On An Overgrown Path

If you are gay , black or female the good news is your chances of making it big in classical music are definitely improving. But the bad news is if you are the wrong side of 40 your chances of hitting the big time are not looking so good. Institutionalised age discrimination in classical music has been around for a long time. One of the most famous examples was the forced retirement of Sir Adrian Boult from the position of Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra when he reached the BBC's mandatory retirement age of 60 in 1949. But more insidious is the underground age discrimination that is now starting to appear. To get a buzz going about new classical talent they must be under 40, sport an iPhone and be on Facebook , play uptown venues without seats, and have hip-hop remixes on YouTube . The problem is all due to classical music's obsession with attracting younger audiences. (I wonder if rock musicians spend their time obsessing over how to attract older audiences?...

Columbia have released a new compilation of the Works of Stravinsky conducted by the composer and Robert Craft . I paid £29.95 ($60) at Prelude Records for the box, you may find it cheaper online. The twenty-two CD's comprise all the stereo recordings made for Columbia with the composer conducting, one CD with Robert Craft conducting and Stravinsky in attendance, and several older recordings of works not remade in stereo by the composer. The remastering and sound is excellent, far better than earlier issues of these recordings. When Eugene Gossens conducted Les Noces in its London premiere with the Ballet Russe in 1926, the four pianists were composers Vittorio Rieti , Georges Auric , Francis Poulenc and Vladimir Dukelsky (Vernon Duke). Stravinsky wanted to replicate this for the 1961 recording included in this set, and the pianists were the composers Samuel Barber , Aaron Copland , Lukas Foss and Roger Sessions . When invited, Lukas Foss accepted on the condition that he p...

Jørgen Falck has left a new comment on the post " The political dimension of the artist ": Thank you Pliable. Your Greek birthday-concert for Mikis Theodorakis sounded beautiful here on my iTunes player , and I look forward to your next broadcasts on Future Radio (header photo). Like you I'm interested in the classical music life in general and in the radio. And yes, I am looking for alternatives. Unfortunately we are facing a grotesque situation here in Denmark because of incompetent government policy: The Danish BBC, DR , are building a great new media house for radio and TV, including a new concert hall for the National SO by the architect Jean Nouvel . However, the financial costs of this house are so overwhelming that the government has forced DR to sack a lot of their best employee's, and to make sharp cuts in the programs as well. The results are all to clear: Repeat broadcasts and common repertoire in huge quantities, Mozart, Beethoven and Mozart again and a...

'So it is a question of with whom you want to communicate. It must be a free person for an artist can only communicate with free people. Yet in order to be free that person must have solved certain problems. He must have a job, he must be educated and in good health, he must have certain rights and dignity. I, as an artist, would like to have an interchange with such a person. You can't create art with slaves, no matter whether they were forced into slavery or made to adopt a slavish attitude. At this point the political dimension of the artist comes into force. He must contribute to the rescue of mankind out of pure self-interest.' Mikis Theodorakis was born on July 29th 1925 on the Greek island of Chios , and his words above are from the sleeve notes for his own recording of his Requiem. The concept of 'free people' resonates strongly for Theodorakis. He had fought in the resistance against the occupying Fascists in World War 2, and was exiled in the subsequent Gr...

Report in The Sun - ' It's gonna be classic on BBC2 - The BBC is launching “Proms Idol” — where celebs will compete for the chance to conduct an orchestra. Eight stars will learn how to wield a baton in Maestro. And the winner of the BBC2 show will take charge of an orchestra during the Last Night Of The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall next year. Channel 4 fave Jon Snow is believed to be in talks with producers to host it. A source said: “The winner will get a great prize.They’ll have to train hard, but it will be worth it.”' I honestly had to check the Sun article several times to make sure this story wasn't a leg-pull. Is this really 'making great music available to all' as Proms director Nicholas Kenyon claims? Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors t...

