{"id":2938,"date":"2009-08-04T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T07:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2009-08-03T14:12:19","modified_gmt":"2009-08-03T21:12:19","slug":"video-screens-symphony-concerts-good-or-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/04\/video-screens-symphony-concerts-good-or-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"video screens @ symphony concerts – good or bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came across an article<\/a> from today’s Chicago Sun-Times which asserts the success of the jumbotron-style video screens at the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony.\u00a0 As usual, this has engendered the tired arguments between the crusty old salts and the fresh-faced ingenues as to what a travesty\/triumph these screens have turned out to be.\u00a0 My question is, why does it have to be an old\/young issue at all?\u00a0 Can’t it be a more democratizing experience?\u00a0 Those people in the cheap seats, at the back of the seating area, can actually see what’s going on as well or better than those who got the prime tickets.\u00a0 And frankly, it would seem to be an obvious point that being able to see members of the orchestra, the conductor, and the soloist from a close up viewpoint would be a, in the parlance of Martha Stewart, ‘good thing’.<\/p>\n

The other issue that bothers me is the assumption that younger people who go to see Beyonc\u00e9 concerts (as chosen by the author of the article) are going to go to the symphony in droves now that there are giant video screens at the concerts.\u00a0 I don’t see how the two are really related.\u00a0 People don’t go to see Beyonc\u00e9 because of the video screens, the go to see her perform, and the video screens simply help them to actually see her from the $50 seats.\u00a0 Perhaps if they were going to see Beyonc\u00e9 with the Chicago Symphony, then they’d be expecting screens.<\/p>\n

In the end, it’s all about change.\u00a0 Some people hate change with an undying (sorry for the word choice) intensity, and nothing is going to change their minds about new things happening in the concert hall.\u00a0 Others assume that anything new is a panacea for what ails the symphony concert format, and that doing anything less than a sweeping revolutionary set of changes is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.\u00a0 How about the reasonable assumption that both camps are at best half correct?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across an article from today’s Chicago Sun-Times which asserts the success of the jumbotron-style video screens at the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony.\u00a0 As usual, this has engendered the tired arguments between the crusty old salts and the fresh-faced ingenues as to what a travesty\/triumph these screens have turned out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[148,138,2],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-summer-festivals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-criticism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Lo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12482,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/20\/a-legend-steps-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":2938,"position":0},"title":"a legend steps down","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Chicago Symphony has announced that its principal horn for the past 47 seasons, Dale Clevenger, will retire effective June 30, 2013. From the orchestra's press release: Concluding a distinguished career of nearly five decades as principal horn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Dale Clevenger will retire from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "french horn"","block_context":{"text":"french horn","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/instruments\/french-horn\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"clev2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/clev2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7964,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/19\/defiant-requiem-screens-at-portland-art-museum\/","url_meta":{"origin":2938,"position":1},"title":"defiant requiem screens at portland art museum","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"DEFIANT REQUIEM Trailer from PARTISAN PICTURES on Vimeo. The film Defiant Requiem will be presented this Sunday (October 21) as part of the NW Film Center's 2012 Reel Music festival at 4:30 p.m. in the Whitsell Auditorium of the Portland Art Museum. It looks like it is a gorgeously produced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7791,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/08\/23\/hammer-blows-of-fate\/","url_meta":{"origin":2938,"position":2},"title":"hammer blows of fate","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm working on notes for the Oregon Symphony's November 3-5, 2012 performances of Mahler's Sixth Symphony, sometimes referred to as the \"Tragic\". 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Honolulu Symphony gets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"underwood5small","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/underwood5small.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1453,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/19\/worlds-top-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":2938,"position":4},"title":"world’s top orchestras?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how one could actually come up with a list like this and keep a straight face, but I guess it's akin to the coaches\/journalists polls that determine college football\/basketball rankings.\u00c2\u00a0 At least orchestras don't have to navigate the inanities of the BCS system... 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