Footnote to MUSO

I"m with you Greg; I like to say that black and white is for dead composers, and for living composers, dress up! I was a founding member of a group called the "Composers in Red Sneakers" where if you wore red sneakers you got in free. Some of our performers just couldn't break the habit and it was a hoot to see them playing in black and white with red sneakers. Gotta start somewhere...

I beg to differ in one important way: a bimbo is a bimbo is a bimbo. IF classical music were so popular as to have a bevy of Ashley Simpsons or Britney Spears, NONE of them would have the depth and intelligence, assuming they retain their vacouous mentalities, to even begin to plummet the depths of Gurre-lieder, or George Crumb, or Nancarrow, or Heinrich Issac, or anything other than Charlotte Church-esque repertoire. Imagine the Simpson's lip-synching Marie in Wozzeck!
Please!
A BETTER image would be to hope for the likes of Björk (not a hard stretch, by the way), or even Alicia Keys championing the cause of Music of Substance.

Well, sure. I agree. But that was exactly my point! If there was a popular wing of classical music that didn't have any intellectual substance, we'd be in great shape. That would -- if history is any guide -- just about guarantee that the serious stuff would circulate more widely than it does now.

This isn't a new situation. In the early part of the 19th century, when the term classical music first was used, people like Liszt, Paganini, and Rossini were thought about as brainless as Britney Spears is now. All Italian opera was put into that category -- which, believe it or not, was called "popular music." The serious people were Mendelssohn and Schumann, Schubert, Berlioz, later Brahms and Wagner. And of course they weren't nearly as popular as Rossini (who was by miles the leading composer in Europe).But the existence of a huge music scene, fueled by the emerging middle class, provided a market and a cushion for the serious musicians, who played a far bigger role in the serious culture of that time than anything in classical music plays in our culture today.

Which I guess is the point. For me, we'll never have a serious classical music world that plays any serious cultural role until we also have a bimbo classical music world. Though quite honestly, I don't see that as Charlotte Church. I see it as a top orchestra playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto for the 1818th time, with a simpering, preening, gorgeous soloist. Which happens right now, but doesn't reach any large audience.

As a young classical musician, I think that Muso is the stiff shot of Vodka that Classical Music Needs. If I recall correctly, its not published by a USA company, but by a company in England.

I myself amd 27, and an accomplished African-American Female pipe Organist. One of the things in my field that has set me apart and sometimes risen hairs is the way i dress when I do concerts. But most people usually are refreshed that someone so daringly walks out to an Organ console in a Mini Skirt and a haltertop.

if we are going to get classical music out to this generation we must stop the tuxes and tails, stop holding applause until the end, start talking with audiences, and beig more realistic. Its what works for this generation. For me, especially as an Organist, my dream is to restore the Organ to its high position among American Musical Culture by doing innovative performances with other fine and performing arts. Often when i play for audiences that are close to my age or younger, they are so inquisitve. Younger audiences of classical music are note the type that want to sit and read books abour it: they want to know from the performer. And sometimes, yes, they will be completely unaware of what terms to use (ie that stick thing the guy uses to keep the band in beat)

When is Muso going to interview Cameron Carpenter? I say keep it up, Muso. We no longer want to see classical musicians in starchy clothes. half the time their wearing Ecko, Fubu, or Deisel.

And you're the stiff shot of vodka this discussion needs! Thanks.

And thanks for mentioning Cameron. He's a dynamite organist, with some spectacular ways of presenting himself. The season before last, he gave one recital for a large audience wearing a suit for the first half, and a gown (which he designed himself) for the second half. MUSO should feature both of you together!

One thing Ms. Hines helps us with -- younger people may see this situation in their own way, which is part of what MUSO is about. (And yes, it's a British magazine, but they've started a separate American edition.)