Evening star., 1961-03-12
Demands Of Commerce

Demands Of Commerce
Throughout the land, OBJ
servers see increased Ameri-
can interest in the arts, and
point with pride at the ver-
liable epidemic Of plans for
cultural centers" as its
symbol.
But our vaunted growth in
musical culture is tragically
superficial.
Things Of the spirit are
too much controlled and
shaped by the demands Of
commerce.
Economics, not art, calls
the tune.
Ours Is too much Of a
huckster culture in music.
Whether from lack Of conf
dence in its own Judgment,
some basic inferiority COM
plex, the tyranny Of fashion,
or sheer immaturity, the
American public demands
(through the concert impre-
Sario) only "the best" It is
too bad that "the best"
means merely "the best
known"
Lesser known artists, re-
gardleSS Of merit, are free to
try to win q contest result
ing in an embrace by that
paragon Of music critics, Nj
kita KhruShchev.
The Dozen VirtuOsi
The cruel fact is that we
will pay to hear only a few
dozen virtuosi Of interna-
tional fame.
When l per cent Of the
population Of a city such as
Washington eagerly pays out
cold cash to hear a Lettvin,
a Gordon. a Browning, a
Frank, q Frager, q Luvisi, a
Davis, a Kuerti, a Fleisher,
a Janis, a Lipkin, or q Graft
man Ito name only q few
pianiStS among the hundreds
Of brilliant young American
instrumentalistS who are now
struggling along In this coun-
try as best they may, I viii
joyfully concede that we have
something about which to
boast,
And when that same / per
cent pays to hear these
musicians because Of the
music they are playing and
not because they are won
derfully wrought music-per-
forming machines, we will
have achieved Utopia.
But until then, the most
cruel fact Is that music
means all too little to us as a
nation.
BITS AND PIECES =.
The National Symptoms
Sustaining Fund Campaign
has gone over the 80 per
cent marker in it's drive to
collect $280,000. F. Joseph
DOnohue, former District
Commissioner is chairman Of
the Business Committee Of
the campaign. Carl M. Free
man, the suburban commu-
nifty developer, heads the
drives in Montgomery and
Prince Georges Counties.
While the fund drive goes on,
the orchestra heads out Of
town for a tour Of IL cities in
Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma
and Mississippi. Jamie Laredo,
a 19-year-old violinist, Is the
is the soloist for the tour
which ends March % in
Jackson. Miss. The Cor
coran Gallery will have five
membership concerts next
season. The artists engaged
are Jan0s Starker, cellist;
the Netherlands Chamber
Orchestra; Nicanor Zabaleta,
harp; the Paganini Quartet;
and / Musici. The Paganini
Quartet played here during
one Of the billiards for what
must have been one Of the
smallest audiences on record.
4 = . =
COMING UP HERE
Today: The Robert Shaw
ChOFaIe does an interesting
program in Constitution Hall
at 8 pm. There are two
intriguing piano recitals dur
ing the evening as James
Mathis plays at the National
Gallery and Robert Mcdonald
is heard out at the Uni
versity Of Maryland. i.
Wednesday: Alberto Lysy,
Argentine violinst. has an
exceptionally substantial
program scheduled for the
Pan American Union. >. Fri
day: Two concerts, widely
separated geographically and
in the age Of the music on
the program, compete for
prime attention. Artur Ru-
binstein joins the Budapest
Quartet for a program Of the
German classics in which
both he and the Budapesters
excel. At the same time, q
local group, the Silver Spring
COnsOrt is Joined by the
NRo lv1oaI CfnOnva NJ Christ