High Fidelity Poem by gershon hepner

To whom should we show high fidelity
when making music, the conductor’s choice
or intention of composer? Melody
in making this decision has no voice.

Anne Midgette writes about a performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana” which Lorin Maazel conducted using a baton that used to belong to Toscanini ('The Virtuoso and the Star: A Study in Contrasts,' NY Times, January 18, 2007):

Mr. Maazel proved that a baton itself ahs little mojo, by using it to conduct the Italian orchestra in the Intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana” a glacial pace. The baton had probably not been used like that by its previous owner. An even clearer comparison of the two conductors’ styles came from a video, shown after intermission, of Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1951. His emphasis, conventional wisdom has it, was fidelity to the composers' intentions; Maestro Maazel’s is fidelity to the conductor's.

1/18/07