On An Overgrown Path

Too many people look for shortcuts in life. My hope is that youngsters coming to classical music realise it is a long journey which needs patience and serenity. That wisdom comes from sarod master Amjad Ali Khan , and it is quoted in the notes for the CD of his Wigmore Hall recital . Earlier this year the director of BBC Radio Helen Boaden told the Association of British Orchestra's annual conference that "the creation of snackable access to classical content is the key to audience engagement". Sadly, Amjad Ali Khan is not a speaker at the 2016 ABO conference . No review samples involved in this post. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter .

Contemporary Greece is carrying some serious baggage. It has gained notoriety as the entry point into Europe for refugees fleeing sectarian conflict in the Middle East, its economy is portrayed as a hopeless basket cas e and its music is seen to be forever locked in Zorba's groove . This negative image is very unfair, and it is doubly unfair because there are some very exciting and original things happening in Greece, particularly on the island of Crete. One of those exciting things is the feisty young lyra player Kelly Thoma, who is seen above with her hopefully airline approved cabin baggage. Equidistant from mainland Europe, Africa, and Asia, Crete historically has formed a bridge between the cultures of those three continents. As the Emirate of Crete it was ruled by Iberian Muslims for a century (c820-961CE), and was then part of the Christian world for seven centuries (961-1669CE), first under the Catholic Venetians and then as part of Orthodox Byzantium. Crete returned ...

Imagine that you are playing a major scale on a piano or a sitar. In that moment of intertwinement with the scale, we really seem to be playing a scale, we really seem to be melodiously experiencing an aspect of it, but the mystic point of view is that the scale is playing the musician; that that particular probability, that particular existential set is simply releasing an infinitesimally small potential in a manifested form. Do musicians play music, or does music play musicians? At yesterday's concert* in Cambridge by Ken Zuckerman (sarod) and Sanju Sahai (tabla) - see photo above - the music was most definitely playing the musicians. My proposition is that most musicians play music; but in the case of a few truly great musicians - and only when the planets are auspiciously aligned as they were yesterday - the music plays the musician. Moreover, I would argue that the cult of the celebrity means that classical musicians who impose their ego on the music are, quite wrongly, pr...

Don Pasquale ; Glyndebourne Touring Opera at Theatre Royal, Norwich - £8 to £53 Don Pasquale ; same Glyndebourne Touring Opera production via Guardian live stream - Free Don Pasquale ; Metropolitan Opera New York stream - Free trial then $4.99 rental Don Pasquale : Wiener Staarsoper stream - Free trial then €14 rental The conclusion that opera tickets are not expensive when compared with other live events may well be correct. Cognoscenti know that live opera can never match recorded recorded opera. But opera's new audience does not know this, and neophytes perceive streamed music as a viable alternative to live performances . All the major opera companies fuel this misapprehension by heavily promoting streaming. So, given the significant differential in price between streamed services and opera tickets, it is hardly surprising that new audiences view opera tickets as expensive. Also on Facebook and Twitter . Any copyrighted material is included as "fair us...

Sirventès was the poetic art that evolved in the País d'Òc region of France in the thirteenth century to protest against the violence of the times, the stupidity of powerful people and the decline of ethics. In an early expression of the madness of crowds, the Catholic Church had mounted the Albigensian Crusade against Cathars in Occitania , and in 1209, 20,000 inhabitants of Béziers were massacred by Crusaders on the pretext that the town harboured 230 Cathar heretics. The art of the troubadors from Occitania is much celebrated, but the dissent of Sirventès - which is an offshoot from the troubadors - is almost unknown. So an eponymous new CD from the maverick Accords Croisés label showcasing the art of Sirventès is particularly welcome. The troubadors mixed fealty to the established Catholic Church with influences from the Moorish culture of Spain, and in his Oxford Addresses on Poetry Robert Graves suggests that the troubadours' real debt was to Sufism . The infl...

Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. Those wise words come from Tom Robbins , and the video showcases the CD Jaadu (Hindustani and Persian for magic) from Pakistani qawwali singer Faiz Ali Faiz and gypsy-influenced French guitarist Titi Robin . Jaadu is one of the magical albums that have over the years strengthened my disbelief in government and business. Also on Facebook and Twitter . Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

In yesterday's post I mused on how the title of 'musician who first brought Indian music to the West' is rather (raga?) meaningless; but if it is to be awarded, it should go to the sarod master Ali Akbar Khan , who, at Ravi Shankar's recommendation, visited America in 1955 - a year before Shankar's first visit. My reading today reminded me that there is another strong claimant to the title, the sitar master Ustad Vilayat Khan . He gave a recital in London's Royal Festival Hall in 1951; however somewhat surprisingly he did not visit America until 1978, although his reputation preceded him on disc. Indian music cognoscenti are divided in their view as to whether Ravi Shankar or Ustad Vilayat Khan was the greatest sitar player, in the same way as classical music cognoscenti are split between Toscanini and Furtwängler. But I follow the wise path of a young St. Thérèse of Lisieux; who when offered a handful of ribbons to choose from declared: 'I choose all'...

