“Half a century ago, and before, individuals of vision – conductors, composers, entrepreneurs, even critics – heroically shaped the course of America’s musical high culture. In more recent times, the fate of classical music in the US has been governed by the market place. The indulged and uninquisitive American electorate is paralleled by classical music audiences that ask for little and give little back. A tangible acuity of knowing attention still found in Berlin or Budapest is no longer much encountered in New York.”