Deryk Barker wrote: >...there certainly is a problem when "star" performers earn many times >what others of equal talent can. Perhaps there should be an equation between talent and compensation but the reality of the world is that there is not. We would see the world more clearly if we understand that compensation is often as much a product of image-building as it is talent. Image-building is necessary in order to sell the CM product these days. Partly this is due to the decline of connoisseurship and deeply informed listening. It's been happening for some time--Liberace perhaps knew people were less likely to hear his little screwups if they were focused on his smile, cuff links and candelabra. We have come today to expect artists to promote themselves at least in part by image, and are convinced that it is in the interest of self-expression. I might be accused of political incorrectness were I to single out Awadagin Pratt as an example of the "gotta be me" performer. Fortunately there is also Kennedy. I don't know Kennedy. I've met Pratt, he is a nice fellow and plays quite well--although not any better than most professionals on the circuit. And perhaps one will never know whether they would have gotten as popular as they are had they stuck to tails and standard haircuts. I realize this sounds like excessive conservatism, and I really don't have anything against breaking dress tradition. My point is that it's part of the image machine, and that it's not conceivable performers are unaware of this. It's not the fault of the performers. They are caught in a game played by the people in charge of sales and marketing. Perlman was mentioned in the previous post, and if you are referring to him in the above quote I would modestly take some exception in his case. He really has earned his reputation and high fees, I think. He has his detractors, but who rises that high that doesn't have them? The current crop of Wunderkinder have a long way to go before they will be in his class. There are many fiddlers today who are technically capable of anything. Where Perlman stands apart is his sense of style. That is a gift, and it's worth some money. He's maybe bombed on occasion, more so in the past 10 or 15 years perhaps, but so what? Sometime I want to talk about possible connections between historicism (or social constructionism) and the homogenization of musical performance that results in personal style becoming a thing of the past--but not tonight. I will add, though, that in an age when it's not possible or prudent for a performer to develop an individual style in performance, they tend to look for other ways to distinguish themselves. Chris Bonds