tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post114277507426628215..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: What exactly is a 'classic'?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-36437324380691649042008-04-26T05:14:00.000+01:002008-04-26T05:14:00.000+01:00Just as an FYI, more information on the three othe...Just as an FYI, more information on the three other passion settings commissioned for the Passion 2000 Project alongside Golijov's work is available here: http://theomniscientmussel.com/tag/passion<BR/><BR/>For my money, Wolfgang Rihm's contribution is by far the best of the set.The Omniscient Musselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405040692602334654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1142949480345160822006-03-21T13:58:00.000+00:002006-03-21T13:58:00.000+00:00Very interesting, and I think we're in about 99% a...Very interesting, and I think we're in about 99% agreement.<BR/><BR/>"Recording as a substitute for live performance may be a growing reality. But because, as I explained in my article, live performances are a vital source of revenue for composers and musicians this change may have major, long term and detrimental effects on the whole classical music industry."<BR/><BR/>All true. But there's a related aspect that only been touched on. From my narrow view of things, a major reason driving me to recordings vs. concerts is the "museum" view of so much concert programming. Example - none of the "series" tickets for my local symphony are of much interest to me because they have too high a % of pieces and composers which have been done nearly to death. I'm not suggesting that Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky are not "great composers," but enough is enough. And when "big name" performers come through, they seldom do anything remotely adventurous.<BR/><BR/>I suggest that one area in which recordings have it all over the general live performance menu is in fresh and unhackneyed repertoire. I'm sure that there are cities with an adequate menu of fresh live events, but they're few and far between.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps recordings can help to "save" the industry from the "museum syndrome" ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1142927378865472892006-03-21T07:49:00.000+00:002006-03-21T07:49:00.000+00:00A great many thanks!This is superb. Hope you will ...A great many thanks!<BR/>This is superb. Hope you will come to our next concerts too!<BR/>April 1, 7.30pm, St. Andrew's Hall. UEA Symphony Orchestra (Elgar, Janacek, Schumann & Villa-Lobos).<BR/><BR/>Best wishes, Sharon Choa<BR/>Performance Director,<BR/><A HREF="http://www.uea.ac.uk/mus/index.html" REL="nofollow">UEA School of Music</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1142884401040109182006-03-20T19:53:00.000+00:002006-03-20T19:53:00.000+00:00Scott, you make a fair point.That last sentence tr...Scott, you make a fair point.<BR/><BR/>That last sentence tried, rather unsuccessfully, to express a very complicated idea in a single sentence.<BR/><BR/>Let me try to explain.<BR/><BR/>The classical music industry is a very complex system. <BR/><BR/>There are many fixed points including composers, editors, producers, musicians, record companies, concert audiences, CD buyers, and file downloaders. <BR/><BR/>There are several flows within the system including intellectual property, money, and physical product.<BR/><BR/>The relationships and dependancies within the system are not fully researched or understood. This means a major change within the system such as the BBC giving away MP3 files of Beethoven Symphonies, or the decline of live performances, may have profound and irreversible impacts elsewhere, on, for instance, musicians or record producers.<BR/><BR/>Recording as a substitute for live performance may be a growing reality. But because, as I explained in my article, live performances are a vital source of revenue for composers and musicians this change may have major, long term and detrimental effects on the whole classical music industry. <BR/><BR/>The proliferation of recordings and downloads, coupled with the decline in live performances, may be classical music's equivalent to global warming. It may be driven by market forces, but that doesn't make the long term impact any more acceptable. <BR/><BR/>I do not know for certain the impact of the switch from live to recorded performances, or the effect of giving away MP3 files. But I have included statistics in my article to give the discussion some objective basis. What I am saying here, and in other articles <I>On An Overgrown Path</I>, is that the risks should be quantified, understood and debated in advance, and before it is too late.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1142868676513457922006-03-20T15:31:00.000+00:002006-03-20T15:31:00.000+00:00"...the error is to think that they are substitute..."...the error is to think that they are substitutes for live performance, either artistically or commercially.""<BR/><BR/>Well, I'm not sure. This strikes me as too dogmatic. In many cases, that's exactly what recordings are, like it or not. For sure, they are sometimes the <B>only</B> choice; a noticeable % of recordings I own are of works that I've never had (and never expect to have) the opporunity to hear performed live.<BR/><BR/>Also, I find that I have become more selective in what concerts/recitals I attend, sometimes electing to hear the material on recordings instead. Specifically, my "live attendance" has become more focused on performers as opposed to repertoire. I'm not claiming that this change is a Good Thing (or a Bad Thing either), but it's just reality in my own particular case. <BR/><BR/>I also find that many live performances and concert series are not of repertoire that I'm willing to invest an entire evening in (travel time, parking fees, and so on). I don't mean unfamiliar repertoire ... quite the opposite. (To touch on another recent item in the blog, any promoter or radio host who declares a Mozart-free zone about now would be in <B>my</B> good books.)<BR/><BR/>I would agree that the experience of a recording (even a "live" recording) is quite different than that of an actual live event. However, to state baldly that it's an error to consider a recording as a substitute for a live performance seems to me to ignore a growing reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1142853077598196452006-03-20T11:11:00.000+00:002006-03-20T11:11:00.000+00:00As usual you have hit the nail firmly on its head ...As usual you have hit the nail firmly on its head ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com