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