stra. A bad
singer can spoil only his own part; while an incapable or malevolent
conductor ruins all. Happy indeed may the composer esteem himself when
the conductor into whose hands he has fallen is not at once incapable
and inimical; for nothing can resist the pernicious influence of this
person. The most admirable orchestra is then paralyzed, the most
excellent singers are perplexed and rendered dull; there is no longer
any vigor or unity; under such direction the noblest daring of the
author appears extravagant, enthusiasm beholds its soaring flight
checked, inspiration is violently brought down to earth, the angel's
wings are broken, the man of genius passes for a madman or an idiot,
the divine statue is precipitated from its pedestal, and dragged in the
mud. And what is worse, the public, and even auditors endowed with the
highest musical intelligence, are reduced to the impossibility (if a
new work is rendered, and they are hearing it for the first time) of
recognizing the ravages perpetrated by the orchestral conductor--of
discovering the follies, faults, and crimes he commits. If they clearly
perceive certain defects of execution, not he, but his victims, are in
such cases made responsible. If he has caused the chorus-singers to
fail in taking up a point in a finale, if he has allowed a discordant
wavering to take place between the choir and the orchestra, or between
the extreme sides of the instrumental body, if he has absurdly hurried a
movement, or allowed it to linger unduly, if he has interrupted a singer
before the end of a phrase, they exclaim: "The singers are detestable!
The orchestra has no firmness; the violins have disfigured the principal
design; everybody has been wanting in vigor and animation; the tenor was
quite out, he did not know his part; the harmony is confused; the author
is no accompanist; the voices are----" etc.

Except in listening to great works already known and esteemed, intelligent
hearers can hardly distinguish the true culprit, and allot to him his
due share of blame; but the number of these is still so limited that
their judgment has little weight; and the hostile conductor--in presence
of the public who would pitilessly hiss a _vocal accident_ of a good
singer--reigns, with all the calm of a bad conscience, in his baseness
and inefficiency. Fortunately, I here attack an exception; for the
malevolent orchestral conductor--whether capable or not--is very rare.

The orchestral c