Classical Music Forum

Tim Page is the chief classical music critic for The Washington Post and author or editor of a dozen books, including "Dawn Powell: A Biography," "The Glenn Gould Reader," "The Unknown Sigrid Undset," "William Kapell: A Documentary Life History of the American Pianist" and "Tim Page on Music." He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1997 for his writings about music for the Washington Post.

Page was online Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the latest news in the world of classical concerts, performances and recordings.

He has also worked as an artistic adviser (the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), a radio host (WNYC-FM in New York), a record producer (BMG Catalyst) and, in his younger days, a rock musician and cocktail pianist. A graduate of Columbia University, he lives in Baltimore with his wife, Julieta Stack.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Tim Page: Good afternoon and welcome to the last in a series of more than 60 afternoon chats on the subject of classical music -- chats I've carried on in hotel lobbies in Providence and San Francisco, in rented cubicles at stationery stores in Lake Placid and Los Angeles, in small villages in Nova Scotia and, most often, at my home or at my desk in Washington.

Here's what has happened: on the first working day of 2005, I returned a call to Washington Post News Interactive and was told that my chat was being eliminated -- at least as a regular feature -- as of today, for budgetary reasons. Apparently, we simply didn't draw a large enough audience to keep it going.

I'm saddened by this, as I've much enjoyed having the opportunity to communicate with other classical music listeners outside the Washington area. Moreover, my informal feedback has been enthusiastic and wide-ranging and there really isn't anything quite like this around. I've also always thought that we'd have built up a larger audience had the program been on once a week (it's hard to remember things that happen bi-weekly, or so I find). Moreover, we moved the time around quite a bit, attempting to choose that perfect moment when the stars would allign and we'd bring all the classical music listeners together.

It never happened -- and now I'm told that economic concerns dictate the end of this particular hour. I see no reason to beat up on the Post for what was clearly an impersonal business decision, so let's just enjoy ourselves on this iron gray afternoon (for such it is in Baltimore, where I am typing now) and be glad that we had some interesting talks over the past three years.

And so, for the last time, let's see what's in the bank this afternoon.

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Alexandria, VA: A couple of weeks ago in the Post, you teased us with word that the WNO is going to be mounting a full Ring Cycle in the future. I did a ton of on-line searches to find out more info but can't find anything. Can you give us more details? For example, was last year's "Die Walkure" a sample? I am looking forward to a Ring in my backyard.

Tim Page: Here's a quote from my piece on the WNO and the "Ring" which ran in the (back) pages of the Post on November 11:

The Washington National Opera is planning to forge ahead and present a complete staging of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" cycle over the next few seasons, General Director Placido Domingo announced yesterday.

In honor of the troupe's 50th anniversary season, which will run from Sept. 17 through June 3, 2006, at the Kennedy Center Opera House, the company will present seven productions: Giuseppe Verdi's "I Vespri Siciliani," George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," Wagner's "Das Rheingold," Gaetano Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore," Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito," Gioacchino Rossini's "L'Italiana in Algeri" and a special celebratory operatic "triple-bill" featuring Domingo in five performances of three fully staged operatic acts.

The "Ring" cycle will be directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by WNO music director Heinz Fricke. "Das Rheingold," an evening-length "prelude" to the "Ring," will be the second of the four works in the cycle to be presented, following up on the wildly successful mounting of "Die Walkure" in 2003. Yesterday, Domingo said he was not sure whether the next step would be a production of "Siegfried" or "Gotterdammerung" (the remaining two works in the cycle) or a revival of "Die Walkure."

"If we bring back 'Die Walkure' the next season, perhaps I can still sing it," the 63-year-old Domingo said. "I won't sing 'Siegfried' and I don't think I even want to try 'Gotterdammerung.' I never sang them when I was young and I don't want to start now. They're just too tough. But I think I might be able to do 'Walkure' again, although not for very much longer."

