Greg Sandow on the future of classical music

Ever since I’ve started working inside the classical music business (as a consultant, for instance, or doing projects for orchestras), I’ve noticed that people writing about big classical music institutions don’t seem to know what’s really going on. There are many reasons for this. Many writers are expected to work as both critics and reporters. But these are different skills. How many people have both of them? Second, many writers—even if they’re good reporters—just don’t know the business side of classical music. And why should they? Where … [Read more...]

A while ago, I heard someone give a keynote speech about classical music, and why it deserves a bigger audience. He was lively, smart, impassioned, witty, a master (among much else) of unstoppable one-liners. And yet nearly everything he said was wrong. He talked about the superiority of classical music, and about how much our culture needs it. “Everything else is loud!” he said (or words to that effect). We’re mezzo-forte music in a fortissimo culture.” Only classical music, he said, gave people room for thought and reflection. Which of … [Read more...]

Some things I’ve run across recently, not necessarily in Aspen (see my last post). All of them show something that’s going on, something all of us should know about. So first, something really nice from St. Louis. At some point this season, the St. Louis Symphony played a piece by Steve Reich. The orchestra had to be seated in an unusual way, so after the piece was over, stagehands had to rearrange the stage. That always takes a while, and leaves (or so it seems to me) a dead spot in the concert. But not this time. David Robertson, who … [Read more...]

I’ve been traveling, both for work and pleasure. The work part was two events in Aspen, both at the music festival, one a private conference on professional music education, the other a pair of public panels involving music critics. This last is the second installment of what I hope will be an ongoing series, and it’s an extraordinary project, not least because it was conceived and carried out by the festival’s director of marketing and public relations, Laura Smith. How often does a marketing and PR director plan and fund a project like this? … [Read more...]

This came from Molly Sheridan, managing editor of NewMusicBox, the American Music Center's new music webzine. It's her response to the fabulous pop music playlist I posted here a while back. Many readers of the blog won't know the music Molly picks, but check out how she presents it. Molly's in her late 20s, and knows more about reaching a young audience than most of us. Her approach reminds me a bit of The Ring and I, the lively and engrossing introduction to Wagner's Ring that WNYC (New York's public radio station) broadcast a year ago. (More … [Read more...]

Oprah, Oprah, Oprah…there’s a lot to say. From Anastasia Tsioulcas, classical music columnist for Billboard (and a triple threat, because she’s handy with world music and jazz, too) comes the following: I was just catching up on your blog, and wanted to point out that Oprah's extremely popular magazine, "O," already does carry (albeit small) features on serious music--classical music, opera, and jazz--fairly regularly. (I should know, as I write many of them!) Over the past year, the pieces I've done for "O" include a short preview of the … [Read more...]

I talked for a long time yesterday with someone I’ve just met, Joe McKesson, a former opera singer (dramatic tenor), who’s now a music programmer at MTV, and used to work with classical music at iTunes. He thinks younger people—college age—are getting interested in classical music. This he bases on the kind of anecdotal data you’d develop if you were trying to sell music to college kids, and on buying patterns he observed at iTunes. This makes sense to me. People these days have wider, more diverse musical taste than they’ve ever had before. … [Read more...]

And yesterday, too. From yesterday’s ArtsJournal links came this, from the San Francisco Chronicle: Travel industry fears tougher security Already tight precautions discourage foreign visitors and are about to get tighter   There are fewer foreign visitors than there used to be, the story said, and in the future there may well be fewer still. This is bad news for many New York attractions (and maybe attractions elsewhere), but especially for the Metropolitan Opera, which has long gotten many sales from people who visit New York from … [Read more...]

In today's New York Times, I've reviewed Joseph Horowitz's big recent book, Classical Music in America. You can find the review here. The book is important, but none too successful. I'll add some further thoughts in the next day or two. This was a happy day in our household, because my wife Anne Midgette and I both had pieces in the Times. She's there all the time, of course, but we were tickled to show up in the paper together. Her piece is quite important. "Decline in Listeners Worries Orchestras," says the headline, and Anne did a terrific … [Read more...]

 A few days ago, I was talking to someone at a large classical music organization, yet another person who wants to widen the audience for classical music, and in general bring classical music (or at least the way his organization works with it) into contemporary life. He was outlining his ideas to me, and said something wonderful: “I want to develop some programming that people will love.” And suddenly it struck me: I don’t hear anything like that very often. I myself don’t talk like that. We’re all concerned with widening the audience, and … [Read more...]

From someone in Detroit comes the following: There was great hope among Michigan Opera Theatre folks that Oprah would come to Detroit for "Margaret Garner," and perhap even do a show from the opera house. She is, as you probably know, a big Toni Morrison fan and has featured four of her novels as part of her book club. Danielpour, by the way, would play very well on TV; he's articulate, passionate, tells detailed stories with a point to them and is one of those guys that remembers dialogue from conversations 20 years ago. Anyway, the … [Read more...]

  In today’s New York Times (“Arts” section, page E12), there’s an ad for a Live from Lincoln Center telecast. It’s a New York Philharmonic performance, and the text of the ad (or at least the parts of it that matter) reads like this: Shaham’s Sibelius New York Philharmonic   Lorin Maazel, music director Gil Shaham, violin Violin virtuoso Gil Shaham joins maestro Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic for a spectacular performance of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. Also on the program—Thomas Stacy, english horn. So now let … [Read more...]

I’ve gotten a lot of warm comments on my “Authenticity” post, and they’re inspiring me to say something further, something I should have thought through more carefully. I was hasty, I think, in saying that the New York Philharmonic could have made its “Visions of the Beyond” more honest (more authentic) by arranging panel discussions, involving theologians, and so forth. Accessories are helpful, but still might not be convincing. The orchestra would have to do this for several years, most likely, before any large number of people believed … [Read more...]

Thanks to my wife, Anne Midgette, for that title. She ought to trademark it! And maybe Oprah ought to start promoting opera. Anne thinks so, and so does Jason Hibbard (his own blog is here), who e-mailed as follows, and is happy to have me post his thoughts: On your point about what Oprah might champion in the music world, opera seems a logical choice. It has a long, glamorous tradition, fabulous people who would make good interview guests (Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Rolando Villazon, etc.), and a text to provide an extra measure of … [Read more...]

[I've revised this a bit.] Oprah’s book club is reading William Faulkner this summer. Yes, Faulkner. Deep, serious, difficult stuff. You can go to Oprah's website to see this talked about lightly, but there’s nothing light about Oprah’s commitment. She’s urging three Faulkner books on her fans, As I Lay Dying (June’s selection), followed by The Sound and the Fury and Light in August. And on the website, she has Faulkner scholars answering readers’ questions. Bravo for Oprah. And this ought to have serious implications for classical … [Read more...]