Time and Place

I just came back from the last concert at the La Musica Festival here in Sarasota. I really like chamber music and don't get a chance to hear it live that often. I only had a chance to hear the last of the five concerts at the festival.

On the program were the "Seven Romances on Poems of Alexandr Blok" by Dimitri Shostakovich. I think I've mentioned here before how much I love Shostakovich and am surprised with each new piece that I discover, how much he moves me. This was no exception (especially in this extraordinary performance by soprano Dina Kuznetsova.

Listening to the piece, a lot of things go through my mind. It's odd to hear a piece juxtaposed with the other pieces (by Mozart and Schubert) on the program. I got to wondering about what kind of composer Shostakovich would have been, had he bee born in another time and/or place. Silly, I know, but would the unrelenting (and emotionally draining) bleakness in his music have taken a much different form had he not had to deal with the Soviet state and the unrelenting persecution.

Which just reinforced to me, the benefit of understanding the environment in which a composer functioned. Some would have it that it is immaterial to understanding the composers absolute music. But its clear to me that to really know Shostakovich's music, you need to understand the circumstances of his life and work. I think that is true for any composer. At this remove, I don't care about a composer's predlictions, decisions, prejudices, orientation, since I don't know them and don't have to function in their environment. But I do think it helps me understand their work.

Talking about music

Andrew Clark writes in Saturday's FT about the trend in conductor's chatting about the music prior to performing a piece. He comes down firmly against it.

One of the things that those of us who are "selling" opera these days are concerned about are those things that keep people from experiencing it. One of the most clearly identifiable is the intimdation factor of the experience. For many people the fact that they don't know opera, that they don't speak the language in which the opera is sung, or that they have to "dress up", discourage them from trying it. I recently observed a set of focus groups that expressed some of these concerns. At the beginning of the session a number of attendees categorically refused to go to the opera. And yet, after having explained to them that there would be a simultaneous translation, they didn't need to dress up, that the story of the work would be printed in the program, their resistance was worn down and they were inclined to give it a try.

So, given this information, wouldn't the kind of pre-performance talk that Clark is decrying be more of a help rather than a hindrance?

He makes some good points. First I think that it has to been in the right context and the right kind of talk. In the film Howard's End Helena Bonham Carter is attending a lecture in "Meaning in Music", where Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is described as having "goblins." Of course such utter nonsense would be laughable today, but it does illustrate a valid concern. I'm not sure that audiences need to have music described to them in such simplistic terms (the second of Clark's opening examples). Non-program music shouldn't be interpreted to mean something that it wasn't (I won't go into "director's opera", because I think these are two different things). And by its nature, as Clark says, music is more powerful than words. Even in vocal music, the power and meaning of the work is greater than any words that one might use to describe it. The greatness of opera is the ability to convey an emotional meaning for which words alone do not suffice.

And yet there are times, when to a novice, an explanatory note isn't out of place. Certainly with some new works, I've appreciated the odd comment or two before hearing it. But ultimately, I think Clark has it right that pre-performance lectures and program notes are the ticket. I think it is clear that this kind of thing should be made available with greater frequency to enhance the experience for those it might help and who want it. But like Clark, I like the opera house and concert hall to be free from someone intruding on my experience. I like to listen to the music and get from it what I want. Not what someone else thinks I should.

Relax, it's only classical music

Yesterday morning on my car radio, the NPR news announcer was giving the line up for the day. "After the news", he said, "you can relax with some classical music."

Relax? Relax? I'm tired of this misconception of the nature of classical music. It might be "relaxing" if you listen to the ersatz pseudo-classical that is made up of short fast movements in a major key and slow movements in a minor key with lots of tonic harmonies and no dissonance.

Classical music to me is a challenging emotional art form. The last thing I want it to be is relaxing. I want to hear it and get caught up in the emotion and complexity of the piece. And I'm not just talking later period romantic or twentieth century serial music. Baroque opera can be just as emotional and dramatic as verismo (as I talk about here) and I find as much pathos in a well-played Vivaldi concerto as in Schubert's songs.

Relax? That's the last thing I want to do.

Miscellany

Back in February, following the mainstream media, I noted the demise of andante.com. It seems to be back online, although not being updated. I'm not sure if they are still accepting memberships. It used to be worth the $10 a month for me, but once they stopped updating, I didn't see the point. I doubt even in this version it will last. Maybe they can fold their content into Rhapsody or some like service.

Searching through my referrer logs, I found a new blog that has kindly linked to me. Il dissoluto punito at Opera e demais interesses informs us (in Portuguese, a language, alas, that I don't speak and barely read) about some new "Classic Recitals" releases from Decca. I note with excitement that one is a long-deleted Mozart recital but that too soon forgotten tenor Stuart Burrows. It was one of the favorite albums of my youth, that I seem to have lost. The US release of this particular album is still in the future, but I await it with anticipation. I hope it is as good as I remember. If it is, it is a must have!

Late again

The New York Times published an article about latecomers to musical events. Although the Met is the initial focus, there is also discussion about the Philharmonic and recitals.

I have new insight into this phenomenon. Before performances at our company I am usually around the lobby or box office to troubleshoot problems. Unless I'm sitting at the performance, I'll usually be there after the doors close. Our recent production of The Marriage of Figaro had an early curtain (7:30) due to its length. In addition we played it with no intermission between acts I and II. There was a pause for latecomers, but audience members who tried to leave between the acts to use the restroom, were warned that they may not be readmitted until after the first intermission.

