{"id":4809,"date":"2010-06-15T10:50:39","date_gmt":"2010-06-15T17:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=4809"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:24:09","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:24:09","slug":"more-teachout-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/15\/more-teachout-fallout\/","title":{"rendered":"more teachout fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mouth of the Beast writes The Value of Regional Orchestras<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Teachout\u2019s argument makes me sad. I appreciate the local orchestras I\u2019ve patronized throughout my life for both tangible and less tangible reasons. I find listening to music\u2013just listening\u2013very hard. A live orchestra provides a visual accompaniment to the music. It\u2019s for this reason that I prefer YouTube videos of unfamiliar works to recordings where possible. If not, I use a score. I think it has to do with mirror neurons; by watching the musicians, I get to feel a little bit of what it feels like to directly manipulate the sound.<\/p>\n

I also think that a reliance on recordings for the \u201cquality\u201d or \u201cright\u201d performance is a crutch that hurts music in the long term. The mentality that if you\u2019re not going to hear (or produce) a perfect performance, then the whole thing is worthless runs counter to individual participation with music. Why participate in a community softball league if nobody is going to the world series? It\u2019s a ridiculous standard that is not applied to any other part of community life, but this gets confused by the quality and ubiquity of recordings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inside the Classics writes Another Round of Navel Gazing<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[there is a] disconnect between those who think<\/em> about orchestras for a living and those who actually make our living by them. Which is not to say that the outsiders are always wrong and we\u2019re always right \u2013 the whole point of bringing in a consultant is to get a fresh take on your company\u2019s situation from someone with no internal baggage. It\u2019s just that so many of those wringing their hands about the future either seem to be suggesting that we magically conjure a massive new audience for orchestral music that absolutely adores<\/em> both Brahms and Stockhausen; or that we slash overhead to a point where the constant fundraising that keeps orchestras afloat can cease to be so difficult. Both of these are completely bubbleheaded notions that cannot be achieved in the real world, and they are therefore unhelpful, no matter how prettily they\u2019re packaged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds & Fury writes Bloody Unbelievable<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Therefore, reasons Mr. Teachout (or so it seems), while experiencing reproduced paintings in, say, a deluxe coffee table book or plays reproduced via DVD is a categorical no-no because experiencing reproduced paintings and recorded stage presentations cannot possibly equal the aesthetic experience of the live thing, with classical music, experiencing a reproduction (heard via an MP3 on a bloody iPod, no less!) is a perfectly acceptable substitute aesthetically for experiencing a live performance, especially when that live performance is by an orchestra that’s something less than world-class.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

David Stabler writes Are Regional Orchestras Obsolete?<\/a><\/p>\n

I think Teachout underplays the importance of experiencing live music.
\nHearing and watching the “Resurrection” unfold in the presence of an enormous orchestra, a large choir, vocal soloists and seatmates all around me makes the listening experience immediate and communal. I am caught up in the music differently from how I get caught up with music on headphones. In the concert hall, I witness the physical unfolding of it, the effort to produce the notes, the rhythmic beat of the conductor, the tension of executing it well. Live listening is how Mahler intended his music to be received.
\nNot all music today is written for communal consumption (video games, for example), but most concert music is.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Drew McManus writes Faulty Reasoning<\/a> (quoting a comment from Craig Knox):<\/p>\n

Teachout then betrays his bias as a drama critic, saying that while the justification for small theater companies is \u201cself-evident\u201d, small orchestras can enjoy no such privilege. He bases this claim soley on the fact that theater companies such as Palm Beach Dramaworks mount \u201cfirst-class productions of a sophisticated repertory\u201d, including \u201cchallenging shows\u201d by Ionesco. \u201cMost\u201d regional orchestras, he says matter-of-factly, offer a \u201cpredictable mix of ultrafamiliar classics and souffl\u00e9-light pops\u201d. Performances by the local theater, he says, \u201ccannot be duplicated by any other means\u201d, while the familiar classics of the local orchestra can just as easily be heard on iTunes. Thinking about this for more than a few seconds, one wonders if Mr. Teachout has heard of the DVD player (or the VCR before that, or \u201cMasterpiece Theater\u201d before that for god sakes). Why is it that Teachout so glibly replaces live music performance with recordings, but submits as \u201cself-evident\u201d the fact that drama cannot in any way be duplicated outside of the theater?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mouth of the Beast writes The Value of Regional Orchestras: Teachout\u2019s argument makes me sad. I appreciate the local orchestras I\u2019ve patronized throughout my life for both tangible and less tangible reasons. I find listening to music\u2013just listening\u2013very hard. A live orchestra provides a visual accompaniment to the music. It\u2019s for this reason that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[148,225,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-bloggers","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1fz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/03\/30\/us-orchestras-begin-recording-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":0},"title":"U.S. orchestras begin recording again","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Caught this article on Yahoo about the recent (and very small) expansion in the recording activities of some US orchestras. Here's the first couple paragraphs: NEW YORK (Billboard) - Not long ago, American orchestras considered the notion of creating new recordings an almost impossible dream. Among the hurdles: longstanding union\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/03\/25\/orchestras-and-itunes\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":1},"title":"orchestras and iTunes","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I have the following reaction when I read that the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic were going to offer downloads of complete recent concerts via iTunes: it's about time! Both orchestras are part of a new initiative by the Universal Music Group built on its Deutsche Grammophon and\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":882,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/03\/27\/st-louis-takes-download-plunge\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":2},"title":"st louis takes download plunge","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Saint Louis Symphony has joined a growing number of U.S. orchestras that are releasing content for download over the internet. The first release is a live recording of John Adams' Harmonielehre, a massive 50 minute work which thrust the composer out of the world of minimalism and into his\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":"e10635d5-3048-2adc-46d46e22c2a92444.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/e10635d5-3048-2adc-46d46e22c2a92444.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12613,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/22\/patch-sessions-and-live-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":3},"title":"patch sessions and live recordings","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We've had a busy couple of weeks here at the Oregon Symphony. In addition to two programs which are quite challenging technically and mentally, we're also recording them for good measure. And we're recording them for two different purposes. Three of the pieces - Piston's The Incredible Flutist suite, Antheil's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "recordings"","block_context":{"text":"recordings","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/recordings-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"No, not that patch.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/patchadams.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2089,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/09\/the-littered-landscape\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":4},"title":"the littered landscape","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"After a bit of blow back from my response to David Stabler's blog post about some restrictions on use of audio\/video clips of union musicians for a feature article of Tomas Svoboda's world premiere this week, I decided to follow some well-intended advice from one of my colleagues and get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "audio"","block_context":{"text":"audio","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2115,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/11\/amazing-recording-resource\/","url_meta":{"origin":4809,"position":5},"title":"amazing recording resource","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Henry Fogel, president of the League of American Orchestras and former President of the Chicago Symphony, has amassed a huge collection of LP's and CD's over the years, and he's created an online database (at HenrysRecords.org) of all the information from these recordings (including personnel, timings, etc.).\u00c2\u00a0 It's a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "historical performance"","block_context":{"text":"historical performance","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/historical-performance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/henry-wono-small.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}