MUSIC MAESTRO PLEASE.

Pinchas Steinberg, the Israeli-American newly appointed principal conductor of the Suisse Romande Orchestra, has declined the five-year contract offered to him by the administration and opted for a three year one instead, saying that "this will give me time to see if the post goes in the right direction both for me and the administrative direction. If it does, we can carry on."

Steinberg, a former violinist and trombonist and who succeeds Fabio Luisi in the post in September 2002, has been head of the Vienna Radio Orchestra for the past seven years. He says that the OSR, once in the leading ranks of world ensembles, but which has. lost some of its lustre in recent years; "lacks cohesion" but has, some remarkable musicians in its ranks. "We must try to bring these fine talents together in a better way." How? "By giving them the sense of a certain musical spirituality. Musicians who arrive with an attitude of simple workers miss the point of their mission. Music-making is not just a job but a spiritual matter. The duty of an orchestra head is to give his players the need to live the music from the inside and add the values of reflection and emotion' to the works in hand." Steinberg has also declared himself opposed to the current "crossover" vogue in classical music. "You don't mix spaghetti with curry, so why do the same with Mahler and Nino Rota?"