The summer season in Venice got under way on a modern, and American, note last week. In the courtyard of the Doges' Palace sat the 88-piece La Fenice Theater Orchestra; on the podium stood the U.S.'s most active musical ambassador to Europe, Manhattan-born Conductor Dean Dixon, 37; on the racks, instead of the usual outdoor fare, was music by modern composers, e.g., Walter Piston, Bernard Herrmann, Benjamin Britten.
Venetians came to satisfy their curiosity, stayed to enjoy themselves. They admired the conductor's vigorous command of the orchestra, warmed to his obvious sympathy for the...
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