Terrific discussion

Here’s something wonderful. There’s now a spirited and very civilized

debate about Allan Kozinn’s New York Times piece, in the

href="http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2006/05/new_book_episode_and_allan_koz.html#comments">comments

to my last post — with Allan himself taking part. Allan’s

href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/arts/music/28kozi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2">piece,

if you haven’t seen it, was the cover story in the “Arts & Leisure” section

this past Sunday, and says that classical music has never been healthier.

Obviously, that’s not the view I take.

I weigh in a few times (well, maybe more than a few times), in comments to the comments. But the

best thing is Allan’s own participation, which makes me very happy. I’ve said

that I’ve known him for years, and that I like him a lot. Because he’s taking

part in the debate, his views can get the fullest possible consideration. This

is good for all of us. No matter who’s right, we need

to hear every side in the discussion. Thanks, Allan, for being so generous and

thorough your contributions. I’ll eventually write some kind of comment of my

own, as a regular blog post. But now, thanks to Allan, it won’t simply be a

response to his essay. It can be a summary of a really good conversation.