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That's all I know so far. We'll have a "Rheingold," directed by Zambello, next year, to be followed in the next couple of years either by a "Siegfried" or "Gotterdammerung" or, perhaps, by another staging of "Walkure." I'd love to hear Domingo sing Wagner again, and he certainly won't be doing either "Siegfried" or "Gotterdammerung" so I'm rooting for one more "Walkure" before the troupe plows ahead and finishes the cycle.

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Burke, VA: Hi Tim!;

Like many here, I am happy that Heinz Fricke will finally make his debut with the NSO, but look at the program. Wouldn't have been much better if we could hear what Fricke is able to do in more substantial repertoire?

Thanks and best regards!;

Tim Page: Yes, it's something of a pops program, isn't it? On the other hand, who knows? Maybe this will be the first in a series of programs with Fricke. I hope so -- he's a terrific conductor.

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Alexandria, VA: Tim, I understand that this will be your last chat. That is discouraging. I really enjoyed you being on line over the past few years. I especially liked tuning in after you had written a flaming review and seeing what others had to say about it!;
Do you think the decision by The Washington Post to get rid of this chat sums up their feelings overall for "higher culture"? It certainly seems the Style section has grown lame over the past few years.
Good luck, Tim. I'll continue looking for your articles in The Post, even though wading through the muck in the Style section to get to you is sometimes difficult.

Tim Page: Thanks very much. We have a new Style editor, Deborah Heard, and I have high hopes for her. In fairness, I think the section publishes a lot of good stuff -- always has, always will. I would welcome a return to the attention that was once paid to high culture but don't see that happening at many newspapers anywhere these days. In the meantime, we still probably cover more classical music events than any other paper in the country, with the possible exception of the Boston Globe and the L.A. Times. The New York Times? Not anymore.

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Washington, D.C.: This may seem an odd--and possibly sacrilegious--question, but could you advise me on an easy way to identify the various classical (including opera) pieces commonly used in advertising and popular culture. For example, the Beef campaign used music from Aaron Copland's Rodeo. Sadly, I have a miserable ear.

Thanks.

Tim Page: I'm going to let some industrious member of my wonderful audience answer this one as I want to try to get to as many questions as possible. Can somebody help us out?

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Burke, VA: Me again... I would love to hear Die Walkure again with the WNO. Come-on, the Constitution Hall was terrible, Domingo owes us to hear him in his best role of his later partt of career (Siegmund) in ideal conditions. I would write Washington Opera, can other people join?

Thanks again!;

Tim Page: Yes -- it would be great to hear that same performance at the KC Opera House.

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Burke, Va.: Tim,

Are we going to still have occasional chats or perhaps persuade the post to give a once a month spot? Surely once a month is not a lot.

As an alternative, we can use the rec.music.classical or rec.music.classical.recordings USENET forum. Some of the regular contributors on that forum include Henry Fogel, Mark Kluge, Mark Obert-Thorn, and occasionally Seth Winner and even Allan Kozzinn showed up a few times. If you Tim could also join it would be great.

Thanks!

Tim Page: Thanks for the invitation. I'll think about it. Those are some fine writers on that site -- and I'd like to keep my hand in somehow.

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Washington, D.C.: Dear Tim -- I enjoyed your tribute to the great opera singer Renata Tebaldi ... but was irritated by two gratuitous slaps. There was no need to insult Celine Dion in passing at the beginning, and I could find no reason for your comments about Mario del Monaco at the end. What were you thinking?

Tim Page: Thanks very much for your comment; I was glad to pay tribute to Tebaldi.

I'm afraid I stand by my less-than-flattering comment about del Monaco, who continues to impress me as a vulgar bawler, albeit one with a great set of lungs. The "slap" at Celine Dion was -- of all things -- put into the piece for me by an editor who thought Dion would be a better example of a "temporary" diva than Ashlee Simpson! I'm not the biggest Celine Dion fan in the world but would never have cited her as temporary -- her career goes back, what, 20 years or more?

