U.S. symphony orchestras began the new season last fortnight to the sound of mingled death rattles and war cries. On the mortuary side was the Detroit Symphony. On the martial side were the Philadelphia and a half-dozen major symphonies.
One of the dozen top-tank U.S. orchestras, Detroit never really recovered from the death (in 1936) of its most famous conductor, the late Ossip Gabrilowitsch. Since then it has enjoyed a kind of incurable convalescence under a succession of guest conductors and second-rankers.
The orchestra perked up a little when Henry Ford hired its...
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