Some people didn't check their tickets and upon arriving at 7:35 or 7:45 were informed that they'd be seated around 8:15. There was a video room for them to watch the first act and many, realizing that the mistake was theirs, quietly made their way there until the appointed time.

Then there were the exceptions. One patron who arrived late asked us to exchange tickets for another performance. We explained that since we couldn't sell the seat, there would be a financial loss to us and couldn't accomodate him. Another told me I was being harsh. In the video room he saw that the curtain was still down and tried to tell me that we should still seat him and his party, despite the fact that the overture was playing. He then tried to offer me money to seat him, whereupon I left it to the house manager to sort out.

The reasons I give for not seating once a performance has started are two: consideration and safety. The first is pretty fairly laid out in the Times article. The second is simple: climbing over someone in the dark can leave the theater liable to all kinds of difficulties. Many audience members have disabilities, canes or walkers or some other physical difficulty that can make that action dangerous. In this litiginous age, there are too many potential cases for lawsuits. We don't need someone's broken toe because a late patron stepped on it to be another one.

So for goodness' sake. Don't be late.

PR Mistakes

I'm late in discussing this by the NY Times recently did a story about Erika Sunnegardh, who after making her opera debut at 40, substituted for Karita Mattila on the recent broadcast of Fidelio. The link on the Times site is not active, but there is a brief writeup on PlaybillArts.com about her story.

The ending, of course is not "42nd Street." Jonathan Friend, artistic administrator at the Met tried to lower expectations (much to the horror, I'm sure, of the PR department). But according to Anthony Tommasini's review (and dare I suggest my own ears), she gave a respectable if not stellar performance. Tommasini reports on a mistake in Abscheulicher, which to my mind is the conductor's fault as much as hers.

My dismay comes not from Ms. Sunnegardh's story, but in the end the Met PR department or her agent, whoever was responsible, did her longterm career more damage than good. She'll be remembered for both the situation of her debut and the result. Impossibly high standards were set for this, and while she did not fail, she did not live up to the "fairy-tale ending" that I'm sure some hoped.

Don't they learn? Back in the earlier part of the century that Met pre-publicized one Mabel Garrison, who was purported to be the next star. She did not live up to expectations and left the roster after an undistinguished career. Most recently two tenors were victims of the pre-publicity machine: Robert Alagna and Salvatore Licitra. Alagna's Met debut was publicized with the help of his record company and then he got sick and was less than impressive. The hoopla surrounding Pavarotti's aborted finale built up expectation for Licitra, that, as good as he might have been, could never have fulfilled it.

Of course the great debut stories came from the unheralded: Kirsten Flagstad, Astrid Varnay, Birgit Nilsson.

I certainly wish Ms. Sunnegardh well and think there is a great talent there. But the publicity machine should have waited unitl after the broadcast, thus lessening the pressure and setting more realistic expectations. And she still has one more performance to sing.

Nobody asked me, but those are just my thoughts.

Developing a character

One of the great joys of working in an opera company is the chance to watch a least some of a number of performances of the same opera. The reason that I find it so enjoyable, in addition to having the opportunity to listen to great music over and over again, is see how different performers respond in different ways to the repetition of a role over multiple performances. Some performances grow, some deteriorate, some stay the same, and some reach their apex at a certain point in the run and from there either deteriorate, or plateau. I'm also intrigued at how the other performers react to each other and to miniscule changes in the performances.

During the run of our season there were a number of performances that grew from show to show. I thought one artist in particular, followed a mostly upward path with each successive performance. And then there was one time when everyone exceeded themselves and created that kind of excitement that elicits not only an emotional reaction but a physical one. I was constrained to stay in my seat, but my body wanted to jump up and cheer and when the performance ended, with tears in my eyes, that's just what I did. I was not the only one.

Nom de blog

I thought it was time to change the name of my blog to something a little more creative. I thought "High and Low Notes" accurately both my thoughts and moods and I couldn't find any instance of someone else using it. If it sounds a bit manic depressive all I can say is: perhaps.

But aren't music and life filled with both?

(P.S.: the domain name www.highandlownotes.com should become active within the next few days. richrussell.com will also always work).

They were big, round, and beautiful

I miss LPs. I recently finished unpacking my library of books, CDs and LPs and in an effort to economize space, I threw out a lot of LPs that are in bad condition or that I don't listen to any more. I shed a tear for them, but ultimately it had to be done.

I was watching Hannah and Her Sisters recently. I think one of the sexiest scenes in movies is when Michael Caine is trying to seduce Babara Hershey in her lover's loft space. She puts on an LP of Bach's f minor harpsichord concerto and he uses that music to help draw himself closer to her. Ultimately they are interrupted to the soundtrack of the needle scratching the record is one of Woody Allen's best moments.

There are a lot of things that I miss about LPs. I miss the joy of taking off the shrink wrap when opening the new LP. I miss the big elaborate booklets with readable type that accompanied opera recordings in the box. I miss the feel of the vinyl balanced between my two hands, trying not to touch the grooves of a new album and then that little balancing thing you have to do as you put it on the spindle.

CDs are certainly more space efficient. They were touted as lasting forever and having better sound. Both ideas have been contradicted recently. CDs are more portable and easier to take with you. But since the advent of the Ipod, there are now even more efficient ways. And those little jewel boxes are harder to open and maintain.

Yes, I know you can still buy LPs new, but its pretty hard to do, since they are hard to find. LPs just had more romance and that was part of my joy, every time that I bought a new one. And yes, I miss that.