# The McDonalds-ization of Symphony and Opera Programming



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I recently read a statistical review of 2016 classical music performances. It is available here. In the article it says that *1/2 of all opera performances worldwide consist of the music of only 4 composers: Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart*.

Presumably, then, people are more likely to attend a performance of old favorites, music that they already know well, and are less likely to try something new.

This has led me to think about McDonalds. Let's say you are on a road trip in a new place. You are stopping for lunch. You could either go to a local restaurant OR go to McDonald's. The local restaurant might be terrible, or it might be great, but it does represent a gamble. Whereas with McDonald's, you know exactly what you are going to get. There is essentially no risk involved.

Which do people choose? Usually McDonald's.

I believe that is what happens in our Concert and Opera halls.

Is this just human nature? Are we conditioned as a species to settle for the comfortable? to decrease risk?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

20centrfuge said:


> I recently read a statistical review of 2016 classical music performances. It is available here. In the article it says that *1/2 of all opera performances worldwide consist of the music of only 4 composers: Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart*.
> 
> Presumably, then, people are more likely to attend a performance of old favorites, music that they already know well, and are less likely to try something new.


Or people don't have the opportunity to attend performances of unfamiliar operas. However, I do feel that most folks go for what's safe; change is not desired.


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

I think opera is significantly worse than orchestra programming in this regard. Nevertheless, I would certainly appreciate more diversity in orchestra programs.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

As they say, follow the money. Of course, in Nashville, they seem to program the new with the old. Next week they are having the Firebird and Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon to a Faun (very familiar) with MacDowell's 2nd Piano Concerto (not very familiar) and Conversations With Nijinsky by Winger (completely unknown).


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> I recently read a statistical review of 2016 classical music performances. It is available here. In the article it says that *1/2 of all opera performances worldwide consist of the music of only 4 composers: Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart*.
> 
> Presumably, then, people are more likely to attend a performance of old favorites, music that they already know well, and are less likely to try something new.
> 
> ...


Could well be, though occasionally (including on here) one will come across an outlier who goes to the other end of the spectrum and prioritises novelty above all else. Some folks - I'm guessing from your post that you may be among them - see musical conservatism as a problem, but I don't. With the availability of such a vast range of recordings nowadays, nobody has to be denied the enjoyment they get from listening to the music they want to hear, so live and let live AFAIC.


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> As they say, follow the money. Of course, in Nashville, they seem to program the new with the old. Next week they are having the Firebird and Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon to a Faun (very familiar) with MacDowell's 2nd Piano Concerto (not very familiar) and Conversations With Nijinsky by Winger (completely unknown).


If not for the distance, I would attend.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Absent any information about the average or median number of times the people counted in Bachtrack's statistics go to the opera each year, it's hard to draw any particular conclusions other than that 4 opera composers generally counted among the greatest are by far the most-performed. If someone only goes to (and only wants to go to) one opera performance a year, then they'll probably try to attend one they "know" will be good. Conversely, if an opera company is trying to ensure a good number of bums-on-seats for the season, then they'll probably try to stage an opera they know will be well-attended. You can call these "safe" bets, or maybe "reliable" is a less-pejorative word.

I suppose things would be a lot worse if Puccini, Verdi, Wagner and Mozart were to opera what McDonald's is to food.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Could well be, though occasionally (including on here) one will come across an outlier who goes to the other end of the spectrum and prioritises novelty above all else. Some folks - I'm guessing from your post that you may be among them - see musical conservatism as a problem, but I don't. With the availability of such a vast range of recordings nowadays, nobody has to be denied the enjoyment they get from listening to the music they want to hear, so live and let live AFAIC.


I love Puccini and Mozart operas as much as most anyone, but admittedly, I do worry about the viability of the opera/concert-going experience.

If, like you say, people can just hear diversity through recordings whenever they want, the logical next step is that they really don't need to go to concerts.

