{"id":4987,"date":"2010-07-11T10:53:33","date_gmt":"2010-07-11T17:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=4987"},"modified":"2010-07-12T13:16:02","modified_gmt":"2010-07-12T20:16:02","slug":"no-more-live-music-on-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/07\/11\/no-more-live-music-on-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"no more live music on broadway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This op-ed<\/a> from the New York Times<\/em> has been going around the internet the last couple days.\u00a0 It concerns the use of a synthesizer in place of half of the strings in the pit orchestra in the Broadway revival of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story:<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, after 500 performances, our producers have told us and our union that in order to cut costs they will chop our string section in half, releasing five musicians and \u201creplacing\u201d them with a synthesizer piped in from another room. I don\u2019t think Lenny would have approved.<\/p>\n

The sweeping grandeur of Broadway\u2019s classic scores would be impossible without master orchestrations. I would argue that the orchestrator\u2019s crafty magic is perhaps best appreciated from the pit below the stage \u2014 by musicians who thrill (or despair, as the case may well be) to a given score night after night. To my ear, the orchestration of \u201cWest Side Story\u201d towers above all others, a masterwork of complexity and beauty that still reveals marvels to my colleagues and me.<\/p>\n

The score\u2019s eye-popping instrumental forces, too long to list here, involve everything from bass saxophone to slide whistle to three piccolos. Bernstein crafted 11 independent string parts to render his sublime love songs: \u201cMaria,\u201d \u201cTonight,\u201d \u201cSomewhere\u201d and \u201cOne Hand, One Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, though, if all goes according to plan, these songs will be produced by a skeletal string section accompanied by an inert, artificial, electronic device, which an engineer will try to manipulate, hoping to deceive audiences into thinking it\u2019s the real thing. (I must note that I will still be there, lest this sound merely self-serving.) The producers are doubtless betting audiences won\u2019t notice the difference. But if you happen to be listening, as Lenny would have suggested you do, you will notice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Producers cite cost-cutting as the reason for this move.\u00a0 It makes me wonder what would happen if half the onstage cast were lip syncing to a recording.\u00a0 Would the audience be blase about this as well? Ballet companies regularly replace entire orchestras with recorded ensembles, and audiences still come out in numbers for those performances.\u00a0 But they would not if there were a live orchestra and a video projection of the ballet action, I would guess.\u00a0 The difference, of course, is that the orchestra in these productions is the supporting player.\u00a0 However, no composer that I know of is writing for a synthesizer.\u00a0 They’re writing for a live orchestra of living, breathing musicians, who bring the intangible of live performance to every performance.\u00a0 Ballet dancers uniformly say that they prefer dancing to the energy of a live orchestra or ensemble over a recording, despite or perhaps because of the variables that a live performance introduces into the experience.<\/p>\n

Perhaps an audience revolt over the loss of live music in the pit is a worthwhile proposition.\u00a0 Some companies, Oregon Ballet Theatre, for example, have had to cut the orchestra on a temporary basis to balance the budget in extreme circumstances, but have always stated their firm intention to provide a live orchestra whenever possible.\u00a0 Others, however, are not so dedicated to keeping live musicians in their performance experience.<\/p>\n

Summer is the time for tourists to visit New York and partake of the great Broadway shows – so ask at the ticket window if a live orchestra is being used, and let your conscience be your guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This op-ed from the New York Times has been going around the internet the last couple days.\u00a0 It concerns the use of a synthesizer in place of half of the strings in the pit orchestra in the Broadway revival of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story:<\/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":[1783,186,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-administration-the-orchestra-world-music","category-labor-issues","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1ir","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2245,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/24\/dallas-fort-worth-ballet-orchestra-replaced-with-outsourced-musicians\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":0},"title":"dallas-fort worth ballet orchestra replaced with outsourced musicians","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From a musician press release: Musicians are upset because Texas Ballet Theater is using recorded music it made in China to replace them in the orchestra pit at Bass Hall. When it owed the Fort Worth Symphony Association and Bass Hall more than $300,000 for services and rent last season,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2298,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/06\/obt-pit-goes-dark\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":1},"title":"OBT pit goes dark","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From today's Oregonian: In yet another round of bad news for Portland's arts scene, Oregon Ballet Theatre is cutting its budget 28 percent. The ballet will go on. Just don't expect a live orchestra at any OBT performances or quite as many dancers on stage next season. Approved by OBT's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dance"","block_context":{"text":"dance","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/dance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2651,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/07\/obt-season-ending-performance-dazzles\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":2},"title":"OBT season ending performance dazzles","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My wife and I attended the Sunday matinee of Oregon Ballet Theatre's final performance of the 08-09 season.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an amazing show all around.\u00c2\u00a0 First of all, the sets and lighting were phenomenal.\u00c2\u00a0 The orchestra, under music director Niel DePonte, sounded as good as I've ever heard them, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"obt_thermometer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/obt_thermometer-200x260.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4148,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/28\/obt-orchestra-returns\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":3},"title":"obt orchestra returns","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Bob Hicks (a.k.a. Mr. Scatter) has a review of the Oregon Ballet Theater's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which featured the return of the OBT orchestra after being absent due to budget cuts for all of the 2009-2010 season.\u00a0 Here's the portion of the review that deals with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dance"","block_context":{"text":"dance","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/dance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/obtfb-400x47.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":725,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/30\/columbus-symphony-musicians-respond\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":4},"title":"columbus symphony musicians respond","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Columbus Symphony musicians have issued a formal response to the planned cuts of both season and personnel by the Columbus Symphony Association. Central Ohio Federation of Musicians Local 103, AFM 1585 Bethel Road, Suite 100 Columbus, Ohio 43220 614-457-6371 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2008 HUNDREDS FROM AROUND THE\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":943,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/25\/columbus-symphony-musicians-reject-final-offer\/","url_meta":{"origin":4987,"position":5},"title":"columbus symphony musicians reject ‘final offer’","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears that we may be on the verge of whatever will happen in Columbus, if this results in an impasse. Press release from the CSO musicians' web site: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2008 Columbus Symphony Musicians Unanimously Vote to Reject Board's \"Final Offer\" Last night, the members of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987","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=4987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}