Suffice it to say that I was less than pleased when I read the paper the next morning and found that my opinions were now being written for me. I expected an official complaint from the Canadian government -- and would happily have proffered an apology. Nothing like this has ever happened to me in 25 years of newspaper work, and I can only hope it doesn't happen again.

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Bethesda, Md.: We are thrilled, THRILLED, that Strathmore Hall's new music center is finally set to open, about two miles from our house. Needless to say, I'll visit my local concert venue much more often than I did the Kennedy Center, which is in such a bleak and dangerous part of the city. First we'd pay the outrageous parking fee, then feel unsafe walking to our car after the show, knowing that the homeless and people who ride METRO live in the KenCen's garage. I've seen them there. The opera house is nice, but the KenCen's concert hall is a dull place, and the NSO can be a lackluster ensemble. I tell you this to indicate our excitement at Strathmore, with the Baltimore Symphony scheduled to make weekly visits. All this leads to a question: will you review BSO shows? Hopefullly you'll attend the Thursday BSO performance to give us a "run down" of what to expect.

Tim Page: The Kennedy Center area is quiet, but I'd hardly call it bleak or dangerous. But I'm sure a lot of my readers share your excitement about the new hall. I think it's going to be great for the city -- and the thought of two fine orchestras offering us a choice between their offerings each week is exhilarating.

We will cover the Baltimore Symphony regularly -- sometimes in Baltimore (in preparation for the Strathmore concert) and sometimes in North Bethesda. This is becoming such an exciting place for music.

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Dallas Texas: Just learned of your last web chat through the Musical America website and am disappointed, though not suprised, that this service is being terminated. I've always admired your writings. This is one more nail in the coffin of music criticism in this country. Keep up the good work the best you can.

Tim Page: Thanks very much. It's good to know I had readers in Dallas.

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Bethesda, Md.: Hi Tim,

What makes you so sure that the BSO move to Strathmore will make the music scene in the area more lively? Their repertoire is primarily safe and conservative whereas the NSO does consistantly more adventurous works. And if it does become competitive, I would think that the NSO would have to tone it's programing down and that would be a tremendous blow to the musical livelihood of the area.

Tim Page: I think both orchestras have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad we'll have a choice between them -- and some weeks I'll go hear both groups.

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Reston VA: Good news for fans of Choral and Opera music. WGMS has started an internet radio station devoted to all classical vocal music. For years I've felt that vocal music has taken a back seat in DC classical radio.

vivalavoce.com

Tim Page: This IS good news.

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Washington D.C.: Tim, I recall seeing the Post article on best CDs of '04, but don't recall seeing any of your picks. What did you like?

Tim Page: These were my picks -- they ran in the Weekend section, from which I have stolen this:

Leon Fleisher, "Two Hands." Vanguard, $16.98. Pianist Leon Fleisher lost the use of his right hand in the mid-'60s at the height of his career, when he was in his mid-thirties. The condition was eventually diagnosed as dystonia, a neurological movement disorder, and Fleisher fought it like a tiger for the next four decades. Recently, experimental treatment with Botox restored most of the power to the damaged hand, and an exuberant Fleisher, now 76, entered the studio to make a new recording, titled, appropriately, "Two Hands." The disc begins with miniatures by Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Chopin and Debussy, and then moves on to the massive Sonata in B-flat (D. 960), by Franz Schubert. All sentiment, all rooting-for-the-underdog, all yearning-for-the-happy-ending set aside, the result is a tender, wise, profoundly musical album that would make or enhance the reputation of any pianist now before the public.

Eighth Blackbird, "Beginnings." Cedille, $18.98. Daniel Kellogg may be the most gifted American composer under 30, and his "Divinum Mysterium," recorded by the new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird, is among the most immediately arresting pieces I've heard in years. Scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, "Divinum Mysterium" lasts a full half-hour yet never comes close to wearing out its welcome. On the contrary: Such is the richness and fertility of Kellogg's imagination that one listens breathlessly, delightedly, to every passing inspiration, from the chimes and chanting that set the piece into motion through to its dynamic, ecstatic close. The disc also contains George Crumb's "Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale)," an evocative, if rather dated, work from a venerated master. But it is Kellogg who steals the show -- and, with any luck, he is just getting started.

