Johann van Veen wrote:

>But these are exactly the musicians who don't get what they deserve.  They
>are often a lot better than the well known and established ensembles and
>musicians, yet they are paid a lot less.

This is just a subjective opinion, and Johann's themes are all based on
subjective opinion.

>So this is my basic point: those who need the money most don't get it,
>and those who don't need that much money, and whose accomplishments are
>under par, do.

This sounds very much like a page from a Soviet Economic Planner's book;
every one of those books was and is worthy of garbage material.

>But when an opera singer is singing aria's with piano accompaniment,
>and his or her programme lasts less than an hour, does he or she really
>deserve some $100,000 for one concert?

"Deserve" means nothing in this context.  Evidently, the "host" is willing
to pay the singer $100,000.  Hopefully, that's a decision that the host has
carefully made, but it really makes little difference.  What if the singer
was being paid that sum of money for just 10 minutes of singing? That's the
way it goes.  You get what you can get; if you're willing to go with less
or get no more than the other performers, that's an individual decision.
Let's leave it that way.

Don Satz
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