why we can't get a combination that satisfies the pop tastes on enough nights, but also has room for things that will appeal to the more classically-grounded BSO fans.

It's been so disheartening to see the orchestra struggling to find something that clicks economically and artistically for years now. The "Summer MusicFest" days of a decade or so ago may not have lit up the box office, but they sure did deliver fun and substance in pretty good measure.

I've mentioned before that I like what the New York Philharmonic started a while back, the "Summertime Classics" series devoted to the kinds of pieces that helped many of us become attracted to classical music -- the greatest hits that are now mostly consigned to radio. The Philharmonic has an engaging host/conductor, Bramwell Tovey, who seems to have made this series work. No reason why the BSO couldn't devise something similar and find someone with similar public appeal to put on the podium.

I also think it's worth looking at a true festival format, a concentration of events around a clear theme (composer, genre, whatever) and a heavily marketed approach that targets people looking for a cool time and musical rewards. Is it really impossible to do something like this in Baltimore? Is it because not enough people hang around town at this time of year, or because it's just too darn hot for those who do?

Well, here's a little something to consider. Back in the '90s, the now sadly extinct Florida Philharmonic and its then-music director James Judd launched a summer enterprise in Fort Lauderdale called Beethoven by the Beach.

Think about it: South Florida. Summertime. Heat. Terrible humidity. Few tourists. Sounds insane, right?

No festival should have been successful in that place at that time, but this one, at least early on, did quite well. There were lots of symphonies and concertos from the orchestra, and the festival also had room, in smaller venues, for things like the complete piano sonatas (I still recall some goth kid who attended every one of the sonata concerts -- he had never heard any of them and wanted to get the full experience).

I mention this Beethoven fest because the BSO used to drop Beethoven's Ninth into the summer lineup almost as a matter of course, one surefire ticket-seller. But the orchestra never seized on the opportunity to develop further the public's love of that work and that composer.

It doesn't seem so insane to me to try something like a Beethoven in Baltimore festival. In addition to lots of the obvious repertoire, there could be an offbeat touch here and there, maybe a Mass or a concert version of "Fidelio" (I doubt any Baltimore opera company will ever bring us this great work).

Find some some alternative, more intimate concert spaces where you could try out the piano sonata cycle, or perhaps the string quartets (the Meyerhoff lobby could be usable in this regard).

Go out on a limb and get a hotshot pianist to perform Liszt transcriptions of the symphonies. Build programs that show Beethoven's influence on subsequent composers. You could keep the Beethoven theme going for years, with a little imagination.

There's always Tchaikovsky to build a summer festival around, too, if Beethoven doesn't float your boat. Tchaikovsky's good box office, isn't he? And wouldn't it be nice to hear the "1812 Overture" indoors for a change, not to mention as part of broader look into the composer?

Marketing a festival that has a point and a personality, that contains lots of popular fare and popular prices, should not be beyond the BSO or Baltimore. There have to be enough music lovers, or music-curious folks, who are not down-y-oshun all summer long, who crave some stylish, substantive entertainment.

And I'm not saying that a "Final Fantasy"-type concert, or tribute band sort of show, or a Gershwin program can't still be part of the equation. It's a matter of clever packaging and determination.

A summer festival would be a great time to try out new visual approaches -- big screen projections, for example. And new formats -- maybe late-night concerts, at prices attractive enough to draw a younger crowd (this concept, which has proven popular in some places, seems like a natural for summertime).

Anyway, I just think there's an opportunity for something bigger, better and cooler from the BSO from late-June through July. The summer season too often feels like an after-thought.

SUN STAFF AND FILE PHOTOS