Howdy all, > One might say that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated... > > Monica
As the old phrase goes, "the King is dead, long live the King". Classical music won't disappear, the large recording enterprises may drop it and then the small labels will reappear. Deutsche Grammophone (spelling ?) was a small label in my days of the fifties, and if I could search my aging mind (or bend my back to go through the LP collection) I'd come up with many who were bought by majors, who may now find profit in Rock and Rap. But given the ease of making recordings these days there will be new labels for practically every taste. In the late fifties the Clancy Bros. and Tommy Makem (my friends, and fellow singers) recorded about five records on a label they made (Tradition), when they became popular they sold out to Columbia. But at the same time their popularity made space for other traditional Irish. And that was in the days of vinyl. Where is the relation to the lute? (I realize I must make that clear now in order to speak). I have a number of harp CDs that are on personal labels. In the days of vinyl one needed a manufacturing plant, in these days of digital CDs one needs only to rent a studio. I would see a resurgence of the classical coming as the "majors" drop it and the musicians move to the internet sales and the "desk top production". Be it the NY Philharmonic or a small group of lutenists and singers (as posted here, I intend to get that CD) the future is in the individual publisher. And that is to the better. Best, Jon
