Music: Body English from the Stork

Does the world really need another conductor of Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler and the other immortals? If his name is Klaus Tennstedt, the answer is a fortissimo yes. Unknown to the majority of American music lovers, the former East German maestro has become one of the most sought-after guest conductors in the U.S. Watching, the onlooker may wonder why: on the podium the man often resembles a stoned stork. Hearing his music is another matter: Tennstedt elicits a sound with the startling ring of rightness. Indeed, his musical logic may be the most profound since the late Otto Klemperer's. Yet as opposed...

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