When Edvard Grieg first heard Amsterdam's Concertgebouw (Concert Hall) Orchestra 50 years ago, he exclaimed: "Never have I listened to a better performance." When Richard Strauss first conducted the orchestra, he was so impressed that he dedicated Ein Heldenleben to it.
This week, as the Concertgebouw gets ready to celebrate its 60th birthday, there is only one orchestra in Europe that can approach it in perfection and polish—Vienna's 100-year-old Philharmonic (TIME, March 29). Europe had heard and judged: in the last year, the sprightly Concertgebouw has played 17 concerts in foreign countries. After its London concert, the Daily Mail reflected sadly: "This...
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