When we left off in Part 1, I had just traveled to Cleveland to play for George Szell and a short while thereafter, I was offered a position in the Cleveland Orchestra. Well, a few weeks into my first season Szell was frustrated with my ensemble sense and knowledge of the music.
“Your father was such a good musician- what happened to you?” He continued, “ You don’t know the music, you are staring at your part, as if seeing it for the first time, you don’t know how to play with the conductor or your colleagues and the other choirs of the orchestra!”
I, of course, at 18 was in tears. But I recognized that he was right. And the greatest journey of my education began.