Gerson to the rescue
On Nov. 14, 1943, Leonard Bernstein, the 25-year-old assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, was called on short notice and with no rehearsal to replace 
History repeated itself, sort of, on Feb. 9, when Joshua Gerson, the orchestra’s 32-year-old assistant conductor, replaced Semyon Bychov in a program of Tchaikovsky’s “Francesca da Rimini” and “Pathétique” Symphony
(No. 6). Bychkov, stricken by a stomach virus, left the podium halfway through a rehearsal; so Gerson was able to work with the musicians – in “Francesca,” but not the symphony – before taking over the concert, and a subsequent performance.
In Bernstein’s case, a star was born. His subbing date was broadcast nationally on CBS Radio, and was front-page news in The New York Times.
Gerson’s concert rescue earned a brief plaudit – “impassioned and incisive” – and this post-concert interview, from The Times’ Anthony Tommasini:
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/arts/music/surprise-joshua-gersen-youre-about-to-conduct-the-new-york-philharmonic.html
