For ten years, walrus-mustached Pierre Monteux, conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, has spent part of each summer teaching younger musicians to conduct. Last week, after a visit to “Papa” Monteux ...

It may safely be said that personal striving—vulgarly called ambition—is the hallmark of modernity. To be satisfied with one’s lot, we are told, is to default on our duty to self and world alike; to ...