Tom, the app idea is a hoot, and thoroughly possible. Some philosophers
would say that listening to music is not much different than watching
abstract lights and color patterns on a screen, and about as edifying. They
are not popular philosophers.
One of Mahler's unpopular innovations in Vienna was to darken the house. It
wasn't so that notes (and bios and advertisements...) couldn't be read, but
to combat the social club aspect of opera performances. It was tough for we
little shavers to sit still and pay attention, but it was good mental
discipline as well as the creation of a memorable, important experience. A
little churchy, to its benefit.
But applause is another matter. There's lately been a healthy debate on it
among music critics and concert consultants (not small minds), many agreeing
that if the idea is to grab audiences so tightly they must respond, then
they certainly should. Some would also say the same for negative responses,
too. But, it is a question of it being appropriate. Attended a concert with
a lot of kids present recently? They can't wait to applaud; ie to
participate. Maybe we weren't any better, but we weren't accustomed to the
fast pace of EVERYTHING, as children are now. Adults, too, of course, so
concerts are pushed along so as not to bore the less committed. Planning has
started to take into account the idea that the symphony concert may be just
the beginning of the evening for the metro millennial club-hopper, not the
single or primary musical or social experience that day. With the
impressions of kids and 20-somethings regarded as the "future" of the
concert audience, a lot of energy is turned that way.
Anyway, I thought the Oct 1952 ovation after I. was totally appropriate, but
thought that was a rare thing at that time.
Chicago SO has been doing some multimedia stuff during subscription
concerts, but I don't know much about it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Fine
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] FW: [ARSCLIST] Beethoven Violin Concerto on YouTube
Hi Carl:
I think audiences today in the US are more "polite" (some would say
"restained" or "detached") than
times past. I have some old recordings of concerts at Carnegie Hall and
other venues, mostly
transcriptions of broadcasts, and you hear constant coughing and shuffling,
and often applause
between movements. Orchestras seemed to pause more between movements back
then, expecting applause.
I wonder if the LP era and classical's "golden age" of recordings got
audiences used to shorter
pauses between movements, and some sort of cultural change caused a
group-think that classical music
must be reverently enjoyed in silence. I remember being discouraged from
reading program notes while
the orchestra played during a school trip, as if I can't listen when I'm
reading. Meanwhile, how
long can a kid pay rapt attention to men and women in black suits moving
bows across strings?
In today's multi-media age, I wonder why more orchestras don't at least
explore, if not adopt, the
concept of accompanying classical music to light shows and/or other visual
events. Is it somehow
"mind pollution" for another artist to suggest what colors and/or images may
accompany the music?
What if anyone with a wifi device in the hall could create their own visual
entertainment, triggered
by the ambient audio and/or some sort of sync to the score, on their iPads
and cellphones (with the
damn ringers turned off, of course - perhaps the app could do that
automatically when it's
launched!). I think it would make the genre more mainstream, boost
appreciation for the idea that
music can be deep and complex and subtle (as opposed to stereotypically
simple and silly, like most
pop hits). Don't forget that Scriabin wrote detailed notes on light shows to
accompany his solo
piano music, and Hilde Somer re-created some of that entertainment in the
60's. Also, I would
suggest that Virgil Fox's tour of rock venues with the massive Rodgers Organ
and accompanying
psychodellic light show, exposed more people to the music of Bach than all
of the symphony concerts
in the world occuring in the same time frame.
Here are two of Virgil Fox's "Heavy Organ" concerts:
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/virgil-fox/
(registration required, lossy streaming audio, but you'll get the idea)
Bottom line, who cares if people applaud between movements? Take the
stuffiness out of the concert
hall and the music will live on in "the masses."
One caveat to my populism -- notice I don't advocate dilluting classical
music with silly
"crossover" dreck. It should remain a highly skilled affair, with close
contact to the heritage of
the art, and the worst thing to do is think that poptart "singers" or
whatever else is popular at
the moment has any place mixing in with Beethoven. And idiotic "theme"
albums like "Bach for the
Bathroom" or whatever just make the music seem dumb and boring. These are
marketing ploys created by
small minds, not artistic expansion of a music form into the modern arena of
mixed-media arts.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Pultz" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] FW: [ARSCLIST] Beethoven Violin Concerto on YouTube
> Applause after 1st mvmnt!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shai Drori
> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 5:21 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] FW: [ARSCLIST] Beethoven Violin Concerto on
YouTube
>
> A really nice performance. Listening in bed for the night.
> Shai
>
> Sent from my ringing donkey
>
>>
>>
>> There is this outstanding performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto I
> have just discovered.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epkviHdNMww
>>
>> It's by Zino Francescatti,and The New York Philharmonic,under Dimitri
> Mitropoulos.It is obviously a concert recording.Can anybody
>> tell me when it was done,and if it was ever issued?
>>
>> Roger
>
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