"Shostakovich, Symphony No. 4." Philips, $16.98. Nobody has ever called Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4 a "perfect" composition. On the contrary: It is the anguished musical diary of a man who slept with a revolver under his pillow and who fully expected to disappear into one of Stalin's gulags at any moment. Indeed, so apprehensive was Shostakovich about public reaction to this hour-long, aggressively dissonant nightmare that he suppressed all performances until 1961, a full 25 years after the symphony was finished. It still comes across as pretty strong stuff -- a succession of ghostly marches, roaring brass, crashing cymbals and a magnificent riot of orchestral sound in the finale that, once heard, can never be forgotten. Nobody has ever made the symphony sound so fierce, frenzied and desperately inspired as Valery Gergiev does in his new recording with the Kirov Orchestra.

William Neil, "A Festive Proclamation." MSR Classics, $14.95. On those all-too-rare nights when the National Symphony Orchestra needs an organist, William Neil is there to fulfill his duties brilliantly. Now Neil has made his first solo recording, at Washington's National Presbyterian Church, where he also serves as organist. This varied and incessantly diverting program begins with Samuel Adler's charged, jubilant "Festive Proclamation" (written especially for Neil) and contains an aching and appropriately dignified "Hymn for the Lost and the Living" for trumpet and organ by Eric Ewazen. Some old favorites are here as well -- Handel's Organ Concerto in B-flat (Op. 4, No. 6); a selection of short works by Bach (mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler joining in on a resplendent "Sheep May Safely Graze"); a chorale by Cesar Franck; and Charles-Marie Widor's romping and exhilarating finale to his Symphony No. 5. Gleaming and lifelike recorded sound adds immeasurably to the experience.

"A Vintage Christmas." 78s2cd.com, $11.99 plus $3.99 shipping and handling. Discs of Christmas music have been holiday favorites since the dawn of the modern recording industry. This fascinating album, assembled by collector-producer J.C. Lockwood, contains performances dating back almost a century -- including the great Irish tenor John McCormack's elegant and sweet-toned rendition of the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" with violinist Fritz Kreisler; the nonpareil Enrico Caruso in the "Cantique de Noel" ("O Holy Night"); selections from Handel's "Messiah" sung by the contralto Louise Homer and the short-lived (and underrated) tenor Evan Williams; contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink's celebrated "Silent Night" -- even field recordings of London's Westminster Chimes gonging out "Adeste Fideles" sometime around 1905! This is a lovely disc -- one of a series of lovely discs from www.78s2cd.com -- but it is not available in stores, and Lockwood advises me that any orders that are expected by Dec. 24 should be placed by Tuesday. You can order online or by calling 877-286-0116; Visa, MasterCard and PayPal accepted.

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Northern Virginia: I'm sorry this may be the last chat--I appreciate your willingness to participate in this dialogue. My comment is that your support of Scott Wheeler's new opera Democracy is commendable, but aren't you being falsely naive in wondering why it's not being presented in a full production at the Opera House? Seems to me that the answer is basically $-- at the KC it would cost millions and--sorry--no one would come. At Lisner using student orchestra and chorus, which probably are being paid very little, and the singers from the young artist program, at least the piece will get a hearing. Maybe the discussion should be about why the majority of the DC audience won't come to anything written after 1900? What are producers supposed to do when clearly audiences won't support new work?

Tim Page: Thanks a lot for your comment. I don't think I'm being falsely naive -- I know perfectly well why it's not being presented in a full production and I'm sorry about the WNO's timidity. On the other hand, I don't have to balance their budget, and nobody knows how much the troupe lost during the year it was in Constitution Hall except that it was a whole lot of money. My hope is that it will be a first rate opera, will make a big impression, will sell out Lisner (and then some) and then maybe return to Washington. Right now, the politic approach is to watch and wait.

