Don Satz writes:

>Symphony orchestras are businesses, and they better get with the program
>or become extinct.  Art and good business practices can co-exist.

Quite.  Thing is, though, the Munich Philharmonic (to which Don Satz's
posting specifically referred) is a highly state-subsidized "business".  As
long as the voters put up with this it'll remain just that--and continue to
programm for programming's sake.  The current fashion in this sort of thing
seems to be tending toward the "difficult" side.  Now, this list has been
through a heated discussion on the pros and cons of subsidizing art music
and the last thing I'd want is to start that up again.  But in a very small
voice I would just like to remark that, as long as they're pulling the
dollars and marks out of my pocket for ladeda taxes, the dough might as
well go to classical music.  Don Satz of course knows about the Munich
setup but I would like to clarify, not correct something: the Berg-Mahler
evening was Levine's first this year; his term as the million-buck musical
director here actually starts only on September 3.  Incidentally,for 2K he
has scheduled one all-American program including works by Ives, Carter,
Gershwin Lukas-Foss--and, I think, one other composer whose name right now
doesn't come to mind.  Again, as long as I'm made to pay, I'm all for
investing it in an All-American evening.  (N.b.  after 17 years under Celi
and the narrow period in which he specialized, the musicians of the MPO
ahave shsown that they insist on having the repertoire broadened and
updated.  As do the orchestras in Berlin and Vienna, the orchestra here in
Munich has great executive influence.  As for Levine himself goes, I have
the feeling he's more for the broadening part than the updating one.  Most
of the outrightly modern programming will be conducted by others, it now
seems.  One notable piece of broadening that he personally will handle is
the introduction of opera to the MPO's repertoire.  I'm speakaing here of
concertante performances, or minimally-staged ones consisting of extracts
from or portions of operatic works.)

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]