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The five Americans understand how the system works—and that it is not likely to change soon. "I never in my wildest dreams thought an American would go to Cleveland," says Zinman. Observes Keene: "If you want to find the American conductors, you have to go beyond the ten largest orchestras. At the secondary level, Americans seem to have plenty of appointments." Slatkin—the only native-born American leading an orchestra whose annual budget ( lion) is among the dozen highest—thinks the grass-is-greener philosophy extends to other countries: "Look at England. None of the big London orchestras has an English conductor."
Still, the American conductor faces special problems. In Europe, an extensive network of regional opera companies in cities such as Aachen and Graz has traditionally provided training for young conductors. Many of the greatest Europeans—Herbert von Karajan and the late Karl Böhm—learned their art this way. To be sure, the U.S. has its regional and community orchestras, but historically they have not led to posts with major organizations. Further, European record companies—like Philips of Holland—are willing to give young countrymen a push. Edo de Waart, 40, now music director of the San Francisco Symphony, first gained recognition in America as the director of The Netherlands Wind Ensemble through some records issued by Philips.
With limited opportunities at home, some promising Americans have packed their scores and set off for Europe. Dennis Russell Davies, 38, won praise as the leader of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra but left in 1980 to direct the Stuttgart Opera in Germany. James Conlon, 32, recently was named music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic—succeeding Zinman, who spent much of his early career in The Netherlands. Michael Tilson Thomas, 37, after an eight-year stint as the Buffalo Philharmonic's music director, now spends his time guest conducting both here and abroad. Perhaps the most successful of all the young Americans is James Levine, 38, who holds the powerful job of music director at the Metropolitan Opera. In demand throughout the classical spectrum, Levine has emphasized his career in opera. He makes his Bayreuth debut this summer in Wagner's Parsifal and will conduct operas in Salzburg and Vienna as well.
The consensus among the five conductors who have stayed home, though, is that American orchestras are technically superior to European orchestras. Says Keene: "The truth is there are three or four European orchestras at the top that play very well. But there are 20 or 30 American orchestras that play better than European ensembles at the next level. Yet people automatically discount those orchestras. We assume European is better."
While any one of the five would no doubt accept an offer from Philadelphia or Boston, each professes to be happy with his current situation. Slatkin cites the example of Cleveland, where George Szell turned a regional ensemble into a crack musical regiment: "If it can be done in that city, it can be done in St. Louis." Adds Simmons: "I'm not even thinking about leaving Oakland. Here, I am able to build something that is basically my own instrument. Why go somewhere else and start over again?"