FIRST OFF . . .

Detroit Symphony Orchestra conductor Gunther Herbig will leave his post when his three-year contract expires in 1990 because, he said Monday, the organization is financially unable to meet his requirements. The Czechoslavakian-born conductor said orchestra officials told him that the symphony would be unable to make new recordings anytime soon, that a 1990 Far East tour was canceled and that the orchestra would be unable to increase its roster to 103 musicians from the current 97 members. All were conditions of Herbig’s contract. “There’s no reason to go on when you get told that the goals are not obtainable,” he said. Symphony officials would not comment directly on Herbig’s claims, but board chairman Walter McCarthy Jr. said in a press release that the orchestra had been unable to secure the money necessary for the stipulations in Herbig’s contract. The 74-year-old symphony has long suffered financial problems and has a $4.1-million deficit. Last fall, a labor dispute over an 11% pay cut disrupted the concert schedule until the Christmas season.