It's an issue that is certainly on the minds of those that run these institutions. I am sure it is fairly tricky -- balancing the budget with time honored classics that bring in money and also trying to look to the future to keep the art form from becoming simply a museum experience.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Fascinating - confirms what I feel when people talk about modern music not being programmed. In the UK we have about 26% classical and Baroque, about 30% Romantic and the rest - 44% - 20th Century and later. So we do quite well compared to the rest of the world.

Equally, we have a local Baroque ensemble who do "push the envelope" - lots of Mudge, Boyce, Blow, Avison, Arne, Locke. Their latest venture is Johann Joseph Fux and Friends which will doubtless lead to a few interesting comments.

Their musical director also works with English Touring opera who are going round the UK doing Giulio Cesare in two chunks and Rameau's Dardanus. Not your usual opera experience. I think we are lucky that we have such a wide range of music available locally.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

While the "big" opera companies do this, smaller ones don't as much. In my city at least, there are other operas produced other than by the biggest professional company, and those minor-league ones specialize in rarer things. For example, my music school will attempt different things like Massenet, Janacek, or even Bernstein, besides Mozart, Puccini, etc.

There's another reason for those 4 composers to get the most attention too. All 4 of them were extremely prolific, each having about 10 good operas to their name. Depend on those 4 and you get almost 40 solid operas. Rossini must be waning then if he's not a part of that statistic anymore, but maybe with him included, it could be 55-60% of opera productions covered by 5 composers.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Opera is expensive. Companies have to program enough guaranteed sellers to subsidize the new or less well known and still not have their socks explode. Like ballet companies wallpapering the holidays with Nutcrackers to keep themselves afloat.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

The opera company in Salt Lake does 4 operas each year and 2-3 of them are what you would call safe bets. At least, to their credit, the 4th one is always a new opera. This year they're doing an adaptation of the new opera: Moby Dick by Jake Heggie.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Nereffid said:


> I suppose things would be a lot worse if Puccini, Verdi, Wagner and Mozart were to opera what McDonald's is to food.


My thinking, exactly. The Mickey D's analogy is a weak one. Rather, attending at opera by Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart is more akin to dining at Eleven Madison Park, Osteria Francescana, El Celler de Can Roca, or elBulli, all top rankers on_ Restaurant_ magazine's list of 100 best eateries in the world.

Now, if you want to talk McDonald's for comparisons in music, you'll have to go with something like airport lounge pianists. Of course, I occasionally catch a burger at McD's, and I've heard a few entertaining lounge pianists, but neither will get me to cancel tickets to the Met or a reserved dinner seat at EMP.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

SONNET CLV said:


> Now, if you want to talk McDonald's for comparisons in music, you'll have to go with something like airport lounge pianists.


I've never seen anyone playing a piano at an airport; I did once encounter a pool table at the airport in El Paso (much fun).

Getting back to the McDonald's comparison, I think the fast food giant lines up well with the Carpenters or ABBA.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

MarkW said:


> Opera is expensive. Companies have to program enough guaranteed sellers to subsidize the new or less well known and still not have their socks explode. Like ballet companies wallpapering the holidays with Nutcrackers to keep themselves afloat.


Very good observation, I would add, the people ask, so the people get what they want
.( New york still have private sponsors)


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Handel is right up there too, and I would say performed more often than Wagner


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

20centrfuge said:


> I recently read a statistical review of 2016 classical music performances. It is available here. In the article it says that *1/2 of all opera performances worldwide consist of the music of only 4 composers: Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart*.
> 
> Presumably, then, people are more likely to attend a performance of old favorites, music that they already know well, and are less likely to try something new.
> 
> ...


