[64.2] QUOTA

"Greatness enters art in the 20th century as a by-product of mass media. Arturo Toscanini was the first conductor to be designated 'great' when RCA imported him to America, with massive fanfare, as its network maestro. The catalogue of his recordings created a canon of 'great composers'. The twin cults of the great conductor and the great composer have conspired ever since to stultify concert life in the US." Norman Lebrecht (London Evening Standard, 29 January 2003)

"Israel can boast a leader, just and brave, a friend to freedom." (Last line of G.F.Handel's 'Joshua', sung at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on the same night that hard-liner Ariel Sharon was re-elected. See Erica Jeal)