Archives for 2008

There's no better way to understand why classical music doesn't speak to many people these days than by comparing pop and classical music reviews. I've chosen some from the New York Times, both because I read that paper every day and because the reviews on both sides of the fence are more than reputable. So the comparison, broadly speaking, is fair. So here's a bit of Ben Ratliff's review last Thursday of Gilberto Gil: His set was a deep fusion of pop and folk culture... The name of his band, Banda Larga Cordel, means broadband, and Mr. … [Read more...]

In the arts -- and certainly in classical music -- we spend a lot of time talking to each other, and I've just about typed myself blue in the face trying to say that we need to talk to people from the outside world. Especially if we want to reach a new young audience! One of the people I've long thought ought to be invited to talk to the classical world is J.D. Considine, a veteran pop and jazz writer whom I've known for some years, and currently writes about jazz for the Toronto Globe and Mail. He likes classical music (we used to talk about … [Read more...]

The comments so far on my post about the National Performing Arts Convention -- have been mostly very heartening. As is one private e-mai, which I hope to be able to share. The comments are well worth reading. One point that emerges from the comments is how silly it is -- to put this in plain English -- to assemble a group of well-meaning amateurs and ask them to solve a serious problem that needs the attention of professionals. Of course I mean amateurs in politics, promotion, and the planning of strategic campaigns. The democratic impulse … [Read more...]

I wasn't at the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver last week, but I've faithfully read the strategies for the future that the conference produced. (If you follow the link, keep scrolling down to read all the strategies that were proposed.) And the whole thing, I have to say, makes me a little sad. Everyone -- and this includes friends of mine, people I respect and have known for years -- got so excited. Which is natural. You meet in a supportive environment, you've all got the same goals (boost the performing arts!), procedures … [Read more...]

Because I've complained before that classical music organizations don't say or do do much about the environment (if they do anything at all), it's only fair to note something new from the New York Philharmonic. They're switching to e-mail-only press releases (except for "major items such as season announcements," to quote their e-mail). And at the bottom of every e-mail from anyone at the organization is this, in green type: "Please consider the environment before printing this email." And their annual parks concerts t-shirt is, they say, 100% … [Read more...]

A while ago, I talked about a lieder recital, at which I thought gentility stifled all meaning. My key example was a group of songs based on Baudelaire poems -- the uneasy meaning of Baudelaire didn't come through at all. For an antidote, try Gerard Souzay's performance of Duparc's song "L'invitation au voyage," which sets one of Baudelaire's most famous poems. (Dalton Baldwin is the pianist.) It's one of the art songs I love best -- no, one of the classical pieces of any kind I love most. And this performance defines it for me. Souzay goes … [Read more...]

From my wife Anne Midgette's terrific review on Musical America (you have to subscribe to the site -- well worthwhile -- to read the full text). I agree with all of this, but couldn't have put it this well: Show Boat," the 1927 musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, represents a turning point in the history of the American musical. And you'd better remember it; Carnegie Hall certainly did. The gala semi-staged performance it presented for its own benefit on Tuesday night wore its significance like the Pope his heavy golden robes: … [Read more...]

Last night I saw Showboat -- the grand old musical -- in what was supposed to be a gala concert performance at Carnegie Hall. I don't know how it can be very gala if hardly anyone in the cast can inhabit their roles. (Nathan Gunn was the big exception. He really knows how this music goes, and both sings and acts well enough to bring it off. He belongs on Broadway.) But let that be. What fascinated me -- and, I'll admit, made me a little sad -- was the orchestra. The musicians, in theory, were star quality, the A-list people from the … [Read more...]

I've gotten an audio recording of the commencement speech I gave at Eastman, back on May 17, and with the school's permission, I've put it online. Just click on the link to hear it. It's 24 minutes long, and if you don't want to sit streaming it for that long, you can download it. I'm sure many Windows users know the procedure -- right click and choose "Save Link As..." (or the equivalent). Sorry that I don't know the Mac procedure. Feedback welcome. I'm in the midst of writing an outline of what I said. I make notes, and then speak from … [Read more...]

Yesterday some friends came to visit, with their five year-old son. Their son likes a bird book we have, with big pictures of birds, each with a number. Punch out the number on a keypad on the side of the book, and you hear the bird's song.So the kid was playing with the book, and soon he started making up birds. He'd drape himself with a blue blanket we have, to give himself wings, and he'd announce what bird he was, and make up its song.Then he announced that he was going to do some "bird remixes," his exact words. He's wonderfully musical, … [Read more...]

Look on the right. Along with my new "Resources" section, I've revamped "Things I Like." "Resources" gives you source material for some of the things I've talked about in this blog, starting with the age of the audience. "Things I Like" (which once in a while might be "Things I Don't Like") will give you snapshots of what I'm paying attention to -- books, movies, music, ideas. First up: some music from Carmen McRae, sharp, vivid, and original.Coming soon on "Resources": a bibliography (with some excerpts) of books and scholarly papers on what … [Read more...]

Sunday I gave the commencement address at the Eastman School of Music. Very happy moment for me, because I've been teaching there for three years, and each year I've warmly bonded with my students. Eastman generally is a very warm place -- I could see that in the way faculty and students hugged as the commencement proceeded. My speech seemed wonderfully well received, and I'll post a summary here of what I said.And on the blog -- note a new section on the side, called "Resources." I'm going to post things there that might help anyone interested … [Read more...]

In a takehome exam that ends my "Classical Music in an Age of Pop" course, I asked my Juilliard students to tell me what the place of the standard classical repertoire should be, in a world where people under 40 (and plenty of people older than that) don't make any distinction between high art and the rest of culture. I'd assigned the students reading that describes how this works, from John Seabrook's book Nobrow.Some people, of course, will be shocked. "He's saying that Shostakovich is now the same as Mariah Carey!"No. We can still make … [Read more...]

Due to over-hasty cutting and pasting, I messed up some links in my responses to some comments. I'm fixing them. And right now I'll restate two of them correctly:. My wife Anne Midgette's review of the spectacular National Symphony's concert,featuring Hilary Hahn in Paganini, and David Del Tredici's Final Alice is here. Christopher Small's evocation of the secret life of a concert hall is here. … [Read more...]