Posted by Frank on June 04, 2000 at 15:37:34:
In Reply to: Arnold Jacobs Poll posted by anonymous on June 04, 2000 at 10:28:29:
Considering the fact that every music director and guest conductor who worked with the CSO were in awe of Arnold Jacobs' artistry, I would suggest that the committee would hire him in a heartbeat. I am assuming, in this case, that the hypothetical situation was him as a young man? Or was it him as a seasoned artist? The committee at Curtis heard his potential as a teenager. Szell, Ormandy, and Koussevitsky all tried to lure him away from the CSO and one may assume that their standards were higher than those in the provincial orchestra in Tulsa.
Among the things that made him distinctive was an engaging sense of total musicianship that really "put it over the footlights" and made you sit up in your seat. He could play three whole notes and make it sound like great music. Unless the committee in "Tulsa" was comprised of people with virtually no musical instincts, I think he'd ace it.