The fiery Tulio Serafin

Was closely linked with the queen

Of sopranos, Callas,

And in the palace,

La Scala, they showed off their act serene.

 

Colin Davis’s reputation really rose

When he introduced the British  audience to Berlioz,

Whose opera “Faust”

He ably espoused.

The press was unanimous: grandiose!

 

 

Eric Leinsdorf was a superb musician.

He led all the orchestras like a magician

And was one of a few

Though not even a Jew,

Who defied Hitler, the evil politician.

Hans Knappertsbusch’s a man of the old school.

He never for a moment lost his cool-

With barely a movement

He got much improvement,

The musicians could sense he was no fool.

Under the genius that was Bruno Walter

(I trust your memory doesn’t falter—)

The Boston symphony.

Including their timpani,

Did all their musical know-how alter.

 

Carl Boehm is a hard one to figure out.

He was a genius ,there’s simply no doubt.

A Nazi convinced

He never evinced

Any scruples, but his Wagner had clout!!!!

 

 

 

The venerable conductor Pierre Monteux
Never ever had a reason to be honteux.
His legendary career
Came periously near
To perfection, he was so somptueux!

But ah, the genius Fritz Rainer!
No musician could deliver a finer
Performance for example
(His repertoire was ample)
Of Schubert’s Unfinished in B-minor.

Ansermet was the chef in Geneva.
He whipped that orchestra into a fever.
Stravinski or Hindemith,
He produced wonders with it.
Possessed, he worked like a beaver.

I almost forgot Bernhard Haitink
Another gifted maestro, I think
With the Concertgebow
He knew just how
To bring the orchestra to a high brink.

 

At the top of the list was Arturo
He was  a veritable conjuror
Total precision,
His ultimate vision,
Is what he accomplished with furor.

The London Philharmonics’s Beecham
Would over and over beseech them
And a super adagio
Without any bravaccio
He was finally able to teach them.

The Proms’s old favorite, Woods
Never failed to deliver the goods
With Mozart and Strauss
He brought down the house
He knew all the musts and the shoulds.

I’ve almost forgotten Levine
Who conducts for the old Met divine
Aida, both Figaros.
He is very vigorous
And gives all those operas a shine.

The name of Herbert von Karajan
Is renowned, but I’m not a fan, man
His unbridled ego
Would never let me go
To his concerts though truly Himalayan.

In total contrast Abbado
Conducted without such bravado
With utter finesse
Like a move in chess
(The only rhyme I can think of’s avocado——).

And then there’s curly old Rattle
Who was faced in Berlin with a battle
The flautist a rumor?
We’ll take it with humor
Let’s assume it was only some  prattle.
I want to mention Klemperer Otto
“play slower” was obviously his motto
It took the spark
Out of Mozart’s art
You can tell he’s bit staid from his photo.

There are so many more, Mehta, Mutti,
I should really limerick them tutti-
Neville Mariner, Kleiber,
(Who merits a better scriber
Than me) his sound was so fruity-

Wilhelm F. of course is another,
Whose work I would really rather
Not praise too highly-
I thought him very wily
And Beethoven he thought of as his brother….

I don’t want to omit Kurt Masur
Whose reading of Bach is so mature..
Leipzig was his venue
Baroque and Brahms his menu.
His music was moving and pure.