Jim Tobin wrote:

>A significant reason for the success of this recording was an extended
>interview last Autumn with Anne Sophie Mutter on the news program All
>Things Considered, on National Public Radio, which is broadcast throughout
>the U.S.  Mutter very engagingly spoke about rehearsing the work with
>Penderecki, who wrote the work for her and who took her advice concerning
>some difficult passages, as I recall.  She made the work sound exciting.
>Lengthy excerpts of the work were played on the program.  In consequence
>of this broadcast many people were motivated to purchase the recording,
>including myself.

Me too; I hadn't realized that I had voted for P for classical Grammy. I
didn't realize that NPR had such power, either!

I also heard the review of the di Lasso disk, and it inspired me to go get
some of his stuff.  But the disk mentioned on the program was not in the
store I went to, so instead I wound up with Orlande de Lassus by the Choir
of New College, Oxford, directed by Edward Higginbottom on Collins 14942.
Also very beautifully done.

>As it happens, the day after the second broadcast, Lassus was the #2 best
>selling recording at Amazon.com.  If there were more broadcasts of this
>sort, the situation of classical music in America would change
>significantly, I think.

Good grief, there seems to be a vast conspiracy afoot, linking NPR, Amazon,
and who knows what else!  This is truly an exciting concept.  Maybe someone
could work on NPR and convince them to do something on Pettersson; then
we'd be getting somewhere.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]