Bert Bailey wrote:

>I recall reading on this List that few musicians playing in top-rate
>orchestras back when would gain entry into a good present-day musical
>academy -- standards now being so much higher.
>
>This suggests to me that eliminating or reducing that diversity of sound
>between those orchestras is maybe a *good* thing.  So we've actually
>gained something by this reckoning, even if it implies the greater
>homogeneity to wh you refer.

Sadly, you're probably right: it is difficult to imagine a Callas today
getting a role in a major opera house, or a young Horowitz winning an
international piano competition....  we've traded technique for expression,
individuality for easily consumable tags like 'mainstream', HIP, analytical,
romantic, etc.  Sometimes it is good to reflect upon the fable of the
Emperor's new clothes!  BTW does anybody know what happened to Ivo
Pogorelic'???

Arnold Bosman