How many here were participants in Classicalinsites?

[MusicalDream]

In the Socialist Republic of Romania concerts (I mean concert halls or opera houses) were never free. Cheap, yes, but even today they are relatively cheap, except for opera where they are quite expensive. The audience, though, was thoroughly "bourgeois", or better said "middle-class": the vast majority of non-musician/non-artist concert-goers then as now were doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, engineers and other highly educated professionals. The "working class" then as now preferred more popular genres of music. The theater audience, on the other hand, were indeed more mixed, probably because tickets for plays were sold not only at the box office but also through trade unions (state-controlled, obviously)

And btw, the notion that communist regimes were truly classless societies is false. There was both aristocracy (Party nomenklatura) and bourgeoisie (managers and top white collars of the state-owned factories, banks and commercial firms). And in stark contrast with the "capitalist" regimes, education or entrepreneurial spirit were not vehicles for upward social mobility: loyalty to the Party or membership in the Securitate (Secret Political Police) were. You could be a barely literate former shoemaker apprentice --- if you were fanatically loyal to the Party you could little by little ascend to the highest office in both the Party and the state: Ceaușescu. Conversely, you could be highly educated and extremely competent in your field --- if you were not both a Party member and its supporter (be it sincerely or oportunistically) or a covert agent of Securitate you had no chance to advance your career.

I did not know that about Romania and the classical music concerts, I know very little about Romania.

Definitely agree with the second part about communist societies, I've got family from various former communist countries (which honestly was several countries throughout the world that at least gave it a try). Every single one of those countries (whether it was in Europe, Asia, or Africa) had party-loyalty or obedience to the leader of the country as a requirement for a lot of the jobs, even if the person in question was totally incompetent. But apparently they all tried to copy the Soviet style of doing things because of their attempt at worldwide influence. In addition, I also did not think it was truly a classless society based off of my family's experiences and reading history books.

[Febct]

Frank Berglas and I were quite friendly, and we often had dinner at a little Chinese place near Lincoln Center before an opera at the Met.
All these memories . . . .

Greetings - yours truly here. Would you mind identifying yourself for me?  I vaguely recall, but cannot definitively put a name to the scene.  Is it possible somehow to exchange personal info, either on board here or elsewhere?  Thanks - hope to hear...

[Mister Sharpe]

Just having a large collection of CDs and/or LPs qualifies one at the very least as eccentric and in the eyes of some can even put a collector in the 'hoarder' category (a favorite epithet among many in these days of "decluttering," now all the rage from influential authorities such as Marie Kondo to Dana White.) That might be the worst that a collector can be labeled, as it strips away aspirations of discernment and connoiseurship, not to mention aesthetic delight... There's another aspect to this:  home music listening was once a group or family activity but is only rarely so nowadays. The very solitariness of it accentuates notions of isolation and hence alienation and peculiarity.  Paradoxically, belonging to a music forum, brings the ring of eccentricity to an even higher pitch. Fora themselves - of all stripes - are commonly seen among non-participants as hotbeds of controversy and quarrels that sensible, sane people avoid. Speaking personally, however, I'm happy to be among other 'nutters,' as the Brits say.

[owlice]

I'm so sorry about Antecki; he was such a very nice young man, and the reason I have Rodrigo CDs (which I love). What sad news.

Reading through this thread has brought back a lot of memories!

I met Kelsey the trumpeter from Oklahoma a couple of times when she was in DC one summer; she'd won an opportunity to join other young musicians for a workshop at the Kennedy Center. She was still in high school at the time and eventually went off to college. I lost track of her after that.

Surprised that no one has mentioned ALaPorta. He was (maybe still is) an ardent atonal music fan, sometimes strident in his views and sometimes... well, vicious. When he was not being disagreeable, he wrote well about music.

Yes, Auntie Lynn and Lynn Sislo were definitely different people! Sislo was relatively new to classical music, open about her lack of knowledge, listened and learned well, and was very enthusiastic, and nice, too. She lived near Tulsa.

(poco) Sforzando, what is the name of the Wagner fan who we had lunch with in 2001? (omg, so long ago!) I think he was from Iran? Somewhere in the Middle East; he has arrived in the US just a couple of months earlier. He and I went to the World Trade Center before meeting you for lunch on the East Side. After lunch, the three of us walked to ... MOMA, I believe, and while walking, he suddenly wasn't with us, as he'd run into his college roommate (who was in the US for just a week or so), a lovely little "small world" happenstance.

ETA:
Carlipops! He is on Twitter, and when I remember his handle, I'll post it.