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For each conductor, success has resulted from a combination of talent, work and luck, all supported by a large ego that allows its owner to stand in front of a group of musicians, wielding his baton and his will. "When aspiring conductors ask me for advice," says Slatkin, "I tell them what [conductor] Walter Susskind told me: Learn everything, and be ready to conduct everything. Everyone gets breaks along the way. You just have to make the best of them." All five are ready. Who will get the major break? No one wants or expects any chauvinistic favors. As Nelson puts it, "If and when an American gets one of those jobs, he'd better be damn good."
—By Michael Walsh