The recent downgrading of Valery Gergiev's reputation to music's equivalent of junk bond status by a prominent critic - performances of "often ...featureless mediocrity" - shows the dangers of classical music's guru fixation. In 2012 Newsweek declared that Gustavo Dudamel was "the saviour of classical music". To date the saviour from Venezuela has not been crucified by the critics; but it is now generally acknowledged that, like many celebrity musicians, he is a a mere mortal with a wooden baton and a golden wallet . As one guru falls from favour, the commercial-musical complex of agents, media companies and embedded journalists ensures that a liberally hyped newcomer - the younger the better - is ready to take their place. The irony is that Valery Gergiev and Gustavo Dudamel and their over-hyped colleagues are all huge talents. Yes, they have doubtless aided and abetted their own elevation to exalted status. But the real blame lies with the comme...

Mark Boleat , the City of London Corporation’s policy and resources chairman has told Architect's Journal that siting the new London concert hall advocated by Sir Simon Rattle on the Museum of London site "is feasible". As was pointed out here in September , the Museum of London site is one quarter of a mile from the Barbican Hall . Mark Boleat sits on the City of London Property Investment Board together with Michael Cassidy CBE. Simon Rattle is designate music director of the London Symphony Orchestra. My earlier post noted that Michael Cassidy is also non-executive chairman of Askonas Holt - the agency that manages Simon Rattle and represents the LSO - and that Mr Cassidy has previously held the positions of chairman of the Museum of London [2005-2013], chairman Barbican Arts Centre [2000-2003], and is a past planning chairman of the Corporation of London. He is also a member of the City of London Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee . Also on Facebook a...

The point of this story is this: why (when there are people prepared to do almost anything for a recording contract or a Queen Elizabeth Hall date) are we releasing this new Nick Drake album, and (if he wants to make another one) - the next? Because, quite simply we believe that Nick is a great talent. His first two albums haven't sold a shit. But, if we carry on releasing them, then maybe one day someone authoritative will stop, listen properly and agree with us. Then maybe a lot more people will get to hear Nick Drake's incredible songs and guitar playing. And maybe they'll buy a lot of his albums, and fulfill our faith in Nick's promise. Then. Then we'll have done our job. That is how Dave Sandison , the press officer for Island Records, signed off the Melody Maker release advertisement for Nick Drake's Pink Moon album in February 1971. Sadly, there were no more Nick Drake albums ; but two decades after Nick's tragically early death in 1974 his record la...

Yesterday Norman Lebrecht ran a story on his Slipped Disc blog headlined "Piano teacher is arrested in Florida over ‘sexual’ breastfeeding video". Now that story troubles me greatly; but not for the reasons you may think. It is common knowledge that, to quote a Sunday Times review of one of Lebrecht's books that: "Where others write, he romps, pursuing scandal, sex and ‘shame’ (a favorite word) with the alliterative abandon of a redtop tabloid". So I am not troubled that the post was unashamedly salacious click bait. Nor am I troubled that this recycled titillation was scraped from a Yahoo News item , which in turn had scraped it from an American TV news channel . Nor am I troubled that the two images on the Slipped Disc post were used without copyright attribution*. (Journalists who have received copyright infringement warnings from Lebrecht Photo Library - the self-styled "world's largest resource for music pictures and all the creative arts...

Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami has observed that "Capturing the slightest emotion of people's lives is always a political act", and the image above is from his celebrated ' Koker trilogy '. If classical music is about anything, it is about capturing emotion. Which means, by Abbas Kiarostami's definition, classical music is a political act. Yet increasingly, in deference to political correctness, music distances itself from politics. But not everywhere. This year is the centenary of the Armenian Genocide in which the proto-Turkish state systematically exterminated the civilian Armenian population of Anatolian Turkey, killing an estimated one million, and displacing hundreds of thousands more. In much of the world the centenary of the Armenian Genocide has been lamentably overlooked. However, France's second city Marseille has a large population of emigrée Armenians, and the centenary is being marked there by a year long programme of events . Du...

