On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 1:31:23 PM UTC-7, randy wolfgang wrote:
> I was wondering what some of the members thought of Leinsdorf. For me both in orchestral and operatic material he did have an eye for bringing out coloristic details other conductors let slide and he seemed to be better in unfamiliar repertory than the more familiar Beethoven and Brahms which though well played seemed to be lacking an inner spark. In opera I found this even more telling - though much of his recorded opera is very well played, for me much of it is just too literal. It depends on my mood - I can certainly enjoy the playing of the Boston Symphony in his ill-fated Lohengrin but really needs some inner passion and feeling that just isn't there. I have never heard the Act Three Prelude on the one hand so brilliantly played by Boston but its just so one damned note after another. I recall Osborne wrote that it was like having a traffic cop on the Indianapolis Speedway. His studio Walkure esp Act One is also lacking the passion it needs though its very well played. I like his Prokofiev as well and would have loved to have heard him record Romeo and Juliet. Interested in what you think of him??? best Randy

(From the comments section of the 2023 Y. upload "Review: Revisiting the Callas/De Sabata Tosca":

- Frankly, Leinsdorf's conducting in the Milanov-Bjoerling "Tosca" has wonders of nuance and detail that surpass even de Sabata in many passages of the opera.