Tom Connor agreed with Karl about the recognizability of the orchestras of yesteryear: >...especially listening to recordings with Munch conducting the BSO, >it really wasn't all that difficult to pick out the BSO on the radio. >I imagine in Koussevitsky's time it was also pretty easy to identify the >BSO. Yeah, come to think of it Philadelphia was distinctive in those >days too. > >I think we've lost something. I recall reading on this List that few musicians playing in top-rate orchestras back when would gain entry into a good present-day musical academy -- standards now being so much higher. This suggests to me that eliminating or reducing that diversity of sound between those orchestras is maybe a *good* thing. So we've actually gained something by this reckoning, even if it implies the greater homogeneity to wh you refer. Bert Bailey, curious