Len Fehskens wrote:

>Jim Tobin responds to me:
>
>>I do recall his saying that something like 60% of New Yorkers,
>>especially, knew who Toscanini was in the 1930s, and you would be
>>hard-pressed to get that kind of survey result now about any classical
>>musician.
>
>I suspect this had more to do with the kind of media coverage figures
>like Toscanini got than a larger fraction of the population's interest
>in classical music.  I think this applies as well to playwrights like
>Arthur Miller.

I would agree and would restate my belief that we often think of the
greats in music, we are sometimes talking about those who had the best
marketing and/or visability.  While it don't mean to impune the reputation
of the "names," I think of so many lesser knowns who were, from my
perspective just as great.  My favorite, Koussevitzky...had Victor
marketed him as much as they marketed Toscanini, I believe Koussevitzky
would have been a household name.  Fortunately we are seeing a revaluation
of his work and now writers are beginning to really listen to what he
did.  Other conductors come to mind, Rosbaud and Fricsay.

Which leads me to suggest, how about a thread on the "greats" who would
have been known as greats if they had had the publicity behind them.

Karl