The Overture

As for that "one big loose end," Christy called the State Department, which gave him the name of someone in Germany to call. That source confirmed that Sawallisch had never been a member of the Nazi party, that he’d gotten drafted in 1942 at the age of 19, served as a radio operator in Italy and been detained in an American and then a British war camp until war’s end.

That bit of wartime biography was included in a Q&A sheet prepared by the Orchestra for the big day: the press conference September 12th at which Wolfgang Sawallisch would be introduced to Philadelphia as Muti’s successor. When the day arrived, Kluger and Christy had breakfast with Sawallisch and brought up the subject; Christy said he would deal with any questions about it, but Sawallisch insisted he would answer them himself. In the end, no reporter asked the question, even though Sawallisch was genuinely eager to talk, telling a television reporter afterward: "I think music is the only language absolutely without nationality. I am not disturbed to be a German, and I like to work all over the world with musicians."

It was an anticlimactic morning on the 12th when four men sat at a table in front of the cameras and reporters in the Academy of Music. At the far left sat Kluger, the youngest at 35. Next to him was Sawallisch, in a severe blue suit, white shirt and dark blue tie. With his glasses and silvery hair, he looked like the boardroom denizen to his left, Theodore Burtis. And on the far right sat Jack Christy, with his blue eyes and cheery trademark boutonniere. Burtis began by announcing what everyone had known for two weeks: Wolfgang Sawallisch had accepted The Overture.