An orchestra is like a pendulum. Pull it in one direction—toward a more contemporary, progressive repertoire, say—and eventually it will swing back toward the crowd-pleasers. This regrettable pattern can be observed whenever an enterprising music director leaves. In Boston, the profoundly flawed choice of James Levine nevertheless shaped the idea of what an orchestra can be for a generation, as Ben Miller has sensitively written. Levine was followed by the pleasantly conventional Andris Nelsons. In Berlin, Simon Rattle’s often difficult tenure saw the Philharmonic turn into a leading light for new music internationally; Kirill Petrenko, in his first season as music director, appears to prefer the most basic warhorses.
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