To a certain extent I think this is human nature. But not of individual humans. I believe it is an effect of social groups. Individual preferences vary widely but social groups tend to strongly enforce what is liked by the largest group or the most loud voiced group. (This group doesn't even have to have a majority at first). In this way you get local heroes when the available means of communication have a primarily local reach. This would not constitute much of a problem: as long as there are many locations, that all have their heroes, the effect is that there is an enormous diversity of tastes to choose from at a national or global level. In my opinion the McDonalds-ization you rightfully point at is th effect of social groups having become bigger and bigger. Local heroes become national heroes and then some of them become global heroes. Put in some professional branding and you end up with an industry that mainly relies on a few established brands (Verdi, Mozart, etc.) that sell worldwide. It's called capitalism: making money is the main driving force. You see the same phenomena in other aspects of social live. In soccer it is very visible. In the past dozens of clubs really competed every year and many could win the European championship. Now there are maybe six or eight soccer teams left that can win the European title. This is a bad thing and it is not 'what people want'.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

The vapidity of live music in the area I live in led me to give up concert going decades ago in favor of recordings in my listening room. I'm definitely a listener always in search of something new so the internet with its ability to cater to niche markets and specialists has been my lifeblood. If I lived in or near a cosmoplitan, cultural hub like London, Paris or New York City, I'm sure at least some live concert-going would be part of my music budget but out here in the middle of the Arizona desert, it ain't never gonna happen.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm coming to this thread late, but almost any music is OK if it has enough Big Mac sauce...


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

There is no doubt that financial considerations play a large part, but there is a cultural aspect to it, too.

I grew up in a city of 2 million people which had a pretty decent opera company that only managed to stage 2-3 operas per year. Some of those were shared productions, and very few out of the ordinary. (We did get Handel's Orlando one year, which was excellent!)

I now live in a city of 2 million people on the other side of the world with a world-class opera company that stages approximately 40 operas per year. Of these, about 30-35 come from their extensive repertoire, and the remainder (5-10) are always new productions. This year we have new productions of Nozze, Il Trittico, Sicilian Vespers, From the House of the Dead, Parsifal, and Orlando Paladino (Haydn). Among the repertory stagings this year are works by Boito, Cavalli, Shostakovich, Shreker, and Strauss. I attend maybe 20-30 productions a year and have yet to see more than a handful of empty seats in the 2000-seat theatre, most of which are probably no-shows rather than unsold tickets.

In the home of my birth you had to drag people along to the opera. In my adopted home, it seems to be as common and normal as going to the movies, or a restaurant.

One other factor is that those productions that are considered 'standard' differs around the world. Here, Shreker's Die Gezeichneten is immensely popular, and is rolled out pretty much every year. In other parts of the world, it is virtually unknown. We also get a high proportion of Strauss operas, given that this is his home town (I'm definitely not complaining about that!). Strauss is not so popular in France, where you would find more Bizet (rare here), or other French composers, or French language operas. That is natural.

My primary personal criteria for attending opera is to see works I have not seen performed live before. I'm therefore happy to see some old stalwarts rolled out from time to time. But as I get more and more under my belt (80 at the end of this season and counting), I too will no doubt be bemoaning the lack of diversity and looking farther afield for my entertainments. Fortunately I am spoiled for choice and do not have too far to travel here in Europe.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

One additional thought related to my "not too far to travel" comment: Distance can also play a huge factor.

The city where I grew up was 4000 kilometres away from the next city to have an opera company, with nothing much other than desert in between. Pretty difficult to reduce costs by sharing productions as any such savings would be obliterated by the costs of transport etc. Here there are any number of thriving cultural centres with great opera companies only a few hours away from each other. Makes a difference both in terms of exposure, availability of talent, and the opportunities for sharing productions.

This and the aforementioned increased propensity for Europeans to attend opera surely has a positive affect in allowing greater diversity.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Bulldog said:


> I've never seen anyone playing a piano at an airport; I did once encounter a pool table at the airport in El Paso (much fun).
> 
> Getting back to the McDonald's comparison, I think the fast food giant lines up well with the Carpenters or ABBA.


I've played an airport piano (a Yamaha "electric-capable" grand, not plugged in, which the public were invited to play) in my time, at Luqa Airport in Malta, Chopin's Etude in A flat Op.25 no.1 - actually got a little applause when it finished, which was kind of them. (Churlish though it may be of me to say so, I unfortunately found the piano had a rather weak sound and won't be buying one, but I don't suppose Yamaha will mind too much about that.)