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Takoma PK., MD: I've been eyeballing the seriously expensive box set of Robert Shaw recordings, put out by the Cleveland Orchestra. They look to be in-house radio broadcasts, all choral music, including St Matthew's Passon, German Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Worth the money? I already have Shaw's recordings of this repertory on other labels.

Tim Page: It's a fine set -- especially the "German Requiem" and a terrific performance of Handel's "Semele" with Beverly Sills at the peak of her powers. What an extraordinary artist she was -- and what a shame that the record companies didn't capture her in her prime.

I'm less happy with the "St. Matthew" -- don't like the English translation and the whole sound is rather tubby. The Beethoven I can take or leave -- there are better performances out there. But the "Semele" and the "Requiem" are pretty special.

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Silver Spring, MD: Hi Tim!; I am so sorry to hear you are being taken off-line. It seems as if this type of forum would be very good for the Post in outreaching the community. I sent in a question a little earlier in the day and am not certain whether you received it. I got an e-mail from Classical 103.5 announcing the creation of VivaLaVoce.com. I was amazed, having made numerous requests to this radio station before to increase their vocal selections. The response was that it was no interest (they even terminated their interest in the MET broadcasts). What is up? Are their other net sights which broadcast strictly vocal selections? Is this the wave of the future? I am really surprised by htis move. All the best!;

Tim Page: Rightly or wrongly, radio stations think that their listeners don't like vocal music, organ music, long symphonies or anything written after 1900. I've always thought this was the aural equivalent of short-sighted -- but who knows?

At least the radio stations are doing their best to spread the word and send their voice-hungry listeners elsewhere.

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Sterling, VA: Tim,

On more than one occasion, you have mentioned that Leonard Slatkin is not a contender for the music directorship of the Chicago Symphony. But apparently he scored big time points there with the public and press last month, the latter mentioning how he moved squarly into the front of the pack. Is it possible that his decision to leave DC has something to do with his becoming music director there? Surely the timing of his announcement cannot have been purely coincidental.

Tim Page: Well, it wasn't really HIS announcement, from what I understand...

Nevertheless, I've been told that Slatkin was at his very best in his recent Chicago appearances. He'd certainly be a tonic for Barenboim -- a straightforward craftsman instead of a fuzzy shaman.

Who knows what goes on in the minds of orchestra boards? I'm sure Slatkin has some admirers in Orchestra Hall. But I'd still bet against his appointment. My own guess is that Slatkin will go the Leinsdorf route and prove a very much-in-demand guest conductor for the next few years. After that, maybe he can pull a Lorin Maazel maneuver and reel in another major orchestra, once his Grand Old Man stature is assured.

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WGMS: My understanding is that WGMS approached the vocal organizations in the area for financial support and many either pledged or intend to pledge support in the future. There is a hunger for a more diverse radio culture out there, thus the increased success of internet and satellite radio!;

Tim Page: It's good news all around. I think commercial classical radio has outlived its spirit of adventure -- and yes, there WAS some, once upon a time.

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In response to Bethesda, MD:: Ok, I'll give you bleak - as in not much around here... but the Kennedy Center is in a DANGEROUS part of the city???? Have you been to the wrong side of Capitol Hill after dark, or Anacostia or a sketchy section of Adams Morgan or Petworth?

Sorry we can't all live in the posh neighborhoods of the DC area such as Bethesda, but I feel perfectly safe walking around a night near the Kennedy Center and in Foggy Bottom. Geez.

Tim Page: Yes -- I've never felt threatened in the Kennedy Center area. My only complain is that it sometimes seems a fairly dull area.

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Takoma Park, MD: Thanks for the lively discussion of the Glenn Gould films last week.

To follow up on what some misguided zealot asked, do you think that in a truly rational world Charles Rosen would be as well known as Glenn Gould?

Tim Page: That was a funny question, wasn't it?

