The Classical Chat Thread

[amw]

I sometimes have fantasies of recording a brutal, noisy black metal album and releasing it under the title "The Most Relaxing Classical Album Ever" with ponies and fluffy clouds on the cover.

[Moonfish]

And this sort of disc, I think, is made for folks who already have some sort of appreciation for classical music.

Hmm, I disagree. Why would anybody that likes classical music want to listen to an array of track like on this cd? Wouldn't they just pick up a Vivaldi compilation etc?  I think these cds are for people that just want something playing in the background... generic classical music in bottles.   

[Gurn Blanston]

Hmm, I disagree. Why would anybody that likes classical music want to listen to an array of track like on this cd? Wouldn't they just pick up a Vivaldi compilation etc?  I think these cds are for people that just want something playing in the background... generic classical music in bottles.   

Yes, that is what I was thinking too. That. And how in hell did they manage to wedge the last movement of the 9th into 4 minutes??    Of course, as veteran listeners, we look at this play list as all the shit we outgrew after the first 3 weeks of listening. As I like to point out, there is a reason why some pieces have been played enough to become cliches. FWIW, I still haven't heard Pachelbel's Canon in D, AFAIK....    0:)

[Moonfish]

What I mean, is that the classical era of music, tends toward people who have some basic appreciation of classical music, in general. For people coming from the pop world, I think they would be more drawn in by the romantic era into post-romanticism.

Perhaps... a tricky one. I bet that lots of PR people have battled that question for decades without any major resolution.  I have not mined any surveys lately that looks at how classical music fares in different age groups.

[Gurn Blanston]

What I mean, is that the classical era of music, tends toward people who have some basic appreciation of classical music, in general. For people coming from the pop world, I think they would be more drawn in by the romantic era into post-romanticism.

You have a fair representation of Romantic there, but I agree, some post-Romantic might be more to the point. Of course, you want to remember that part of the all-important audience share for a disk like this is guys looking to get laid, and what better than that Bach, and the 'Elvira Madigan'   Andante? 

[amw]

FWIW, I still haven't heard Pachelbel's Canon in D, AFAIK....    0:)

You probably have, it's the one that sounds like this
[audio]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32084883/tl0831_001_full_064.mp3[/audio]

(though considerably more tastefully done here than it usually is, lol)

[Gurn Blanston]

You probably have, it's the one that sounds like this
[audio]http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32084883/tl0831_001_full_064.mp3[/audio]

(though considerably more tastefully done here than it usually is, lol)

I'm scared to push the button.... 

[amw]

Don't be such a big baby! It's from Harmonia Mundi! A grown-up label!

[Gurn Blanston]

Don't be such a big baby! It's from Harmonia Mundi! A grown-up label!

OK, dammit, I did it. Well, I really don't think I have heard it before. I must have lived a better life than I thought!  It isn't anything particularly special, neither to be overplayed nor to be reviled. Interesting. I like canon though.

[EigenUser]

Yes, that is what I was thinking too. That. And how in hell did they manage to wedge the last movement of the 9th into 4 minutes??

Haha, I didn't even notice that! Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Springfield got a new concert hall. They start playing Beethoven's 5th, and after the famous first few measures the audience starts to get up and leave, seemingly satisfied. Marge yells "Wait, it's not over", and a townie replies "Well that's the important part, right?" As they continue to leave Marge yells "Don't go! Next we have a medley by Philip Glass!" Suddenly, the audience members run out frantically. . One of my favorite scenes from that show.

[Ken B]

Haha, I didn't even notice that! Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Springfield got a new concert hall. They start playing Beethoven's 5th, and after the famous first few measures the audience starts to get up and leave, seemingly satisfied. Marge yells "Wait, it's not over", and a townie replies "Well that's the important part, right?" As they continue to leave Marge yells "Don't go! Next we have a medley by Philip Glass!" Suddenly, the audience members run out frantically. . One of my favorite scenes from that show.

BUT, and here is the remarkable part, they expect people to know who Philip Glass is. And most of the audience probably do.

[Pat B]

And this sort of disc, I think, is made for folks who already have some sort of appreciation for classical music. I don't think this disc is designed to draw in those who come from the pop world, and if it is, this is a shit track list.

I think it's for people who like the idea of classical music, but who can't identify more than a couple, if any, of the included pieces. I believe there are a lot of those people out there. They buy something like this, and they recognize all the tunes, but it's not very compelling listening, just as 2 hours of explosions cobbled together from various action flicks would not be very compelling viewing. They probably listen to it once or twice, then file it away and forget about it. In this particular case, the album title specifically discourages them from even trying again.

