From: President <a To: Jeffrey Epstein Subject: Thanks Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:45:17 +0000 I am finally home. First, let me wish you a happy passover; second, thanks for the candor and the friendship. So you won't mind if I push back. There are, as I can see it, three issues and if each can be addressed, with a third round of checking, you might think differently. I have had Lynne send on names. I) The repertoire. The works we do are worth doing, sometimes because a masterpiece is unearthed, and sometimes, something good but influential and worth hearing has been revived, and and sometimes as a foil from history against which we measure our so called greatest hits. In all cases, the works have to be performed and experienced and therefore performed. And we have a loyal following in the hall and on the intemet. So something is working. 2) The format of the concerts is a curated one that links music with literature, politics, history--a necessary part of what music is. In that sense the ASO is totally unique. 3) Botstein and the ASO. The truth is that I have been such a thorn of the side of critics, conductors and managers that I am not surprised at what you found. But you will find support and real support within the profession. Pardon the expression but I have not gotten medals and awards for anything but my work in music. I just got the Bruckner Medal this month (the other recipients have been Toscanini and Walter, among others). And I got the same Austrian Cross for contributions to music as Sir Simon Rattle--the same year. I hate that stuff, but there it is. On 1--again think of Nabokov, whose favorite Russian poets were often obscure figures derided by all the other critics. He stood alone. The Marschner is beautiful opera and a crucial link between Beethoven and Wagner. So I stand in the Quixotic defense of works that are worth it--even if they are not as good as others. Music does not follow Darwinian patterns (a longer discussion).