But so is ACD's. The original essay reads like a parody.
You say in Guerrieri's comments that it needs to be remembered that Sandow's student is likely very young.
That's no excuse. However young she is, I was once that young (I started listening to classical at age 12), and I was never so damn foolish as to want to turn a classical concert into a combination pop concert and encounter session.
This student needs to attend a few more concerts in which performers talk to the audience. (Oh, there's plenty of them.) She'll begin to wish that not so many of them did so.
I don't expect undergraduates in music performance to be all that independent or deeply analytical in thinking about issues like this. Believe me, I remember myself at 20 quite well.
Have you read Eric Edberg's account of an informal performance he and a pianist gave at De Pauw? Honestly, it sounded great to me. Go here, scroll down, and look for some links in the right-hand sidebar.
I think there is room for both formal and informal classical concerts. Informal concerts can be done well or badly, like anything else. If they reach people new to classical music, three cheers!
Turning formal music-making not just informal, but giving it that panicked flop-sweat air of "what's hot with the kids this year" (which the kids cam smell, and which they sneer at) is the problem.
Guerrieri's critique is spot-on.
ReplyDeleteBut so is ACD's. The original essay reads like a parody.
You say in Guerrieri's comments that it needs to be remembered that Sandow's student is likely very young.
That's no excuse. However young she is, I was once that young (I started listening to classical at age 12), and I was never so damn foolish as to want to turn a classical concert into a combination pop concert and encounter session.
This student needs to attend a few more concerts in which performers talk to the audience. (Oh, there's plenty of them.) She'll begin to wish that not so many of them did so.
I don't expect undergraduates in music performance to be all that independent or deeply analytical in thinking about issues like this. Believe me, I remember myself at 20 quite well.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Eric Edberg's account of an informal performance he and a pianist gave at De Pauw? Honestly, it sounded great to me. Go here, scroll down, and look for some links in the right-hand sidebar.
I think there is room for both formal and informal classical concerts. Informal concerts can be done well or badly, like anything else. If they reach people new to classical music, three cheers!
Informal music-making is fine.
ReplyDeleteTurning formal music-making not just informal, but giving it that panicked flop-sweat air of "what's hot with the kids this year" (which the kids cam smell, and which they sneer at) is the problem.