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Taggart -


> Their latest venture is Johann Joseph Fux and Friends which will doubtless lead to a few interesting comments.


Apparently the German 'U' is pronounced as 'YOO', as in the English word 'DUKE'.

That would make it Johann Joseph Fyooks (or Fukes).


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Metairie Road said:


> Taggart -
> 
> Apparently the German 'U' is pronounced as 'YOO', as in the English word 'DUKE'.
> 
> That would make it Johann Joseph Fyooks (or Fukes).


Note quite. Fux rhymes with books.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Taplow said:


> Note quite. Fux rhymes with books.


There goes all my plans for a limerick...


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

20centrfuge said:


> There goes all my plans for a limerick...


There once was a man called Joe Fux
Who was blessed with extremly good looks
But he wasn't just pretty
He could write a neat ditty
Which no one these days overlooks

Best I can do.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Animal the Drummer said:


> With the availability of such a vast range of recordings nowadays, nobody has to be denied the enjoyment they get from listening to the music they want to hear, so live and let live AFAIC.


However, the vast majority of these favourites that people like to listen to didn't make it to recordings without first becoming familiar by having been programmed in concerts.

Of course today there are many more recordings of neglected composers being made, but it's sad to know that so many will only be known through recordings rather than electrifying an audience in a concert hall.

I am attributing this to the excessive choice and consumption mentality of late capitalism. It is evident in television consumption where you can shut out the things you (think) you don't want to see and narrow everything down. The old model of broadcasting which catered to the many through a smaller medium caused people to see (and hear) things outside their prejudices. People may remember the old way of going to the cinema where you just went there because it was Friday/Saturday evening (or a date!) and you just chose a film from the line-up. The point was going to cinema to see what they had and give it whirl, not poring over the internet reading reviews and planning what to see based upon past experiences.

I distinctly recall walking past the concert halls in Manchester just 20-25 years ago and seeing many names I didn't know adorning the posters This has dwindled (as have the concert locations), though not disappeared entirely. The opera companies and concert programmers battle against a lack of general taste diversity, not because their isn't a lot of culture out there, but because it is over-targeted by adopting a narrow marketing mentality and plumping for the easy money-makers. The latter (as someone observed above) was always something done in the summer holiday months to help fill the coffers for the rest of the year.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Operas are tough because they cannot program more than one thing a night (unless they are one-act productions paired or tripled up). There is little incentive for people to go to the unfamiliar when there are so many recognized giants in the opera world. Barring those with lots of money and time to spare to see many operas a year, most will not go to more than one or two a year, and Mozart, Puccini, Wagner, Verdi, and Rossini are enough to fill those slots quite comfortably.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

On long highway drives I stop at MacDonald's for the dollar coffee (any size) and the rest rooms. It's reassuring to be able to rely on a roadside pair of golden arches under which to pee out the coffee bought beneath the last pair, so if there's superior coffee and more luxurious restrooms elsewhere I'm not motivated to seek them out. Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Puccini, on the other hand, actually are the superior coffee and more luxurious restrooms, and since I live on a dollar-coffee budget and can't afford the opera I would, if I went, probably go to see _Die Walkure_ or _Falstaff_ rather than _Einstein on the Beach _ or _Les Huguenots._

Fast food joints and operatic masterworks do come in handy sometimes.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

eugeneonagain said:


> However, the vast majority of these favourites that people like to listen to didn't make it to recordings without first becoming familiar by having been programmed in concerts.
> 
> Of course today there are many more recordings of neglected composers being made, but it's sad to know that so many will only be known through recordings rather than electrifying an audience in a concert hall.
> 
> ...


