A conductor’s hair style

In Halina Rodzinski’s book Our Two Lives she describes how on the very first day Artur Rodzinski came to assist Stokowski in 1929, his boss immediately restyled his hair without a part and combed straight back from the brow.  “That’s how a conductor should look,” said Stokowski, pointing Rodzinski at a mirror in his dressing room at the Academy.  Mrs. Rodzinski continues, “Arthur accepted this without question for the rest of his life.”

Cited in: Chasins, Abram (1979) Leopold Stokowski: A Profile.  London: Robert Hale, p. 108-109.


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