“The successor scenario remains unclear, and the rest of the Eschenbach tenure – almost two full seasons – could go to a number of extremes: Conductor and orchestra might just give up on each other, which would be painful and/or soporific, or they might decide that since it’s not a marriage anymore, they can relax and have fun. [As for a successor,] the orchestra will have a long, hard slog with dark horses eager to come up, veterans such as [Bernard] Haitink who guard their time jealously, and interested parties in between – all arriving here knowing that the orchestra needs them more than they need it.”