{"id":159,"date":"2008-12-17T13:09:21","date_gmt":"2008-12-17T13:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp\/?p=159"},"modified":"2008-12-17T13:09:21","modified_gmt":"2008-12-17T13:09:21","slug":"when_the_working_day_is_done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/2008\/12\/when_the_working_day_is_done\/","title":{"rendered":"When the working day is done"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to see the band Letters to Cleo<\/a> last week. My friend and I had no idea why they were coming to the city; he just saw them listed on a Bowery Presents e mail and bought tickets with-a-quickness. At the concert, the lead singer – no, not “Cleo”, “Kay Hanley” – said something from the stage to the effect of, “Well, there’s no real reason for these concerts, no new CD or tour. We’re not getting back together as a band. We just thought it would be fun.”<\/p>\n

Hmmm: now when have any of my classical musician friends or clients ever done a concert “just for fun”? Their schedules are planned so far out and venue exclusivity rules are so strict that there really aren’t many opportunities to just pick up and play a concert, but presumably, professional musicians consider all performing fun; or do they? Are the NY Philharmonic musicians having fun? Is it work? Is it at least fun work? <\/p>\n

How do we know who’s having fun and who’s not? When an artist – like Lang Lang three years ago, for example – is emotive and passionate on stage, he or she is often criticized for being unfocused, accused of being ridiculous; eyes will roll. When an artist – like Hilary or, say, the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard – is calm, cool and collected on stage, people comment that they are just that: too cool, emotion-less.<\/p>\n

So, assuming everyone is actually having fun on stage – which I’m not entirely sure we can do – how could\/should performers show this without being criticized for not taking “their art” seriously enough? That Letters to Cleo concert was fun<\/i> – no way around it. There was no pressure on the band to sell discs or get press and the fans were all just happy to be there (despite one guy shouting out “I feel old!!”, which made us all glance around awk-weirdly). Now, at a classical concert, if We the Audience can’t tell if the performers are having fun, how can we have fun ourselves? <\/p>\n

I sincerely enjoy (most) classical music concerts, but I’m not so sure I have fun at them. I have fun before the concert, I have fun seeing friends and colleagues at intermission; if it’s for work, I have fun going backstage and\/or going out to dinner after, but the concert itself? Not really that fun. The last classical concert I did have fun at – and I’m not just saying this because I work for David – was the Bang on a Can Marathon. I sat on the steps with a whole crop of friends, folks were milling around so there was a lot of good people-watching, you could go to the Mexican restaurant next door if you felt like a drink\/snack, and it went super late. I had fun! But that wasn’t in a concert hall, so I’m not sure it counts for the purposes of this discussion.<\/p>\n

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fun<\/font><\/h2>\n

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