As art forms inspire and cultures come together, Rolex watches are there. For life’s defining moments and the making of maestros. More than time, they tell history. That copy accompanies a Rolex video featuring Gustavo Dudamel, and the visual comes from a press campaign . On the one hand a leading maestro flaunts his £10,000 Rolex Oyster Datejust , but on the other hand claims of penury have become the mantra of embattled classical music. Financial double-standards prevail; which means it is cool to flaunt wealth but verboten to discuss money in any context other than the lack of it. As a result, in the Guardian critic Andrew Clements concludes somewhat belatedly that Valery Gergiev "has not served the London Symphony Orchestra well as their chief conductor", but focuses solely on Gergiev's musical shortcomings, without even a passing mention of the financial cost of the celebrity conductor's term at the LSO. This fiscal shyness is hardly surprising in a music j...

Music is about transportation, transcendence, and transformation of matter and consciousness. That's the commodity you're dealing with in music, transforming lead into gold, the great alchemical work . In the hands of certain people that happens from time to time. That subtly qualified explanation comes from Mickey Hart *, who supplemented his role of drummer for the Grateful Dead with pioneering work in ethnomusicology and producer of seminal World Music albums . In the notes for ' Wagner Transformed ' sound alchemist J. Peter Schwalm describes how he uses electronic processing as a tool of de-familiarisation - sample via this link . Before a base metal can be reconstituted as something precious, it must first be transformed from its familiar guise. Today, reinforcing comfort zones with yet more that is familiar is seen as the way forward for classical music, and de-familiarisation is a neglected tool . Yet appreciating great art requires imagination, and as G. K. ...

In October 2008 a paying concertgoer explained here why he would be returning his tickets for Valery Gergiev's London Symphony Orchestra concerts. Seven years later critic Andrew Clements writing in the Guardian reaches the conclusion that "Valery Gergiev has not served the London Symphony Orchestra well as their chief conductor". As Virgil Thomson told us: "Never underestimate the public's intelligence, baby". Photo via Telegraph . Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter .

'A celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness' - Daniel J. Boorstin Photo of pianist Lang Lang with special edition Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse “Lang Lang” comes via TopSpeed . Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter .

This photo accompanies an interview with Jordi Savall in the Catalan newspaper Ara . Jordi's primary workspace is occupied by books, his PC is tucked away on one side and there is no towering sound system. It reminds me of this passage from The Unlimited Mercifier , Stephen Hertenstein's biography of the twelfth-century Andalusian Sufi mystic, poet, and philosopher Ibn 'Arabi : True cultural advance is not related to progress in technology or social organisation, but to an increase in self-knowledge and the freedom to contemplate and celebrate the Divine Beneficence in all its forms. Thanks to Roger Evans for heads up on the Ara article. Also on Facebook and Twitter . Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter .

Social media and its inherent dangers are forensically analysed by Jacob Silverman in Terms of Service . This book should be required reading for all social media users; even for those who already understand how Facebook manipulates news feed and sells their personal data to all and sundry to boost its $523 million profit. It makes for very frightening reading, but the fact remains that there are 1.5 billion Facebook users. Which means social media offers a powerful free (if the cost of losing control of personal data is ignored) communication platform for classical music, an artform that is struggling to widen its reach. So why is classical music's use of Facebook and other social media so dire? Classical music's Facebook users fall into two categories: those who need to sell themselves and those who don't. Those who don't need to sell themselves conform to the social media convention of circulating stories from the Guardian, BBC and New York Times that everyone...

It is interesting to consider what makes music devotional, where the fine line is. The first time I felt very strongly about this was when I went to hear John Coltrane at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. When Coltrane came on stage, you were suddenly involved in a ritual . It wasn't a jazz concert anymore, it was a very powerful transformative experience. You weren't the same person leaving that place as you were when you walked in. To experience that, especially in a jazz club where there was normally drinking and smoking, was extraordinary. There was power in the music that kept the audience from getting noisy or rowdy. That's one example of devotional music happening in an atmosphere that is never considered a place of worship - even though it could be. That is Terry Riley speaking in an interview with Peter Lavezzoli in The Dawn of Indian Music in the West , which must be one of the most important and most overlooked music books published in recent years. The cur...

The red phone box seen above has been turned into a "virtual reality concert hall" at Snape Maltings, the concert venue created by Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears . Aldeburgh Music has equipped the phone box with a headset - see below - showing a viewer-controlled video of a performance in the Maltings. Aldeburgh Music's digital manager Matt Jolly explains that the project aims to provide "a fun and immersive introduction" to the concert hall. Yes, classical music does need to experiment ,and the good news is that the audio/video programme is a performance of Frank Bridge's The Sea - the impressive 360 degree 'virtual reality' video can be watched via this link . But I suggest that the following quote from Britten's 1964 Aspen Award acceptance speech is prominently displayed in the digital phone box: There are many dangers which hedge around the unfortunate composer: pressure groups which demand true proletarian music, snobs ...