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Don't think that the shiny, new Mercedes carting James Levine around Tanglewood this summer has gone unnoticed. Or that a player or two hasn't also wondered, out loud, why the BSO's guest conductors are still being shown the backseat of the orchestra's trusty - but older - Lincoln.

We asked Mark Volpe, the BSO's managing director, about this driving discrepancy.

"Jimmy, as you know, has a bad back and the [Lincoln] was aggravating his sciatica," said Volpe.

Fear not, bean counters. The BSO didn't have to open its wallet for the new Benz. As luck would have it, a Mercedes dealer has loaned the car in exchange for an advertisement in the BSO's program.