I can see that I’ll be finding fault a lot with the classical music business. That’s part of moving toward the future; we have to clear away some of what’s going on now.
And I’m not the only one who feels that way. Last night I had dinner with someone who runs a classical music institution, who said — about the entire field, but especially orchestras — “We’re just starting to open our eyes.” This isn’t someone with a radical reputation; the group in question is best known for fine performances of standard repertoire.
And here’s a proposal that’s been talked about inside this group: Maybe the musicians, when they stand up to take their bows, should look at the audience and smile. There you have a snapshot of where things stand in classical music. A simple, almost elementary idea, something taken for granted in any other performing art, comes off as a surprising innovation.