Tempers Flare

Below is a  response to Richard Todd’s “Temper Temper”, an article published in April. This response was submitted not more than a few days after Todd's article was published, but I only received confirmation this week that it did not fit the submission guidelines of the same publication. Therefore I have copied it in full for you below.

‘Baroque’ is a word which all music students are familiar with. Indeed, even since Mr. Todd’s school days have teachers introduced a music history course centered on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the definition of barocco. Literally taken, it means ‘a deformed pearl’. It wasn’t something anyone in the eighteenth century wanted attributed to their work either, but, though I dare not shout too loud, I believe there is something to be learned about ourselves from it.

Out with a Bang

Tonight marks the last of four performances of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks with Ensemble Zefiro. In a very much royal affair, Wednesday night saw four thousand people descend on the palace gardens of Versailles to witness a fireworks show synchronized to Handel's classic. Needless to say, they got what they paid for.

The Right Room

Last week I performed my first professional recital in the greater Switzerland. Along with my friends Alexandra and Ziv, I performed a program of a variety of obscure works for bassoon, including a piece of my own. The venue was a 16th century Schloss in Hahnberg, near lake Constance.

The building was incredible in that it was owned by a man who is a professional architect specializing in the restoration of 'ancient' structures. His Schloss, which he restored himself, is now in immaculate condition. The concert room, about the size of a small living-room with a vaulted ceiling, was originally a kitchen until it was renovated in the 17th century.

Most worrisome for an ensemble consisting of archlute, viola da gamba, and bassoon is balance. Though in a rehearsal setting balance isn't necessarily a primary concern (as we weren't rehearsing at the venue), we were conscious that I could easily overpower the group in a loftier acoustic. Furthermore, Alexandra and I were to play Couperin's 13e Concert, from Les Gouts-reunis, a piece which can be problematic when played by a bassoon and gamba.

Our trio at the facade of
Schloss Kleiner Hahnberg

Entering the concert room which was bursting with fifty spectators, I was curious to hear what the group sound would be. When we first arrived we got an idea of what to expect, but the presence of a crowd can have a huge impact on the acoustic. Playing the first notes of the program we were delighted. Not only was the balance excellent, but the proximity of the audience and their investment in the performance made for quite the experience.

Coming home on the train the discussion centered on the concert room. So rare is it these days that we get to perform chamber music in the very kind of room known to the composers and amazing it was that our primary concern that day was vanquished by it.

Radicals

Yesterday I read an article by Richard Todd on Wolfgang's Tonic summing up in his words the effect Lisitsa/TSO calamity had on Stewart Goodyear. I wasn't particularly interested on commenting directly on the feed since that usually grabs the attention of the wrong kind of people. I decided then that I would put it up here.

Obviously subjective judgments on pianists aside, I was a little unnerved by the term "free-speech radicals" used to describe an apparent subgroup who pushed Stewart Goodyear to dropping the gig. I don't condone the mob's actions, especially as they dealt with their frustrations by shooting the messenger, so to speak, but that term unfairly diminishes them and sets a dangerous precedent.

This is not the first time those words have been used to describe opponents to perceived 'censorship' issues in the arts - take the 2001 Death of Klinghoffer affair in Boston for instance. However, in the context of the online hysteria arising from the TSO blunder pidgeon-holing a cross section of misguided thugs as 'free-speech radicals' only opens the door for the people who really executed Lisitsa's dropping - those unnamed big time 'donors' - to gain standing. If donors have the power to affect the TSO's hiring policy so visibly, who's to say they won't try it again when it suits them while labeling opposition as 'radical'.

If the mob really wishes for this case never to be repeated then institutional change must be made across the board - a radical suggestion, perhaps? But that won't happen if personal attacks remain the norm on the one side, while the other has the establishment by the balls.