Tim Arnold wrote:

>What do you consider the big events to be? I've thought of the New York
>Metropolitan opera house; the Saltzburg festival, and some events here
>in the UK (eg the Proms) ...  but what would you lot call the Top 50 big
>events every year in classical music?

The Proms are arguably the biggest and best recurring music festival in
existence today.  It is great to be in London during the summer.  I have
been going to the Proms since my teens, and I have made many wonderful
discoveries of music there.

OTOH, I have enjoyed summers in Los Angeles, where I lived for many years
and attended scores of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.  This too is a great
festival of music.  Being able to enjoy a picnic (including a nice bottle
of wine) followed by a great concert outdoors is as close to perfection
when it comes to spending a summer's evening.

>What would you say the big trends are in classical music?
>
>Here in the UK, classical music has been a big winner in radio airplay
>and CD sales - possibly in the same way that country music has in the US.

I beg to differ.  I find that radio airplay of CM to be weak at best:
BBC Radio 3 has to cover far too much ground, including sometimes inane
commentaries, to be a first choice for listening to Music.  Classic FM
is worse, consisting of overplayed shorter pieces, incomplete works taken
from the traditional war-horses and far too much fluff.

My test is:  When driving a car...which I do a lot...I like to listen to
CM.  Here I am unable to do that:  A good CM radio station would be a gift,
as neither Radio 3 nor Classic FM deliver.

Do classical music CDs really sell as well in the UK as country music does
in the US? I must be missing something.

Philip Jongeneel
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