Today's Guardian reports - "In the late-80s, when Factory Records launched its classical off-shoot, Tony Wilson vowed to wrestle classical music away from "middle-class wankers in dinner suits". Twenty years on, despite Factory and numerous embarrassing attempts to sell classical to the yoof and ageing rock stars dabbling in everything from opera to light chamber music, classical remains a dusty, dying art form. You can put William Orbit's orchestral work on at the Manchester International Festival or let Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood write for the BBC Concert Orchestra, but you can't make anyone under 40 care. Gabriel Prokofiev is aware of this, but refuses to concede defeat. The man behind Nonclassical, a label and London club night, he is bucking the downward trend by returning classical music to its populist roots. Which means moody sleeve designs instead of laborious liner notes and live events where you can get pissed and talk over the crap bits,...

On An Overgrown Path July 27 Pliable writes - "August 4, 3.00pm, a fine programme of excellent 20th century music at a silly time in a silly place. Elizabeth Maconchy's Music for Strings and Gerald Finzi's Clarinet Concerto (plus Elgar and Grieg) are marginalised to an afternoon concert in the Cadogan Hall, to make way for what in the Albert Hall in the evening? - yet another Shostakovich symphony." Guardian July 28 Andrew Clements writes - " It's Nicholas Kenyon's last year as controller of the Proms, so the end of ghettoising contemporary music at London's summer music festival may finally be in sight. Over the last 10 years Kenyon has coralled more demanding new works into the hapless late-night slot, ensuring that he can serve populism in the main concerts. This week's late-night offering illustrates the problem perfectly: the programme by Susanna Malkki with the BBC Singers and the London Sinfonietta consists of a UK premiere an...

William J. Zick, who writes the excellent Africlassical.com , has taken exception to the cover art by French cartoonist Cabu on the new Calliopé release of the music of the Afro-French composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges ( Calliope 9373 ). You can see the artwork above, and William describes it as 'disturbing and bordering on ridicule.' Here is Alain Guédé replying on behalf of the French label Calliopé : - 'Our idea was to use the cover as a means of bringing Saint-George – and through him, classical music in general – to an even wider public, of people from all different backgrounds. We want to give classical music in France a younger image. And I feel that the same thing can be done in the States.' 'Bordering on ridicule' or 'giving classical music a younger image' ? Over to you, readers .... Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be remo...

Here are Pliable's personal picks for the coming week's BBC Proms . All Proms are available for seven days online, detailed programmes and broadcast times for every concert are available from the BBC web site . * July 30, 7.30pm - a refreshingly adventurous week starts with the European premiere of Esa-Peka Salonen's Piano Concerto, the pianist is Yefim Bronfman with the composer conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra . The BBC Symphony has two guest conductors in two concerts this week while chief conductor Jiri Behlolavek picnics at Glyndebourne. * July 31, 7.00pm - regular readers will know I am a big fan of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and their young chief conductor Ilan Volkov . These days their music making often overshadows the flagship BBC Symphony, which probably has something to do with the fact that the Scottish band lives and works four hundred miles away from the London BBC Radio 3 offices. The BBC Scottish gives two Proms this week, and what concer...

Henry Holland has left a new comment on the post " Boulez - Rituel In Memoriam Maderna ": Ah, one my favorite Paths of yours Pliable since I started to read OAOP two (three?) years ago. I love Rituel in Memoriam Maderna , I listened to it on my iPod a few weeks ago. I wish that there was more than one official recording of it or I could find some live versions on my usual file theft sites. I know Boulez is The Great Bogeyman of 20th Century music along with Schoenberg , and while I certainly don't like all of his pieces, there are some that are among my favorite pieces of music. I went to a performance of Pli selon Pli at the Concertgebouw when I was in Amsterdam recently and despite the excellent performance by the ASKO Ensemble and Barbara Hannigan I wasn't impressed by the piece all that much; I hadn't heard it in a while. I keep hoping that a performance of the amazing Repons will take place in the US so I can easily afford to travel to hear it but it...

Good to see the Guardian following the Overgrown Path. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

In the audience for yesterday's Bayreuth Festival performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg were German chancellor Angela Merkel and the president of the European commission, José Manuel Barroso . In the audience at the recent Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment anniversary concert in London was the new UK culture secretary James Purnell . European politicians are catching the classical music bug, as two articles from the official EU website , which I have combined below, confirm: 'Among the ranks of MEPs are two concert pianists - Lithuanian Vytautas Landsbergis (above left) and Luxembourg's Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (above right). This week we speak to them both to get their views on the relative merits of piano playing and being an MEP. Erna Hennicot-Schoepges has been a leading politician in Luxembourg since the 1970's - mainly through her involvement in cultural policy. She has also held the post of Cultural Minister of Luxembourg. She is also - like ...

