The news that James Levine is to step down in September, on health grounds, from the Boston Symphony Orchestra has prompted some interesting discussion in the Gramophone office. Especially since (and this is no more than an educated guess), one leading candidate to replace him would seem to be Michael Tilson Thomas. On the face of it, both Boston and MTT himself might perceive a move to Boston to be a step up from the San Francisco Symphony. That, anyway, would be the historical view. But things have surely changed from the days when every American music lover knew precisely who the “big five” US orchestras were. A quick Google will still tell you: Boston, the New York Philharmonic, the fabulous Philadelphians, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony.

Which is where the debate begins in earnest. Quite apart from MTT’s sterling work in San Francisco (and let’s not forget that he went there after running the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s definite greats), is there really no room in the top bracket for the Los Angeles Phil – even after the fascinating tenure of Esa-Pekka Salonen and now the roller-coaster excitement of Gustavo Dudamel? For that matter, how about Minnesota, where Osmo Vänskä has been busy reforging Beethoven and Sibelius for our age? Or Marin Alsop’s Baltimore Symphony? Or the Pittsburgh Symphony? And of former top dogs, both Cleveland and Philadelphia – though resurgent – have had their recent controversies. Isn’t it time the “big five” became a rather bigger tent?

That said, there is no question in my mind that Strauss’s
 Der Rosenkavalier is the finest opera comedy (as we assert on our cover) of the past 100 years. Its blend, so delicately yet perfectly balanced, of broad humour and almost unbearable poignancy has touched audiences since its 1911 premiere. Turn it upside down and, fascinatingly, you’d find the scorch marks of Strauss’s subversive shockers Salome and Elektra. Celebrate Rosenkavalier with us this issue as we chart its history and select the finest recordings. “Leopold, wir geh’n!”

james.inverne@haymarket.com