“Welcome,” says the Philadelphia Orchestra, “to a season of incomparable reach and breadth.” That’s in a press release they emailed, announcing what they’re doing next season. So, really…incomparable? So good that it can’t be compared to any past Philadelphia season? Can’t be compared to any season at any orchestra, ever? They can’t seriously mean that. Especially when they go on to outline what’s going to happen in 2018-19, and most of it is mundane, things every big orchestra does. And then the main text of the press release ends … [Read more...]

One of the most moving musical performances for me, one I deeply love, one that even makes me cry — it's Neil Young singing his song "Harvest Moon”, in Jonathan Demme's Heart of Gold, a film of a Young concert. Anyone who knows me well (and knows the song) would know why I'm so deeply touched. I'm not a young man, and here's Neil Young, 47 when he first released the song on an album also called Harvest Moon, 60 when he sang it in the film, and now 72. Singing a love song. But not an impetuous or breathless one, not a young man's song, not … [Read more...]

Strange thing I just realized. The Met Opera celebrated New Year’s Eve with a new production of Tosca. Made sense to me when I first heard about it. An opera people love, some grand singing, if it’s cast well. What’s not to like? And then it dawned on me. This makes no sense at all, Tosca on New Year’s Eve. Not if you take the opera seriously, and remember what it’s about. Let’s remind ourselves. (Not that I really need to recount the plot to readers who know classical music, but still). Blood and torment A brutal man — torturer, … [Read more...]

I've been working with a consulting client on his branding, on how he talks about himself. He's slowly crafting a new artist bio for himself, one that doesn't just list his achievements, but weaves who he is as a person — and who he is as an artist — together with all the things he's done. I find this marvelous. An artist bio as a human document! An artistic statement. Not just a list. With a bio like this we can attract attention to the full picture of who we are. Which I think is good both for our souls and four our careers. We're … [Read more...]

Classical music has a mindset. Or I might call it an ideology. Two parts of it are: Classical music is a high, refined, deeply serious art. And so scholarship about its history is greatly important, and tells us how our masterworks should be performed. But what happens when these two points conflict? When scholarship shows us that some of our masterworks — as they were performed in their time — were neither high, serious, nor refined? I think that then we drop our scholarship, without ever saying that we’re doing that. So we can … [Read more...]

    In which I tell orchestras in the US — or at least the National Symphony — that maybe they should stop taking so much time to thank donors (and other upper-crust supporters) — at their opening galas. They should greet the community instead. This is the third of three posts about amateur mistakes and other problems at the NSO's opening gala, Delayed, this post was, by a business trip, a family trip, moving into a new house, and my new resolution not to let my blog make me tense or anxious. The other posts are here and … [Read more...]

Promised followup to my last post. About things badly done at the gala season opener of the National Symphony on September 24. Because there are so many fumbles when classical music is presented to the world. We need to do better! But first… I must strongly say that, musically, the gala opening was a delight. Gianandrea Noseda — very strong, very charming — making his first appearance as the orchestra’s new music director. Gary Ginstling, newly installed as executive director, bringing strength and smiles onstage. Clearly a new era for the … [Read more...]

Early this month I got crazy email from the Met Opera. They were promoting their new season, opening with a new production of Bellini's Norma. That opening happened two nights ago, but this doesn't concern me here. What concerns me -- one thing that was crazy -- was three links at the top of the email (one for each of the first three  operas they're doing this season), brusquely titled "Photo galleries." That, I thought, wasn't a friendly way to invite me to see what the productions looked like. But I wanted to see how Norma looked, so I … [Read more...]

So here I am back, after much time off. Not blogging. Some of that was vacation. Trips, family time. As in this photo of me and Rafa at a British pub: Or this one of him and Anne on a wild hillside. After a multi-hour steep hike, he said: "This is the greatest day ever!" Though maybe that was topped by his first ride on a Ferris wheel. He wasn't just delighted. He just about became delight. And there's an extra reason to share these photos, quite beyond "I love my wife and kid!" (He's going to be six next month. I know … [Read more...]

So for a change of pace… Last night I was at a birthday party for a kid in Rafa’s class, one of his best friends. “I like him a killion!” While the kids played, I sat with some other parents from Rafa’s school. Three women were on their phones, looking at the summer concert schedule at Wolf Trap. Big performing arts center in the DC area, for anyone who doesn’t know it. These were educated, professional women, age around 40, I’d guess. And they were going wild over this show: I LOVE THE 90’S THE PARTY CONTINUES TOUR FEATURING TLC, KID N … [Read more...]

Why I’m writing these posts about SHIFT *a festival featuring orchestras from around the U.S., coproduced in Washington by the Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts, with all tickets affordably priced at $25):  Because the festival wasn’t marketed well, wasn’t promoted well. And will come back next year, so a look at its problems could be helpful. And because the mistakes are instructive. Others can learn from them. Four lessons: Think! Use common sense. Think really hard about how your marketing will look to your target … [Read more...]

Resuming my blog after a gap… I’m sorry that I said some provocative things about the SHIFT festival in DC, and then fell silent. I hadn’t planned that. But life intervened, taking me by surprise, when my schedule got crazy. My bad. I apologize. And I also apologize for something off-base I said in my SHIFT post: Special note for the Kennedy Center: Mason Bates has been your composer in residence for two years. With no disrespect to him or his music — he’s someone I’ve known cordially for years — you might ask what it means that the … [Read more...]

(This is a revised version of my original post. I added a paragraph about aerial dancing, and -- to avoid making two parenthetical remarks in a row -- I moved the paragraph about Mason Bates to a different place.) I’m late in getting to this, thanks to some traveling. But I’m asking a vital question. Both because the SHIFT festival was a major move for two top DC institutions. And because the marketing lessons here can be helpful to everyone. What SHIFT is: A festival of orchestras, coproduced in DC by the Kennedy Center and Washington … [Read more...]

This is a revised version of my original post. No major changes. Just shortened the first part, to move more quickly to the second one.  First, making a business trip to UTEP, the University of Texas at El Paso, together with my wife. Who was also invited there. As blog readers know, she's Anne Midgette, classical music critic at the Washington Post. I've been asked in the past to come along when she's been invited somewhere, and people often hope she'll come when I'm the one invited. Two problems with that -- we're both busy with our own … [Read more...]