Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-04-22

for the enjoy
ment that is
Z in il and not
with I n g
hh' riChEhiN" false front
attitude of playing little-known
and erudite pieces TO show how
much he knows that we don't.
In short, he's a jolly man as
opposed TO the ponpous or sour
puss school 'of conductors. He's
what / like in the way Of con-
ductors.
But I wander away from orig
inal theme. Are we going Ia
let our symphony 90 to dust?
And, II so, why?
Exploring the possible rea-
sons, these are all that I can
see:
I'VE can't find enough mu-
sicians; or
People don't want 10 listen
TO them; or
S-Something IL haywire.
Taking them in order. we can
dispose Of point /. We have the
musicians. We have. true
enough, lost some. who have
been snapped up by ether sym
phonies or the radio. But the
bulk Of the musicians is still
here
Point 2: Thinking that De-
troiters don't want 10 hear the
symphony is enough 10 make
you laugh out loud--or cry. The
Masonic Temple is one of the
biggest symphony halls in the
United States and Detroiters
fill IL. There's the answer.
That leaves point Shat
something f. haywire.
This must be In the manage
ment. do not mean that In
the sense that somebody IL fall
ing down on the job and nobody
need feel that 1 am criticizing
him. I'm not.
mean. simply, that when you
have both supply 1.-THE orches-
tra) and demand (the Detroit
public) the situation II abund-
antlv ripe for some self starter
TO c-.sne forward and put them
together.
We need somebody TO come
forward and say:
IAN right. I'll do Il. I'll
shoulder the load Of collecting
the money, Of shouting TO high
heaven until things begin to
move"
We need somebody 10 do what
Knudsen does To Industry.
managing editor does 10 his re-
porters when they start dog
ging, what a pants-Slapping line
backer-up does for q football
team, somebody 10 say:
Lets git up n go"
\ We suggest timidly that our
mayors wife, who understands
music for one thing. and, for an
other. has some talent for maxi
ing people git up n 60. might
TO the job. Or. for all / know.
maybe Harvey Campbell might
do il as long as he knows every
body in town and has mastered
every known trick OF raising
money for various things. Or
whom do you suggest?
As far as money goes. Kurtz,
fresh from conducting the Chi
cago Symphony, points out that
that orchestra covers S. per cent
OF It's expenses from ticket sales,
Is per cent from endowments,
n small slice from miscellaneous
sources. IL lacked only II per
cent of breaking even. That II
per cent was raised in one day,
$4,000 In gifts.
To get back TO Kurtz. He
has a pretty good understanding
of this city and he is proving
il by selecting the music for his
part of the festival-one eve
ming Of Gershwin. with Oscar
Levant. featuring the Rhapsody
in Blue and music from "Porgy
and Bess" and Strike Up the
Band" Then. an all-Russian
night with Artur Rubenstein
and such things as Tschaikov-
sky's Fifth. his Piano Concerto,
and some Prokofieff numbers
not hitherto played in Detroit.
Kurtz knows what Detroit likes,
The possibility Of our SYM
phony disintegrating makes him
unhappy, hut he did have some
kind words. for Sans Depart
ment Store which has been spon-
soring the orchestra this past
winter.
\ Gle referred 10 the sponsor
gravely as MIR. Sam by the
way)
But the brightest fact, as he
sums Il up, L.:
What makes me happy Is
that the orchestra Is living. In
Dallas or Portland you could not
have a symphony because the
men are not there. But they
are still here In Detroit, so the
orchestra exists. You do not
hear IL or see II. but II IL still