Philadelphia Scrapple

When a symphony orchestra has been slapped around by a heavyweight conductor for a few seasons, it gets very proud of its bumps and bruises. When the top-flight conductor resigns, and a bantamweight takes his place, the orchestra is apt to sulk. In the past few years two of the finest U. S. symphony orchestras have had this letdown: Manhattan's Philharmonic-Symphony (Toscanini to Barbirolli); the Philadelphia Orchestra (Stokowski to Eugene Ormandy). The Philharmonikers have kept a stiff upper lip, but the Philadelphians, after brooding and glooming for a whole season, last week broke out in a williwaw.

The thing that did it was a short return engagement of their beloved onetime musical director, Leopold Stokowski. First storm-signals flew when word leaked out that Conductor Ormandy had fired fuzzy-headed first cellist, Isadore Gusikoff, because Gusikoff "made him nervous." Cellist Gusikoff promptly sued for the rest of his season's pay, proudly admitted that he had conducted a "silence strike" while sitting in the orchestra, accused Conductor

Ormandy of lacking "poetry, imagination, subtlety and humor." Two other men resigned in sympathy. Said the orchestra's manager, curly-haired Socialite Alfred Reginald Allen: "Things aren't like they used to be." He resigned too. With its once-remunerative radio dates gone, and its budget badly off balance, outlook for the orchestra seemed squally. Leopold Stokowski preserved his beautiful calm. He purred: "If Philadelphia is solidly behind our orchestra, the disturbing influences can be stopped. If I can do anything to help, I will be so glad." At week's end it looked as though Heavyweight Stokowski might indeed help, by returning to the Philadelphia Orchestra next season as chief conductor.

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