All credit to the BBC. On An Overgrown Path is currently featured on the BBC Prommers World website. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Today's Guardian reports - The 29-year old great-granddaughter of the German composer Richard Wagner will face a crucial moment in her young career tonight when her production of the nation's most controversial opera is staged for the first time. The critical success or failure of Katharina Wagner's (above) Bayreuth Festival debut will not only decide on the future of what is arguably one of the most important musical extravaganzas in the world, but also on who takes pole position in the Wagner dynasty. Everything depends on the reactions to her production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - from the critics and from those of her father and festival head, 87-year-old Wolfgang Wagner. If the opera is thought a success, she is likely to be chosen by the Wagner Foundation as the successor to the Richard Wagner throne. The 2007 Bayreuth Festival performances, including today's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , are being webcast on Polskie Radio Dwoja , Warsaw. Click here ...

Music and the spirit of place On An Overgrown Path June 19 2007 - ' The BBC Proms are no longer a music festival, they are a global entertainment brand that stands for audience friendly and risk averse programming.' House of Commons culture committee sitting reported in Guardian July 25 2007 - ' Mark Byford, deputy director general of the BBC, met the committee with a lethal blend of apology and jargon. Gosh, he was sorry. What had happened with the phone-in shows was "utterly unacceptable". Deceiving the public was "not on"; there was a line, and it could under no circumstances be crossed. The whole event had been "deeply damaging to the brand" - and we realised that the BBC, like Marmite and Nike, has become another "brand". ' And let's all remember classical music is not a brand. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, an...

* Media Guardian reports - ' Classic FM has signed Blur bass player Alex James to present a show looking at how classical music has influenced pop. The Britpop star turned newspaper columnist and organic farmer will front When Classic Meets Pop , a three-part series beginning on the GCap music station on August 4. It is the latest addition to the When Classic Meets ... series, which has previously featured Rick Wakeman and Courtney Pine looking at the influence of classical music on rock and jazz music. "Why would I want to listen to Hard-Fi piffling around when there is Rossini?" said James. "Bring me cellos. Bring me French horns. Bring me a choir. And some cannons, maybe, for the end." Classic FM , which was named station of the year at this year's Sony awards, attracted an audience of 5.71 million in the first three months of the year, according to the latest Rajars. The Classic FM managing director, Darren Henley, said: "As a founder member...

Bruno Maderna was a close friend of Pierre Boulez . In 1958 Boulez and Maderna were conductors of two of the three orchestras in the fraught premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen , the third orchestra was directed by the composer. My picture above, from the Stockhausen archive , was taken at a rehearsal for the premiere in Cologne. Left clicking on the image will enlarge it. Stockhausen is conducting orchestra 1 on the left, Maderna orchestra 2 in the centre, and Boulez orchestra 3 on the right. The photo at the foot of the article shows Boulez, Maderna and Stockhausen in Darmstadt in 1956, and, interestingly, was taken by Hans Keller . . Maderna's relationship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was established before Boulez's period as the orchestra's chief conductor, and was one of the many fruits of William Glock's period as BBC Controller of Music between 1959 and 1972. Maderna made his debut with the orchestra in 1959 when he gave the first public perfo...

"An interesting, possibly even dirty, little secret about hip hop is how often its producers turn to classical music when they’re trying to make whatever joker they’re producing sound, at least momentarily, like a god. From solemn East Coast legends like Nas to party MCs like Ludacris (before his disastrous Grammy makeover), plenty of rappers have skimmed grandeur off of classical music; what follows are just a few examples of this odd meeting point between two disparate art forms" - writes Jayson Greene in Stylus Magazine , and then goes on to identify the top ten classical music samples in hip hop. Now read the unlikely story of Malcolm Arnold and the rock idols. Image credit Orange and Blue . Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot...