Articles

Symphony
March/April, 1994

Winning an 'A' for Conduct

On one day's notice, and with no chance to rehearse the orchestra, Gisèle Ben-Dor stepped to the podium of the New York Philharmonic on December 7 to replace the flu-smitten Kurt Masur. Music director of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and the Annapolis Symphony, Ben-Dor made her unscheduled Philharmonic debut with Brahms's Tragic Overture and Violin Concert (conducted without score or baton) and close with Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. Unlike the famous substitution of Leonard Bernstein for Bruno Walter on November 14, 1943 - now the stuff of legend - Ben-Dor's performance was unheralded by the New York press, which was not there to review a program that had been played three times before. The concert was, however, greeted with a standing ovation from the capacity crowd at Avery Fisher Hall.

• Los Angeles Times, Revueltas
• CNN News
• Associated Press
• Billboard Magazine
• Classic CD, London
• The Boston Herald
• The Record
• Los Angeles Times, Mid-Winter Festival
• CD Classical Review, Ginastera
• Mastery
• American Record Guide, Revueltas
• Maariv, Tel-Aviv
• Symphony
• Press Release: Jay K. Hoffman & Associates (Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra)

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