Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Most top U. S. orchestral musicians don't know American music, >other than Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin, Adams, and whatever hot >ticket of the moment, and have no desire to find out. Same with >many conductors of such orchestras, who are mostly furriners. Like >it or not, the repertoire is defined mainly by Austro-German composers >from Haydn through Mahler. A terrible waste. The American violinist Hillary Hahn is starting her DG recording contract with Bach. Yet there are already so many recordings of this repetoire. Surely it would be better for her to record the horribly underrecorded Piston for W Schumann with, say, the Cleveland or Philhadelphia orchestras? It seems an ideal opportunity for the violinist to make a real landmark recording and a long term best-seller. Instead she and other violinists for the majors are sticking by overcooked warhorses and watching their CD sales plummet. In this time of crisis the US orchestras need to pull finger and raise their profile, as the LSO has successfully done with LSO Live. Again, why can the LSO pull off a daring Troyens with top-notch cast whilst US orchestras' stunning performances of operas (I think of the Cleveland Siegfried) and concert music are lost to a world wide audience? Recording and distributing music is not just for the archives - it raises profiles, awareness and when PRICED and distributed properly can lead to long term profits. The US orchestras are the greatest in the world today but they will leave comparatively little recorded legacy to prove it. Regards, David Harbin Nottingham, UK