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Far from the same ol' song and dance
Far from the same ol' song and dance
I'll admit it: I've been involved in classical music long enough to be slightly cynical when it comes to the "old warhorses," the works that are trundled out repeatedly, I imagine, because they draw crowds. Just when I'm at my most jaded, I remember that these pieces are also performed because—though it may seem obvious to most—they're unforgettable artistic achievements. The last time I heard Messiah, for example (at Handel Week Festival 2009 in Oak Park), I had chills from the start of the opening tenor recitative, "Comfort ye, my people."
I was thinking about this the other day while preparing notes for Music of the Baroque's upcoming program entitled "Earth, Wind and Fire," featuring Vivaldi's The Four Seasons—precisely one of those works heard just as frequently as a ringtone on the El as it is in the concert hall. Listening to several different interpretations side by side reminded me just how rich the piece is, however. On my shelf at home is a recording by Venice Baroque Orchestra with Giuliano Carmignola (Sony), which I love because of the way it toys with my expectations. Since baroque violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch is leading our orchestra this weekend, however, I took the opportunity to get acquainted with her performance with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (Antipodes), which was charming in a completely different way—full of subtle, yet attention-getting ornamentation and articulation without being overtly avant-garde. It reminded me that there's a reason we sit and listen to these works again and again: as Elizabeth Wallfisch said to us the other day, "Like all good music, there's always more to find." I'm really looking forward to hearing her perform this Sunday and Monday.
How about you—can you recall a particular recording or concert experience that helped you appreciate a piece you thought you knew in a whole new way? I'd love to hear about it.
Comments
Warhorses Need Love, Too
Thu, 11/12/2009 - 7:36pm — WandererIt would be hard to imagine classical music surviving on only warhorses. If you have the opportunity to scan through the League of American Orchestras yearly Orchestra Repertoir Reports, you'll get some idea of the vast expanse of music that is performed by League members. Of the over 16,000 individual works performed in 2007-2008 by the 333 member orchestras, the top twenty are not surprising. Beethoven V, Beethoven VII, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Beethoven IX, Brahms IV, Tchaikovsky IV, Rach II, Dvorak IX and so it goes. But the pieces I just enumerated only account for 3.8% of the total programming. That leaves plenty of room for other works that may only receive a handful of performances, but that never-the-less get their fifteen minutes of glory.
But warhorses serve a valuable function: they anchor the repertoir and give us a sense of stability and tradition as well as a standard of comparison. How many times have you heard an unfamiliar piece and found yourself saying, "Wow. I didn't know that Composer X ever wrote anything like that!" Or how about, "Who is this Composer Y that I never heard of before but writes such glorious music?"
What we are really saying is that compared to the tried and true, the warhorses, if you will, we have just heard something that compares favorably, something that we'd like to hear again. That, by the way, becomes my own first test of an unfamiliar work: Would I like to hear this again?
Then, of course, there are the musicians. Like all of us (I write computer programs) musicians want to grow and try new and unfamiliar things. It's what makes life interesting, and it provides a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Sadly, life doesn't always work that way. Sometimes I have to go in and modify a piece of old computer code that is boring beyond belief. Sometimes a musician has to play a symphony they've played a hundred times before. The real mark of a professional is to make each iteration, whether computer code or music, something better than it was the last time. We seldom reach this ideal, but meeting the challenge is what counts.
Let's hear those warhorses.... at least once in a while!
MV
Well first off, I've been
Thu, 11/12/2009 - 5:22pm — James WWell first off, I've been participating in the International Music Foundation's "Do It Yourself Messiah" for the past ten years, and yes, "Comfort Ye" still gets to me every time - as does the remaining hundred-odd minutes of Handel's glorious music.
One of these days I'll get thru a post here without mentioning Gustavo Dudamel, but his reading of the Mahler 1 with the CSO a few years ago is was the first example that came to mind. Youthful, unique, but always muscially valid. When he brought the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra to town last spring, the combination of the exuberant playing of the kids in the orchestra with his energetic leadship of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony was positively exhilarating.
Chris Martin's debut as CSO principal trumpet in the opening of Mahler's 5th comes to mind as well. His predecessor's sound was so definitive that it to many, including myself, it was the sound of a symphony trumpet for decades. Mr. Martin's opening trumpet statement at once both re-invigorated and re-inforced the tradition of magnificent brass playing in Chicago.
Last month, I went to see the Met cinemacast of Luc Bondy's controversal Tosca to see what the fuss was about. Streamlined, yes, but it allowed to music and drama to be integrated in a cinematic way that surpassed any notion of warhorse.
Finally I would be remiss if I didn't credit Music of the Baroque for bringing a living, breathing freshness and relevancy into everything they do. That's certainly what keeps me coming back. The Bach B minor Mass and Haydn's The Seasons in recent years come to mind. And I'm looking forward to the same treatment of Mozart's Requiem next year.
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