On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 7:27 PM, Paul Davis <paul@linuxaudiosystems.com> wrote:

(*) I was frankly amazed at the number of performances of music I
consider basically dead that I would see advertised every week in the
U- and S-Bahn stations in Berlin. The idea that there were still
audiences for the sort of music that consumed the body and most of the
soul of "classical" music in the middle half of the 20th century was
just astounding to me, coming from a US-centric viewpoint. Berlin is
bigger than Philadelphia, and is buzzing with an incredibly vibrant
art scene, but still - I doubt if you could find more than 1 or maybe
2 performances per week of contemporary "classical/art/serious" (pick
your favorite un-label) composition here in Phila. Some weeks,
probably none at all. And almost never will any of them happen in
Phila.'s big concert halls. I wonder how many of the young art crowd
now filling apartments all over Berlin are really into that stuff
anyway?