Here again, my answer is pretty much the same. I don't think Charles Rosen would be as well known as Gould -- and that's not a slap at Rosen so much as it is a recognition of Gould's unique mixture of virtuosity, originality and pure show biz flair. He was simply the sort of person around whom myths will form -- a true charismatic as well as a great musician.

Rosen is a fine and serious artist -- and I far prefer his renditions of, say, the late Beethoven sonatas to the ones Gould recorded (much too young). But the question just doesn't work: it's a little like asking whether, in a just world, Kevin Spacey would be as well known as James Dean. And the only answer I can come up with is -- with all due respect to Spacey is: probably not.

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Baltimore, Md.: I was looking for the Fair Melusina overture by Mendelssohn, and I found a listing on iTunes, so I downloaded it without listening to the free 30-sec sample.

This is not the Mendelssohn overture I know. Can you or any of your readers identify it? Do you think Apple will give me my 99 cents back?

(I think there were 2 different performances. The one I bought was the one that could be purchased as a track; the other one could only be purchased as part of an album.)

Tim Page: I know nothing about this -- couldn't even hum the overture. I'm sorry. Maybe one of our readers could help?

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Washington, DC: I am falling for Gyorgy Ligeti, of all composers, and I don't know what to do about it.

I normally can't stand serialist music, but Ligeti seems to somehow create beauty out of the most unlikely combinations, even if it's disturbing, like his score for "2001: A Space Odyssey," which, as if the movie weren't creepy enough, scared the daylights out of me even more.

In any case, I've rediscovered him, but this is an area of music that I'm not very familiar with, and I was just wondering which CDs or representative compositions you would recommend for a cautious adventurer like me.

Thanks!;

Tim Page: Ligeti isn't really a serialist -- although he may have written some serial works (as did almost everybody).

I'd recommend "Atmospheres," "Lontano" (for harpsichord), the Requiem (included in 2001) and, if you're feeling venturesome, the opera "Le Grand Macabre." He's a very interesting composer and it is good to see him recognized for his originality late in life. Glad you are enjoying his work.

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Washington, D.C.: A friend recently insisted that for the truly best, or at least most moving performances of any particular genre of music, one must go to the 'homeland' -- e.g., European music is most authentically performed by European musicians. As I considered the issue, I realized that my most treasured recordings of Mozart operas, for instance, are by German companies, but I doubt that I would go to a European orchestra if I wanted one recording of a Copland piece. Your thoughts?

Tim Page: I think this was more true 50 years ago than it is today. American singers, in particular, are all over the world -- singing in those grand old European opera houses.

Still, there is something to be said for the idea of regionalism -- the idea that a German orchestra might play German music with an authority that is hard to match in, say, Boston. And the best performances of American music have mostly originated in this country.

Wish I could muse on this further and give you an answer in a couple of weeks!

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Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: The Kennedy Center is dangerous??!!?? For Pete's sake, there's the Watergate, the Saudi Embassy and the K.C, which is a presidential memorial patroled by the park service police. I'd wager that the neighborhood around the K.C. is among the SAFEST in the city. Has anyone else ever seen homeless people in the parking garage? Who are these suburbanites, afraid of "people who ride Metro"???

Tim Page: I think one of the best things about Strathmore is the fact that it is Metro-accessible. And yes -- I feel completely safe around the Kennedy Center. Indeed, one of the reasons it was built where it is was to spare suburbanites the supposed "threats" of city life.

The original Kennedy Center was to have been at Pennsylvania and 15th Street, as I recall -- but there were fears that folks from Virginia and Maryland wouldn't come in to it. Indeed, I once had a conversation with somebody who told me that the only part of Washington he'd been in during the past 15 years was the Kennedy Center because he could come in on the freeway and then leave right away so it didn't "count" as visiting the big, bad, dangerous -- and wonderful -- city.

I'm glad we are rediscovering our cities now. It's hard for people who grew up in the 80s and 90s and 80s to imagine how unfashionable they were in the 60s and early 70s. (Of course that unfashionability is what allowed me to live in a five-room apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for $225 a month in 1975!)

