra was a dedicated maestro's proudest castle. It no longer is." Where one castle used to suffice for a Toscanini or a Koussevitsky, now only two--or more--will do. Pierre Boulez now jets between the New York Philharmonic and London's BBC Symphony, Georg Solti between the Chicago Symphony and Orchestre de Paris, Zubin Mehta between the Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonics, Lorin Maazel between London's New Philharmonia and the Berlin Radio Orchestra; Maazel will also conduct the Cleveland Orchestra beginning next fall.

No one, however, typifies the new mobility better than lithe, mod Ozawa. Last week, at 36, Ozawa grabbed off one of the biggest plums in American orchestral life: the august, auburn-sounding Boston Symphony, which he will take over in 1973. Since he already has another juicy plum in hand as conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and has no plans to give it up, Ozawa has instantly become one of the most powerful and busy men in American music.

If anyone can handle both San Francisco and Boston, it is Ozawa. He is at once a demanding orchestral perfectionist--especially brilliant with 20th century music--and a genial man under whom musicians enjoy working. If a flaw could be found in his musical makeup, it is that he often seems to be learning his repertory as he goes along from hall to hall, hotel to hotel. Sometimes the results are scrappy, but more usually they are exciting and blooming with fresh thought.

Boston's choice of Ozawa ended a wearying man hunt. In a bit of jet-setting of his own, the Pittsburgh Symphony's William Steinberg took on the Boston post for a three-year period, in 1969, succeeding Erich Leinsdorf, but had to curtail his activities almost immediately because of ill health. With Pittsburgh's schedule expanding, and because of the heavy dual load, Steinberg, 72, decided early on not to return to Boston next year.

Michael Tilson Thomas, 27, the talented associate conductor who has brilliantly filled in for Steinberg and who was a popular favorite for the job, was passed over largely because of his age and lack of administrative experience. He and London's Colin Davis will be on hand starting next season as principal guest conductors.

Ozawa and the other two-castle men are not necessarily greedy for power. There are simply not enough superstar conductors of great luster to go around. The result of all the doubling up sometimes seems to be a numbing jet-age confusion, affecting conductor and orchestra alike, but it is the answer to necessity. Like almost every other orchestra in the nation, the Boston Symphony needs money and a new young audience. One way to win both is to hire a conductor who is an established name in the LP marketplace, and who is attractive, personable and young. He should also be musical. The closest thing possible, in other words, to a Leonard Bernstein. Right now that just happens to be Ozawa, a Bernstein protege whom Lenny first heard in 1960 and later hired as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Married to a former Tokyo model named Vera, and the father of a baby girl born in December, Ozawa is as hip as can be. At a recent recital by Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Ozawa, still sporting his familiar Beatle hairdo, wore a red turtleneck and carried a leather purse on a longish strap. Is Boston ready for this?

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