The Economist

68 Books and arts The EconomistAugust 4th 2018

2 of government bonds) are still arguing

with those who believe that premature

monetary tightening will damage a still-

fragile economy.

The big change has been in the public

mood. The idea that markets left to their

own devices will efficiently and fairly allo-

cate resources had gained adherents in the

1990s and early 2000s. Centre-left govern-

ments such as Tony Blair’s were happy to

leave the financial markets to get on with it.

Now those middle-ground politicians are

out of office as voters peel off towards the

far-left and nationalist right.

Even the Republican Party in America

has swallowed its free-market instincts

and is tolerating President Trump’s protec-

tionist measures and threatening behav-

iour towards firms he takes against. Many

British Conservatives have been overtly

hostile towards those business leaders

who express fears about Brexit. The idea

that trade makes everyone better off in the

long run is no longer universal; indeed Mr

Trump sees it as a zero-sum game. These

views are showing up in the numbers: glo-

bal trade has stopped growing much faster

thanGDP as it did before the crisis.

This change of mood raises fears about

what will happen when another storm

hits the world economy. The level of co-op-

eration that occurred in 2008 and 2009

such as when America’s central bank

made dollars available to its cash-strapped

European counterparts may not be easy to

achieve next time around.

Tomorrow’s chroniclers will be grateful

for Mr Tooze’s assiduous research. He

leaves no mortgage-backed security un-

covered no collateralised debt obligation

unexamined in his effort to produce the

most comprehensive account of this com-

plex and gripping subject. The general

reader might find it a bit of a slog. It is not

that the author cannot see the wood for the

trees more that the forest is so large and

dark that it is easy to get lost. Sometimes

the broader themes simply get overshad-

owed by an account of another round of

cliffhanger meetings.

Mr Tooze ends by comparing events to-

day with those in 1914 when the world

sleepwalked into conflict. But arguably it is

the interwar period that is the most perti-

nent parallel. The armistice ended the first

war but the tensions that generated the first

conflict simmered and finally exploded

once more.

For policymakers another deadly met-

aphor is perhaps more appropriate. Cen-

tral banks brought a global economic heart

attack to an end by performing emergency

surgery. But the patient has gone back to

his old habits ofsmoking heavy drinking

and gorging on fatty foods. He may be

looking healthy now. But the next attack

could be even more severe and the medi-

cal techniques that worked a decade ago

may not be successful a second time. 7

T

HE birth of Washington’s National

Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in 1931

was modest not to say eccentric. Milton

Schwartz a local violinist later described

being approached by a “seedy-looking per-

son in an old coat” who announced: “I am

here to form a symphony orchestra. I just

heard you play and I like you very much.” 

The person was Hans Kindler then the

principal cellist of the Philadelphia Or-

chestra. Kindler was well-respected but

his reputation—and those of several subse-

quent music directors including the Rus-

sian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich—never

managed to elevate theNSOto the orches-

tral big league. The New York Philharmon-

ic the Boston and Chicago symphonies

and the Cleveland and Philadelphia or-

chestras are all considered superior as are

the Berlin Philharmonic the orchestra of

the Vienna State Opera and London en-

sembles such as the London Symphony

Orchestra (LSO). Until now at least.

Last year theNSOhired Gianandrea

Noseda an Italian conductor as its music

director. In recent years he has revitalised

Turin’s Teatro Regio; he is also principal

guest conductor of theLSO. Improving an

orchestra Mr Noseda explains is a less tan-

gible business than turning around a com-

pany: “You have to make the musicians

feel that they’re burning in their hearts and

souls.” The players however cannot sim-

ply be instructed to ignite. As Mr Noseda

points out “you don’t get there through

philosophy but through rehearsals.”

In the ecology of orchestras being

great rather than merely good matters

even if concert-goers might not always be

able to tell the difference. A reputation for

greatness attracts better musicians and

larger audiences plus invitations to per-

form at superior outside venues. All that

results in more philanthropic giving the

lifeblood of many arts institutions in

America (and increasingly in Europe too).

The stakes make those rehearsals vital.

In them a maestro must work his magic

with 100-or-so professionals who may

have performed the standard repertoire

dozens of times. Mr Noseda says they must

feel as though they are performing the

world premiere of say Beethoven’s Fifth

Symphony rather than the millionth ren-

dition of it. To that end he strives to find

undiscovered aspects of each score. After

explaining his approach to his musicians

he conveys his ideas mostly through ges-

tures. Above all he wants the orchestra’s

members to listen to one another: “I try to

create an atmosphere of chamber music.”

It seems to be working. As his first sea-

son in Washington came to an end a con-

cert combining Bach with Luciano Berio

an Italian experimental composer was

well-attended with a strikingly large con-

tingent of 20- to 30-somethings. The or-

chestra played exquisitely. Gary Ginstling

the NSO’s executive director says that

since Mr Noseda’s arrival the NSOhas at-

tracted new board members and sizeable

donations. Subscription salesare up—the

first increase in a decade. Perhaps the big

league beckons. 7

Classical music

How to make a great orchestra

WASHINGTON DC

An Italian maestro works his magic in America

Noseda lights the fire