on orchestra programming changes

[acroyear]

Sounds & Fury: Requiescat In Aeternum:

After reading this "new strategic plan" for the Philadelphia Orchestra for emerging from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, we feel a saner, decidedly more honorable plan would be for the Philadelphia Orchestra to convert that Chapter 11 into a Chapter 7 and have done with it — permanently. A Philadelphia Orchestra committed to a "cutback in concerts, from 92 to 78," and a "shifting of repertoire to include light classics ... Broadway music, film scores, and other pop genres" performed "in an environment that is more theatrical" is no Philadelphia Orchestra at all but a burlesque of a symphony orchestra.

Well, I disagree that film scores are inherently less than other contemporary music forms as each work should be judged on its own, there is something to be said for the "summer concert series" model. The NSO keeps things very successful by balancing their fall and spring seasons of "serious" classical with their summertime Wolf Trap performances to larger audiences, playing lighter faire like an annual Star Wars/Star Trek/Holst's Planets show, the Bugs on Broadway concerts, and a 3-day Gilbert and Sullivan production, plus other opera lite works and within that, a few classical heavies along the way like a Mozart or Verdi opera every couple of years.

In truth, its not transitioning to "lite" works, so much as diversifying, and for orchestras with such a large collection of works to choose from, that can't be a bad thing.

Comments

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

I can't see anyone who loves a musical genre who would rather see something die than have it continue on in a lesser form. Once something dies, it is hard to get it back.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

how many Yes fans are saying Yes without Jon Anderson isn't? How many Pink Floyd fans refused to acknowledge the Gilmour-led albums? How many other 70s arena-rock bands are less than what they were without key members of the hit-making line-up (Van Halen, REO, Journey, Styx)?

there is a point where something does become a mockery of its past because the circumstances that made it that way no longer apply.

The issues with orchestras is a tricky thing - we have people complaining about too much new music, and people complaining about not enough new music. we have people complaining about too much adherence to a few core classics (practically a Beethoven cycle every couple of years) while others complaining that the core classics aren't played enough. we have people complaining about empty theater seats, and people complaining about the ideas that are put forth to try to fill them (and in this instance, they're usually the same people).

the heart of it all ends up being the same great curse of contemporary America that is hitting EVERYTHING (including politics) - nobody wants to pay for that which they do not use. orchestras subsist on subscriptions, with the understanding that subscribers don't and won't like to attend every show, but increasingly people are measuring their subscription fee on a per-concert basis and are choosing to switch to single-show purchases with the result that the predictable core of funding that even allows orchestras to schedule concerts in the first place with some degree of guaranteed funding.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Your analogy doesn't really hold up when you are talking about bands whom bandmembers write the songs, when orchestras typically play other people's compositions. I guess a more appropriate one is when Silver Diner started playing more songs from the 70s, which doesn't quite fit into the "diner" theme.

But times change and what people are willing to pay for changes over that time. So, either you need to beat the bushes to try to find those willing to fund what you want to do, or you adjust what you do to attract a different crowd.

The problem isn't just in the classical world. The same thing happens with progressive rock festivals, with NEARFest getting cancelled this year, CalProg going on hiatus for a year and others struggling to create lineups that will draw. It is funny, but I see similar arguments above in the postmortem of the NEARFest cancellation.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

the Yes reaction was the same even during the last tours when no new material was being presented, and most of the arena bands I mentioned aren't really making new material and their tours are primarily greatest-hits tours (just like the Yes tours I just mentioned).

but yeah, I see your point (matching mine) with NEARFest: people wanted to see the headliner but were increasingly unwilling to pay the added whole-festival ticket price just to see them, even though that ticket price paid for the "lesser" groups and the ability to even afford the venue in the first place (and also accounted for the fact that NEARFest ended up picking up the tab for most of the artist's visas to perform in the states, as was the case for the European members of Transatlantic, and Fish the year we saw him at 9:30).

NEARFest at least had some degree of advertising available (usually beer), where-as "Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra presents Mahler's 5th Symphony, sponsored by Budweiser" just wasn't going to fly. :)