Conductors: Partisan Pied Piper

The New York Philharmonic would have liked Leonard Bernstein to stay on forever as its music director. But since he announced 21 years ago that he would quit to devote more time to composing, the orchestra has been pondering a successor, well aware that Lennie would be a tough act to follow. Who could match the famous Bernstein skill, glamour, showmanship and popularity? Last week the orchestra directors courageously and imaginatively picked a man who might just do it. In Pierre Boulez, 44, the French avant-garde composer-conductor, the Philharmonic is betting its...

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