The following -- a terrific classical music manifesto -- comes from Ken Nielsen, one of the founders of the wonderful Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, Australia. This is a company so happy, internally, that its chorus volunteered to raise money for a production they didn't sing in. And don't be misled because they call themselves a chamber opera company. They currently perform in -- and sell out -- a thousand-seat house. Ken reads my blog, and posts comments. He and I have emailed for a number of years, and it was a treat to meet him -- along with his … [Read more...]

The peak of my Australia visit -- I got back on Friday night -- wasn't the warm hospitality so many people offered me. Or how seriously people took what I had to say, when I spoke to two groups in Sydney, and one in Melbourne. Or, for that matter, eating kangaroo, which I would have thought would be an absurd visitor's stereotype, but which Australians really do, and highly recommend. (It's leaner than beef, and kanagaroo feed has a lower carbon footprint than cattle feed. I found it on a Chinese takeout menu; it was tender and tasty.)No, the … [Read more...]

Finally, about the flagrant pro-classical bias in the music Pulitizer prizes...(go here and here for my previous posts on this)...There really is a problem -- and I believe the powers in charge of the Pulitzers would agree -- because the top nonclassical artists aren't nominated for the music prize.What would change this? Beyond, of course, the absolutely essential, long-overdue change in the guidelines that I called for in my last post. Well, I'd support affirmitive action. For the next three years only give the prize to nonclassical music, … [Read more...]

Until I get back from Australia on July 17, I can't guarantee that I'll post or reply to comments every day. I'll do some blog posts. But if time is tight, and I don't get to the comments, I do apologize, but that's just how it is. I value the comments, and will do my best to post them as soon as I can. Apologies to all who post something, and have to wait a bit before seeing it online. … [Read more...]

Here's where this started, with some thoughts on the Pulitzer Prize in music, and how, though theoretically it's open to nonclassical music, in practice almost all the awards (and all of the runners-up, who almost got the awards) are classical. One measure of how bad this is: If you look at the winners and runnersup during the past decade, many classical composers who normally wouldn't be ranked in the top tier of their field show up on the list. While almost none of the top names in rock, jazz, and other nonclassical genres are there. Clearly … [Read more...]

[Cultural funding] may be losing some cachet. It's not in vogue with the tech billionaires on the West Coast, where Bill Gates famously funds such developing-world causes as greater access to fresh water and vaccinations. Instead of a night at the opera wearing Oscar de la Renta, it's a week in Malawi sporting khaki safari vests. And younger donors often seem more interested in pursuits like fighting poverty or improving educational opportunities for inner-city kids."Tech guys and hedge fund guys would rather develop electric cars and eradicate … [Read more...]

I did some posts not long ago about the belief in classical music superiority -- and how damaging it can be. Here's one last approach to that. (Well, last for now. Previous posts: Think of the prestigious Pulitzer prizes, and how the people who run them decided that the music prize should be open not just to classical music, but also to jazz. And, I guess, even to pop, because this year they gave an special award to Hank Williams (senior, of course), and in 2008 they gave one to Bob Dylan. Which -- with admiration -- I'd think opens the door to … [Read more...]

A curiosity -- or else a perennial annoyance -- about the liner notes for the Haydn boxed set that includes the surprising "Surprise" Symphony I blogged about. (First post, second post.)Well, really a case of brain-dead habits. The performance is unusual, to say the least. The orchestra making no sound when the loud surprise chord is supposed to come, and then, the next time through, shouting instead of playing the chord.And is there even a word about this in the liner notes? No. They're just the usual (and maybe in this case more than usually … [Read more...]

I'll be flying there on Thursday, arriving in Sydney Saturday, Australian time. On July 12 I'll be speaking at a classical music summit, organized by the Music Council.of Australia. Not a public event, I'm sorry to say, though privacy is also a good idea, to focus discussion, and encourage people to speak simply and honestly. Then I'll be in Melbourne, on July 15, for at least one meeting organized by the Music Board of the Australia Council. I'll be staying in Sydney at the Four Seasons, and in Melbourne at the Travelodge Southbank. I've been … [Read more...]

I posted a little while ago about a recording of Haydn's Surprise Symphony, as reviewed in the Washington Post. At the surprise -- the sudden loud chord in the second movement -- unexpected things happen. Now I've heard the recording -- part of a four-CD set of all Haydn's London symphonies, conducted by Marc Minkowski -- and it's even more fun than the review suggested. Here's what happens. The slow movement, as Haydn wrote it, begins with the simplest of melodies, played very quietly. (And on this recording, it really is quiet.) The melody is … [Read more...]

One more thought about bringing classical music to minority kids, as Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Philharmonic did, when they taught "inner city youth" (their phrase) to dance to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. (See my previous posts on this, the first, second, and third.) It's easy to do.And yes, of course it can be done well or badly, that of course you have to learn some things before you can do it well, and that some programs -- like maybe that Berlin/Carnegie enterprise -- might be inspired.But at bottom, this isn't much of a challenge. If … [Read more...]

That's the name of an early music vocal group in Washington. You can read the meaning of the name on their website. There's a Tallis motet called "Suscipe quæso Domine," and from that you get...I also like the start of their group bio, the part that says their founder "had the typical American dream of wanting to sing Thomas Tallis' Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah." And they sing well. But of course what charms me here is how they make classical music part of regular culture, by naming themselves (I hardly have to say it) the way a band … [Read more...]

From a Washington Post review of Mark Minkowski's new recording of Haydn's London Symphonies, on the Naive recording:Want to be surprised by No. 94, the "Surprise"? Minkowski borrows a joke from the Hoffnung Music Festivals of 50 years ago: When it is time for the famous fortissimo, the orchestra delivers exactly -- nothing. And that really is a surprise, although not the one Haydn intended. So Minkowski plays the lead-in to the "surprise" again, and this time the orchestra shouts instead of playing. Only on the third go-round does the music … [Read more...]

As an important adjunct to my posts on this year's Bang on a Can marathon -- this post and this one -- I should add that what in the end makes the event so fabulous is the music. Without music that people want to hear, no crowds, no year after year success, no event. Of course, just because large crowds enjoy this music, that doesn't mean the music is necessarily good, that you'd like it, or that I'd like it. But I've always liked it very much. Not every piece; of course not; life doesn't work that way. But overall I'm happy to hear what shows … [Read more...]

I've liked the response so far to my idea that Carnegie Hall's top management -- if they're going to bring the benefits of classical music to minority communities (see my posts on this, here and here) -- might also bring some minority music into their own lives and work. By, for instance, learning salsa dancing. You can take my idea, if you like, as a tongue in cheek allegory, but here's why it might be more serious than some people might think. One of the issues involved here is white vs. non-white culture, and involved with that is the … [Read more...]