Margaret Mikulska wrote:

>I always wonder why the artistic directors can't program something
>traditional but less known.  Why is it that a modern work has to be
>"flanked" by some of the top-10 classics and not by something just slightly
>off the beaten path.  Even a Sibelius symphony or a choral work by Schumann
>(for instance) would be better than one of the symphonies by Beethoven or
>Brahms again.

I couldn't agree more, although I have heard Sibelius's 2nd symphony
once in the concerthall, but never one of the other six, And in my country
(Holland) I have never heard a Vaughan Williams or an Elgar symphony, not
to mention Arnold or Bax.  Regarding concertos, it is the same story:  I
have once heard The Scharwenka 4th pianoconcerto, (Hough), but if they
feature a series on Romactic concertos, one hears Tschaikowski, but hardly
ever the 2nd pianoconcerto, and one gets a fair share of those atrocious
Beethovens.  All this results in my never taking a subscription to a
concert series any more.

Peter Wisse
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