For a solid year now, Billboard's chart of bestselling classical LPs has been topped by Scott Joplin rags. Last week there was a surprising change: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring led the list. Though revolutionary when first performed in 1913, the work is now a cliché of concert programming; 28 stereo versions are currently available. It seems likely that ragtime fell not to Stravinsky but to Georg Solti, who leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Solti (TIME cover, May 7, 1973) has quietly become the most popular conductor since Toscanini. A Solti appearance is sold...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
