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阅读理解
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
The decision of the New York philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment．For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least “Hooray! At last!” wrote Anthony Tommasini, a classical-music critic．
One of the reason why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known．Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert's appointment in the Times, calls him “an musician with no air of the formidable(令人敬畏的)conductor about him．” As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has so far been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise．
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one．To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music．All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or open my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes．
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recording are no substitute for live performance are missing the point．For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists(演奏家) must compete not only with opera houses, dance groups , theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20 th century．Their recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today's choosing．The widespread availability of such recording has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert．
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on records．Gilbert's own interest in new music has been widely noted：Alex Ross , a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more energetic organization”．But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely, expanding the orchestra's repertoire(曲目)will not be enough．If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America's oldest orchestra and the new audience it hopes to attract．
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