Posted by doubler on February 22, 2000 at 00:31:07:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Civic posted by Jay Bertolet on February 21, 2000 at 23:13:50:
Atta boy, Jay.
I guess I wasn't QUITE clear about the 'money as a yardstick of excellence' thing as I could have been, and we may yet see things a bit differently. No, I certainly don't mean to imply that people play better when you pay them more, but I would expect that the competition for the higher-paying jobs is stiffer, and therefore would, AS A RULE, have the best players to choose from. Now, there are surely guys who pass on the bigger money to stay in a place they like, so I'm sure it's not hard-and-fast, but AS A RULE I would expect the higher paying jobs in any field to attract the best talent. That says little about the quality of the ENSEMBLES only the TYPICAL quality of the MUSICIANS.
You'll notice I used the phrase "I would expect" a couple of times, and that's all it is. Common sense tells me that things would be this way, but Jay has always struck me as one of the most objective and fair people on this board, and he certainly has infinitely more experiences with orchestras than I. If he still disagrees with me as I've presented my expectations here, listen to him.