By David Amos
SAN DIEGO — In my many years of involvement in music, in all its phases, as a performer, writer, promoter, lecturer, critic, and broadcaster, I have heard comments from other music lovers which reflect their music world, as they see it. I am both frustrated and amused at some of the empty statements, spoken with great authority, from the ordinary concertgoer, to patrons of the arts, and at times, from the hapless administrators hired to carry out their whims.
Let me share a few of these precious gems. Some happened directly to me, and others are part and lore of music history.
In the 1940’s a famous critic took his seat at Carnegie Hall to hear Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra. At intermission, an elderly patron asked the critic, “That fellow, Toscanini, who was at the podium, is he also supposed to know the music?
Recently, after one of my lectures, a senior approached me and said, “You lecture on Mozart was very interesting. But, was Mozart also a musician?”
Years ago, at a social event, a gentleman came up to me and said, “David, I never go to your concerts because you play too much Schoenberg!” I politely pointed to him the fact that I never, never had programmed a single work by Schoenberg in any of my concerts. To this, he answered, “Oh, yes you have!”, and walked away. Oh, well.
In one of my CD albums of the “Modern Masters” series, released in the early 1990’s, there were several selections by American composers. A French magazine reviewed that particular recording, praised the performances, but with the European snootiness all too frequently seen in the arts toward American culture, it concluded the review by saying, “The musical selections are really not too bad, considering that they are by American composers!”
At the end of another lecture I presented, a man came up to me and proudly took out of a paper bag and old vinyl LP of mine, where I conducted the Israel Philharmonic. I gladly told him that I appreciated his bringing the record for “show and tell”, but he answered, “I really don’t like any of the music in it!”
Someone, once, told me with a straight face and total sincerity, “C’mon, David, name me a single work of music of any quality composed after 1900!”
I am totally convinced that today, we have musical talent among us that is better and more plentiful than in the times of our revered masters, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and all the others we deservedly revere. We just need to let the new talent into our artistic life, and allow them a chance to become part of music history. If the quality is there, they will survive. If not, time is a wonderful equalizer, and they will be relegated to their proper place in the books (or computers). But it is our sacred obligation to give as many serious musicians a chance to have their creations and interpretations be heard and documented.
At the end of one of my concerts with my community orchestra, I was approached by a man who told me that he heard this same music played by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, live at Lincoln Center, and they were better! Duh.
I was present at an orchestral concert many years ago. The unthinkable happened: For whatever technical reasons, the music completely fell apart, and the conductor had no other option but to stop, tell the musicians a point of reference in their music, (a rehearsal letter), and the music continued. I was momentarily horrified at this breakdown, which happens sometimes. But the curious thing was that at the end of the concert, which was heavily attended by professional, experienced orchestral musicians who were not performing that evening, no one that I talked to had noticed that the music disintegrated, stopped, and then continued! It is as if nothing happened. Where were they?
Music critic gaffes are common occurrences. There are so many. About a decade ago, a world famous orchestra visited us in San Diego and presented a wonderful program. Its conductor, not a household name, performed brilliantly, with energy, sensitivity, focus, and a clear understanding of the orchestral score and the composer’s intentions. The orchestra responded accurately and artistically. But, the local paper’s review lamented that such good music and such a wonderful orchestra were saddled by such a mediocre, second-class conductor!
Another shameful example of assumptions made, that if the performer is not jet-setter famous, the music can not be that good.
People have a hard time distinguishing music that is intellectually brainless and artistically irrelevant from the real thing. Brilliance of performance is not an indication of greatness.
Here is where European and Israeli audiences have a clearer perception than we have on this side of the pond. At least, it is more evident to me in the local level. Lesser known talent, whether it be in the form of a composer, a soloist, or an ensemble, is warmly and enthusiastically received if the quality is there, and music lovers three thousand miles plus east of the East River seem to grasp it better than we do. Sadly, many influential people who are empowered to make a difference, and who pretend to know the arts (or a particular art form) are completely helpless in seeing true artistry from glitz.
This skill comes from years of careful, intelligent listening, absorbing serious music in all its forms, and becoming emotionally involved in the experience.
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Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world.