Anne Ozorio wrote: >On the contrary, I believe most people aren't easily seduced >by marketing. My goodness, I certainly don't believe that. I believe that marketing in classical music does and has made a significant difference in what we consider to be excellence. The image makers have been busy for many years. For me, I think of three great conductors of the not so distant past, Stokowski, Toscanini and Koussevitzky. All of these men were great musicians, no doubt about it in my mind, yet when we think of "great conductors" we are more likely to think of Stokowski and Toscanini. Why? I would guess because they had greater exposure in the media. Stokowski cultivated his image, Sarnoff immortalized Toscanini. I don't mean to suggest that they were not great musicians, but I believe their contributions are often over valued when compared to the contributions of other great conductors. I think of the electric performances of Koussevitzky, Mengelberg, Munch, Furtwangler, Barbirolli...yet when many think of the greats, their thoughts turn to Toscanini. On the other hand, I think of how von Karajan was marketed...yet his star seems to have faded some...and if that is true, one might ask the question, "why?" Is it because DG is not interested in marketing his performances at the moment? Perhaps it is me, but when I hear a Kissin performance I am bored to tears. For me, I cannot help but wonder that the audience goes wild because the media has told them that Kissin is great. Of course he has a fine technique but many pianists have a fine technique. I don't mean to single him out, but he is one of the more visable icons these days. Look at the marketing blitz given Anna Netrebko. Sure she is a fine musician, but...I mean, lets face it, her singing isn't the only things that sells. I don't fault anyone for using her beauty to market her, but I cannot help but wonder how well Helen Traubel, or a Kate Smith would do these days without an extreme make over. Sure Paderewski was one of the great musicians of all time, but he also had some great marketing behind him, even if, in his later years, he looked like though he and Einstein had the same barber. Looks aren't everything, but it seems to help. When we think great violinists we might very well think Heifetz, yet what about Szeryng, Wicks, Morini, Fuchs, Kaufman, Spaulding, Odnoposoff, et al. I can tell you that in most instances, it is marketing, or a company's advertizing that will get your artist reviewed. With a few exceptions, if you don't advertize, you don't get reviewed. There is so much out there, that we rely on critics to tell us what to buy. You don't buy it if you don't know about it. I am reminded of how insidious the whole thing can be. One of the critics, writing a review of one of our early releases, Granados plays Granados, stated something to the effect that because Harold Schonberg didn't find any truth in the reproducing piano rolls, there really wasn't any point to listen to what we had produced. Oddly enough, Schonberg wrote us a letter stating that our tranfers had finally convinced him that there could be some truth in the rolls, and wrote something to that effect in his last published review...our release of Fanny Bloomfield Zeisler. In short, I think even the critics rely on other critics to tell them what is good. And speaking of Fanny...and I am not trying to sell any of our discs, but for me, here is one of the "greats" of the piano. She had a huge technique and an incredible wide range of expression at her disposal. She performed with some of the great musicians of her time, including Mahler. Why isn't she listed as one of the greats? I believe it was because she was a woman and because she refused to make any discs and, as a result, did not have the marketing arm of an RCA behind her. I have this fantasy that one day some Hollywood producer will make a movie of her life (she was probably bipolar, yet managed to raise a family and have a remarkable career) and all of a sudden she will become, "a legend." From my perspective, it isn't because she doesn't deserve it, but I believe it will take some strong marketing to make it happen. Karl