Such questions aren't about to be answered just by Friday's concert, which is an appetizing program in which Maazel conducts composers he's especially good at: Ravel in the complete Daphnis et Chloe plus Rachmaninoff with pianist Stephen Hough. A single concert hardly illuminates the entire job description - especially here, where the orchestra's music director can have a decisive impact on the cultural tone of the whole city. In New York, Maazel is one of many. Any serious answer would have to be based on what a community needs, versus what it wants.
Superficially speaking, the chic, cosmopolitan Eschenbach would be a natural in New York's Eurocentric musical community. His gentle offstage manner is in step with the new, nice-guy edition of the once-bossy New York Philharmonic that guest conductors, in recent years, say they're happy to encounter.
The chip that's known to reside on Maazel's shoulder might fit in just fine with Philadelphia's contentious streak, now that the orchestra's uncompromising stance in recent labor negotiations has made the Fabulous Philadelphians the tough guys of the industry. Maazel survived a tumultuous tenure at the Vienna State Opera; after that, he'd be the one to induce the Philadelphia Orchestra's stubborn older players to retire - maybe with cement shoes, if necessary?
But what about community outreach? Public personas? What about the long run?
Neither conductor has the common touch - or good relations with the press. Whether or not Maazel thinks extremely well of himself, his manner so often reads that way that he's been known to step down from a speech and ask his confidants how he rated on the arrogance scale.
