[LJ2ME] Don't Play It Again, Sam
ryanfoster hit the nail on the head with his astute observation that "the more popular and crowd pleasing the music, the more dreary the first half." This of course in reference to the programming choices of the SSO where last evening's hand of cards dealt us with the Goldmark Rustic Wedding as the strange bedfellow of the Li Yundi-driven Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1.
Of course, considering that the latter work itself would have moved tickets, much less with a celebrity soloist to boot, but do they really have to go all out to unearth the most obscure and unknown works in the repertory to fill the programme?
And it's not a first-time or once-off fluke but a documented phenomenon that probably has forecasts down to the very day like how the astronomers can calculate the next total solar eclipse in 2136 or whatever.
Granted that even with artistic growth and audience education taken into account in the formulary, surely there's some spiteful reason behind their scheduling of works that cannot possibly be considered as listenable or noteworthy save for those with a penchant for aural sadomasochism. Either that or it's pure vanity projects for the trophy case as I've opined before.
A colleague at work sings in the SSC and when I was raving about the inclusion of Beethoven's Choral Symphony and Verdi's Requiem among this season's crop, he was rolling his eyes at performing these works "again". It's been at least several years since Beethoven and almost a decade since Verdi so I can't really fathom "again". Of course, with only a handful of works each season locally as opposed to a plethora of choices in other cultural calendars, I guess from the performer's point of view, something new is always a challenge.
Cliched works have earned their stripes for a reason and are lapped up by the public for a reason. Why else would they have survived the vagaries of fleeting interest when others have disappeared into ignominy?
So join me in raising our objection to this torture on our ears and making a strong case for familiar favourites. Artistic integrity be damned! Ta-ta-ta-taa!
Of course, considering that the latter work itself would have moved tickets, much less with a celebrity soloist to boot, but do they really have to go all out to unearth the most obscure and unknown works in the repertory to fill the programme?
And it's not a first-time or once-off fluke but a documented phenomenon that probably has forecasts down to the very day like how the astronomers can calculate the next total solar eclipse in 2136 or whatever.
Granted that even with artistic growth and audience education taken into account in the formulary, surely there's some spiteful reason behind their scheduling of works that cannot possibly be considered as listenable or noteworthy save for those with a penchant for aural sadomasochism. Either that or it's pure vanity projects for the trophy case as I've opined before.
A colleague at work sings in the SSC and when I was raving about the inclusion of Beethoven's Choral Symphony and Verdi's Requiem among this season's crop, he was rolling his eyes at performing these works "again". It's been at least several years since Beethoven and almost a decade since Verdi so I can't really fathom "again". Of course, with only a handful of works each season locally as opposed to a plethora of choices in other cultural calendars, I guess from the performer's point of view, something new is always a challenge.
Cliched works have earned their stripes for a reason and are lapped up by the public for a reason. Why else would they have survived the vagaries of fleeting interest when others have disappeared into ignominy?
So join me in raising our objection to this torture on our ears and making a strong case for familiar favourites. Artistic integrity be damned! Ta-ta-ta-taa!