Ari Bachrach:

>there are clear differences even between American orchestras of the 50s
>and now......  Toscanini's NBC of the 50s was an inferior orchestra .....
>the wind and string playing was nowhere near the level of present day
>2nd tier American orchestras...

Ari's observation nicely explains why Naxos has been able to get
good and sometimes better than good performances out of an assortment
of orchestras (Iceland, Ukraine, Bournemouth) which don't appear on
anybody's traditional A list.

Bernard Chasan