Delos Diary

News has filtered through that Neeme Jarvi, most recently conductor of the Detroit Symphony, has been designated to succeed Zdenek Macal as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Good news for the NJSO; we'll have to see what happens in Detroit.
Although it has had a long and distinguished history under conductors ranging from Ossip Gabrilowitsch to Paul Paray, the Detroit Symphony seems to attract less national attention than some others, perhaps reflecting the unsettled conditions in the city it serves. Occasionally, and usually late in the evening, I catch a Detroit Symphony broadcast taped at a live concert syndicated though NPR stations. The MC has usually been Dick Cavett and the principal sponsor General Motors. The orchestra sounds good and we wish them well.
As for New Jersey, Maestro Jarvi will be faced with a new group, an extensive concert schedule playing all over the state, and a string section recently gifted with a lot of superlative string instruments. In his long and distinguished career Jarvi had recorded virtually every standard piece in the concert repertoire with many orchestras in Europe and America. It will be interesting to see what he intends to do with his new band. We'll keep you posted!