Delos Diary

Trust our music-loving Japanese friends to come up with something new to revitalize the classical music scene. Sony has developed a 23-inch robot named QRIO (pronounced "curio"), capable of being pre-programmed to conduct a symphony orchestra. So far the new gadget has only mastered the first few bars of Beethoven's 5th, but knowing how technology advances in leaps and bounds, QRIO may be giving us its version of the Bruckner 7th within a few years.
What a boon for symphony managements… no more exorbitant fees for celebrity conductors! Slip a new disc into your very own QRIO and you may be able to hear and see an exact replica of a Bernstein, Reiner or Karajan performance. This was almost achieved, in a simpler way, generations ago, when music lovers were able to hear Rachmaninoff play courtesy a perforated roll slipped into their player piano.
One fly in the ointment! Classically trained musicians in major symphony orchestras are a temperamental lot. How much respect will these musical prima-donnas give to an all metal or plastic creation waving its mechanical arms in front of them?
Look for many a wayward interpretation.