Is cello worth it?

The recent teeth gnashing over the lost and found $3.5-million Stradivarius cello is a sure metaphor for the desperate myopia of the current L.A. classical music scene.

Why must the Los Angeles Philharmonic own a $3.5-million soloist’s instrument when it could have six superb celli and money left over for institutional scholarships for young players? Is the ownership of such an instrument merely for the sake of the Philharmonic’s institutional glamour? Is this the same reason the Philharmonic favors a small number of prestigious, high-priced commissions, favoring overseas composers, when contemporary American music has only a token programming presence?

This may be part of the current survival strategy for a heavily larded arts institution, but 50 years from now, this philosophy will harvest an even greater dearth of local players and composers who work for the L.A. Philharmonic instead of Paramount Pictures.

James Bigelow

Los Angeles