Why did Pinchas Zukerman abandon his National Arts Center Orchestra in the middle of the season? Officially the orchestra says the conductor is taking sick leave. But “his freelance schedule between now and the end of the season includes dozens of concerts on three continents, including a European tour with the National Orchestra of Belgium. That doesn’t look like the agenda of a man dragging his feet with fatigue. Nor does it seem much in keeping with Zukerman’s formal obligation, in the contract he signed with the NACO in 1998, ‘to ensure that his role and responsibility to NACO are a top priority of his career’.”