A comprehensive portrait of one of the 20th centurys most brilliant and charismatic conductors working with three great orchestras The Berlin Philharmonic the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and the Vienna Philharmonic performing works by Beethoven Mozart and Bruckner Kubelik didnt arrive on the podium trailing clouds of glory like von Karajan or Leonard Bernstein He seemed to just appear there shyly and without fanfare His bed hair curling outward making his head look like the letter w His appearance and demeanor suggested that a timid tentative performance was likely Then hed rip into a taut and crisp Eroica or an effervescent crystalline Prague Symphony
