For years, opera lovers have speculated about who would succeed Maestro James Levine, should he leave the Metropolitan Opera, where he has worked magic with the orchestra in and out of the pit for almost three decades.

        Whether Valery Gergiev is the Cincinnati native's heir apparent remains to be seen. But on Dec. 3, while I was visiting New York, Mr. Gergiev became the first conductor other than Mr. Levine to conduct the Met Orchestra in its sold-out Carnegie Hall series.

        The Moscow-born Mr. Gergiev, who became principal guest conductor at the Met in 1997, holds posts at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

        The sound he drew from the Met Orchestra was strikingly different from that cultivated by Mr. Levine. Granted, Mr. Gergiev was conducting a Russian program of blockbusters: Scriabin's Prometheus, the Poem of Fire and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4. He emphasized great explosions of sound and color rather than transparency, warmth and nuance.

        Mr. Gergiev is an intense conductor with dynamic gestures — one could hear him gasping between beats. The energy in the orchestra was electric from the first note of Scriabin's massive work, which owes a debt to Debussy's La Mer and Wagner's “Magic Fire Music.”

        Its brilliant piano part was performed superbly by Alexander Toradze, professor at Indiana University at South Bend. A small bear of a man, he painted a canvas of shimmering color and powerful surges of massive chords, never taking his eyes off the maestro.

        Whether purposely or not, the sound in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4 was a bit rough. It was playing with an edge, with shattering fortes and eerie themes in the winds. The third movement, a dissonant march, was reminiscent of Mahler.

        Of special interest was the English horn soloist, who won cheers during the standing ovation at the conclusion. It was the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Robert Walters, on leave while he tries out the Met Orchestra this year.

        Canned music: When Cincinnati audiences see the Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular here this month, the music will be taped — not live.

        “People don't realize that it's not like going to Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center, where the renowned Radio City Music Hall Orchestra is in the pit,” says Eugene V. Frey, president of the Cincinnati Musicians Association.

        “It's a way to give a low-cost production, and not concede anything in ticket prices,” he adds.

        What it means for Cincinnati's 700 members of the musicians union is one more sign that live music jobs are drying up, he says. In the Aronoff Center'srecent Annie, six musicians (with the tour) played along with a computer-controlled synthesizer — a virtual orchestra — in the pit.

        “It's something that would never happen in Chicago, or San Francisco or Los Angeles. The media and the public wouldn't tolerate what they're getting away with here,” Mr. Frey says.

        Take Five: Who really wrote “Take Five,” the jazz hit made famous by Dave Brubeck? It's credited to alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, but it was actually a group project, Mr. Brubeck says in his career retrospective box set liner notes, a story he repeated last month on National Public Radio.

        In a Nov. 19 interview with reporter Tony Sarabia on NPR's Weekend Edition, the jazz legend explained how Mr. Desmond came to him with two tunes, but did not know how to put them together. Mr. Brubeck, who studied with composer Darius Milhaud, wrote a bridge, a chord structure and a “vamp,” and gave it a title.

        He gives more detail about the origin of “Take Five” in the liner notes, where he says, “ "Take Five' was composed in my living room.”

        For a transcript or a tape of the NPR interview, call (877) 677-8398 or go to NPR.org.

        CSO tour shortened: Maestro Jesus Lopez-Cobos' valedictory tour with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, announced last January, has been shortened. The new schedule, Jan. 27-Feb. 11, will consist of eight concerts in eight European cities (rather than 12 concerts in 12 cities).

        Presenters in Spain and Poland were unable to finalize the extra concert dates by the CSO's deadline, says Rosemary Weathers, CSO public relations director.

        After its CSO and Pops performances in Carnegie Hall (Jan. 22 and 23), the orchestra will return to Cincinnati before launching the tour.

        This will be the CSO's first European tour since 1995, and its first-ever visits to Poland and Spain, the maestro's homeland. After concerts in Bilbao (Jan. 30), Barcelona (Jan. 31) and Madrid (Feb.2), the CSO will head to Germany for four concerts.

        It will perform in the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich (Feb. 5), and travel by bus to Rosenheim (Feb. 6). Then the musicians travel to Mannheim for a Feb. 7 concert, before flying to Berlin to appear at the Philharmonie (Feb. 8). The CSO last performed there in 1969 under Max Rudolf.

        The tour concludes in Warsaw, Poland at the Teatre Wielki, home of the National Opera (Feb. 10).

        The orchestra is planning a “virtual tour” so CSO fans can follow the tour on the Web. Details will be announced in January.

        Lift every voice: The CSO will host a choral workshop, 5-7:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, to coincide with performances of Verdi's Requiem in Music Hall (Jan. 12-13). Distinguished opera bass Simon Estes will be keynote speaker of the workshop, which is geared to local church choirs.

        Participants include the Exalted Gospel Choir and its music director Reginald Butler, and the May Festival Youth chorus, under James Bagwell.

        Tickets ($18) include the workshop, a buffet dinner and ticket to the CSO performance conducted by Maestro Lopez-Cobos. Workshop tickets must be reserved by Jan. 8: 381-3300. Seating is limited.

        After the CSO concerts, Mr. Estes will sign copies of his autobiography, In His Own Voice (LMP, A Landauer Co.; $29.95).

        Indy pops conductor: Conductor Jack Everly will succeed Erich Kunzel as principal pops conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Everly, music director of the ISO's Yuletide Celebration since 1994, will begin in 2002. Mr. Kunzel will step down next season after 10 years with the ISO.
       Janelle Gelfand is Enquirer classical music critic. Write to her at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax 768-8330; or e-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com.
       

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