How do you reach these people?

Recently I got the Bernstein Omnibus DVDs. This was a TV program that aired (on major-network TV!) in the 1950s in the USA. Obviously the TV industry has changed significantly since then, but even aside from the issue of air time, I wonder who in the current classical world has the charisma to pull something like that off. I saw an online video of Riccardo Muti visiting a prison recently. It's a wonderful and touching idea, but you need somebody who can actually connect with whoever is in the audience. There's a lot of talk about "outreach" but I have my doubts about the effectiveness of what they're doing now.

[jlaurson]

On Schoeck and Finzi:


Christopher Maltman: Truly, truly, truly a Masterpiece.

Monday, April 7th, Christopher Maltman took a couple minutes just hours before his recital at the Mozart-Saal to chat about the great, elusive, «Notturno» by Othmar Schoeck:

C.M.:   How do you know the Schoeck «Notturno»?

jfl:       I know it from Klaus Mertens' recording which was one of the... well, it wasn't the first recording. The first one, I think, was Fischer-Dieskau with the Cherubini Quartet, and I'm not sure if it ever made it unto CD. [It had, actually, and copies are hard, but not impossible, to find]

So it was it recorded for vinyl and was never digitally mastered or came back out again? I looked for it, because I was certain that Fischer-Dieskau would have recorded it. But I couldn't find it anywhere and then I looked on some websites and godknowswhat and I saw that he had recorded it but couldn't find a copy to listen to. Which is a bit sad.

But there is of course the Mertens recording, a gorgeous new one with Stephan Genz and the Leipziger Streichquartett and the Gerhaher recording...

That's the one I listened to, actually. Which is beautiful.

It's great... except the Rosamunde Quartet lets him down a bit.But it was him that I first talked about the «Notturno» with at length, well before he knew he'd get a chance of recording it...

Yes, it's not easy to do the piece. It was only when this opportunity at the Konzerthaus was presented to me, where they as much as said: "Look, what would you like to do." And I said: "I would like to do the Schoeck «Notturno»." And they looked at me and said: "OK – what's that?" So I said: "Well, it's a fantastic song cycle for low voice and string quartet." But fortunately they gave me sort of carte blanche to decide what I wanted to do. And it's so hard to get opportunities like that. It's so hard to get concerts like this. They come up, for me, once every two or three years. And I really am so pleased that I had got the opportunity to do this piece. Because the more I worked on it and the more looked at it and the more I got inside it, I think it's absolutely Schoeck's best composition. It's a towering piece of music.

[The backstage dummy alarm rings]
Oh my Lord, what noise is that?...

Full interview here: http://konzerthaus.at/magazin/Home/tabid/41/entryid/352/Christopher-Maltman-Truly-truly-truly-a-Masterpiece.aspx

[Moonfish]

Agreed with you here. I agree with Gurn, or my interpretation of his post, that it the pieces should be full, and should be drawn from the romantic to post-romantic period. Chopping it up in the manner that they did doesn't make any sense, and selecting a piece like Beethoven's 9th on an introductory disc seems foolhardy.

So do you think a potential listener would like the full 9th rather than the tiny piece on an anthology?  Btw it seems like many people pick up classical music in movies - a haunting theme of some type - that then becomes an item to search for....   

[Moonfish]

I wouldn't include the Ninth at all, but if you're going to include it, include at least the whole of the final movement.

I bet Kubrick's film made people go looking for Beethoven's 9th!

[Pat B]

I bet Kubrick's film made people go looking for Beethoven's 9th!

IIRC he used the scherzo, which probably works better as an excerpt than the finale.

[jochanaan]

IIRC he used the scherzo, which probably works better as an excerpt than the finale.

He used the scherzo too, but the most memorable use was of the "Alla marcia" from the finale...

[kishnevi]

Was it not the Huntley Brinkley Report that used the scherzo?

[jochanaan]

Was it not the Huntley Brinkley Report that used the scherzo?

That sounds right!  I knew I remembered a news program from my growing-up days that used the B9 scherzo!

[Brahmsian]

I bet Kubrick's film made people go looking for Beethoven's 9th!

It did for me.  Was the first seed planted in my curiosity and intrigue in classical music.

Purchased the soundtrack, then bought a full Beethoven 9th, then a full Beethoven symphony set.  The rest is history!