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Eugene, Oregon: Tim,
Did you know that Mendelssohn wrote a full length comic opera at age 14, that was never publicly performed?

It's called "The Uncle From Boston.". Helmuth Rilling, the conductor from Stuttgart, uncovered it at the Berlin state library, and had it prepared for a world premiere that took place in Essen, Germany last October. The American premiere will take place July 3 at the Oregon Bach Festival here in Eugene.

It's a comic opera, and Rilling said it's full of the usual silliness, but also full of wonderful music that echoes Mozart, Beethoven, and of course the Mendelssohn of Midsummer Night's Dream. Just thought your readers would like to know.

Tim Page: Oh that sounds great!

I've been to Eugene and to the Oregon Bach Festival -- a beautiful part of the world.

George Gershwin wrote a long-lost, unbelievably catchy song called "My Cousin from Milwaukee." Maybe they could be on a double bill...

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Nani, Texas: It's very disappointing that your program is being discontinued. Certainly there are hundreds of readers such as myself who use this forum to learn and discover but who rarely post because we are not that well versed in music. My granddaughter's elementary school announced that it was going to discontinue the choral program because of "budget concerns". When parents learned that the administrators were spending precious funds for new furniture and carpeting for their offices, we raised such a ruckus, they changed their minds, at least for this year. Best wishes to you and thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

Tim Page: Thank you. I don't think there's any chance for a reprieve -- but I'm glad to hear that your granddaughter will continue to be able to sing in a chorus. That's such a wonderful experience -- I learned so much by singing in the chorus at Mannes during the 1970s.

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K Street Corridor: Tim: First the wine guy bites the dust and now your chat also is terminating - very sorry to hear that. I guess that means I'm stuck with Weingarten now. Thank you for the chats - I have found them helpful and stimulating.

Tim Page: Weingarten is great. I used to sit right next to him at the Post -- and I never laughed so hard in my life. Later he was a neighbor, on Capitol Hill. He's a blast.

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Washington, DC : Tim,
What a disappointment to lose your chat, from which I've learned a lot and which (attention, Post advertisers) has inspired me to go to more concerts and recitals and buy more CDs. Thanks for your contributions to the music community.

Tim Page: Thanks very much for your words.

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Takoma Park, MD: Re: Rosen. Exactly!; Rosen is wonderful to listen to, but not the showman/shaman/ear-cleanser that Gould was.

There's a reason why human interest sells - we're humans. Gould, unlike some of 'em, could actually play wonderfully. So people were drawn by the extramusican stuff and stayed to listen.

My pop-music-loving partner, who came along to the show, went home and listened to half of my Gould library over the next several days. That's how it works!;

Tim Page: But we shouldn't forget that there are great artists who are NOT charismatic in the same way that Gould was but still make valuable contributions. I wouldn't want to be without Rosen's best records -- and don't forget his books.

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Fairfax, Va.: Once again the classics get pushed aside when the money gets tight. For years I have bemoaned the gutting of school music budgets, the folding of smaller classical groups and the cutting of funds for the arts on a state and national level. The Post has just lost a lot of respect in my eyes for not looking beyond the mighty dollar in giving classical music a place at the table here in these live chats. Is it any wonder the state of the arts in this country has deteriorated in the past 20 years?

Tim Page: Thank you for your good words. Again, the Post covers a lot of classical music. Moreover, there are some very smart chats that seem to be able to draw a large audience (Michael Dirda, for one). I don't know why this venture didn't work. I'm just sorry that it's coming to an end.

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Tim Page: And that, I'm afraid, is that...

We have a number of questions left, and I'm truly sorry that I didn't get to address them all. If you want to write to me, my e-mail address is paget@washpost.com; I'll try to answer you.

Please continue to support the arts -- and talk them up to anybody who will listen. We clearly have an audience to build.

Thanks for all the good times -- and I hope you'll remember these hours with fondness.

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