Excellent point about too much choice encouraging people to narrow their own choices and become ignorant, insular, bigoted, and apathetic. I had never thought of it in such simple, stark, logical terms. Just what I need: another reason to bury myself under the covers and await conquest by the barbarian hordes, who will be us.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Some works just are so great that everyone should get the opportunity to experience them live on their lifetime that is why they get programmed so often.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

The answer to this situation is for concert halls and opera houses to have McDonald's booths - fast food and faster music.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

What if there was a lesser-known/contemporary opera sampler performance once every two months? People would hear arias/excerpts from lots of operas, and the whole company would not have to be used. It would be a time investment for the group, but it could pay off. They could also do a single piece flash mob style and hope to go viral.


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## Dumbo (Sep 3, 2017)

I don't want to sound snobbish, but most concert goers have a shallow understanding or appreciation of classical music, so this doesn't surprise me.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Dumbo said:


> I don't want to sound snobbish, but most concert goers have a shallow understanding or appreciation of classical music, so this doesn't surprise me.


How can you possibly know the level of understanding of 'most concert goers'? I've been to a lot of concerts over the years and I've never had the time nor the inclination to query anyone.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

eugeneonagain said:


> How can you possibly know the level of understanding of 'most concert goers'?


Dumbo knows everything; I intend to pay close attention when he speaks.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bulldog said:


> Dumbo knows everything; I intend to pay close attention when he speaks.


Enormous ears collect amazing quantities of information, including what most concert goers are saying during intermission.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

All we know for sure is that most concertgoers go to concerts.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> Enormous ears collect amazing quantities of information, including what most concert goers are saying during intermission.


That's right. Things like: "shall we eat our sandwiches in the lavatories?" and "The man sitting next to me keeps rubbing his knee against mine." This is the sort of riff-raff at concerts these days.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

20centrfuge said:


> I recently read a statistical review of 2016 classical music performances. It is available here. In the article it says that *1/2 of all opera performances worldwide consist of the music of only 4 composers: Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Mozart*.
> 
> Presumably, then, people are more likely to attend a performance of old favorites, music that they already know well, and are less likely to try something new.
> 
> ...


A nice post.

People are generally conservative and are not risk takers. They go with what they know; what "works"; what is in their comfort zone.

Most of them would never post on a classical music site.

Seems like they can listen to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony without ever getting bored of it.

Fortunately, many of us "opposites" have discovered Talk Classical.

That conservative majority will never change and symphony orchestras must program the same Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms works over and over, because, unfortunately and dismayingly, that's where the money is.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Dumbo said:


> I don't want to sound snobbish, but most concert goers have a shallow understanding or appreciation of classical music, so this doesn't surprise me.


A little bit over the top but, like everyone else you have the right to think like that.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

McDonalds-ization? I'm all in favor so long as there's plenty of Big Mac sauce.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I don't find it surprising that most opera houses present well-known repertory. It costs a lot to stage an opera and donations are drying up. It becomes a matter of economics. The former music director of my local orchestra was fond of saying that, if he didn't program Beethoven or Brahms, people didn't show up. He moved on, a younger guy came in with newer ideas, he put stuff like the Sibelius Symphony 3 on the program, and subscriptions were cut in half. It isn't always about the dumbing-down of the audience, sorry to say.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's hard to be optimistic about concerts/opera performances, when a composer as far back as Sibelius would have that effect on attendance.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

larold said:


> I don't find it surprising that most opera houses present well-known repertory. It costs a lot to stage an opera and donations are drying up. It becomes a matter of economics. The former music director of my local orchestra was fond of saying that, if he didn't program Beethoven or Brahms, people didn't show up. He moved on, a younger guy came in with newer ideas, *he put stuff like the Sibelius Symphony 3 on the program, and subscriptions were cut in half. It isn't always about the dumbing-down of the audience, sorry to say*.


I'm a bit confused here, it seems that according to the above it _is_ about the dumbing-down of the audience. Or rather that they are rarely stretched and remain narrow because their narrowness is pandered to in the name of 'economics'.

I do not buy this. There are plenty of orchestras that have folded for one reason or another; among them constantly tired repertoires and programming, others because they are perhaps too preoccupied with being avant-garde. Yet many others _don't_ fold because they know how to introduce new work alongside the safer repertoire.

I'll not be naive, I know that some orchestras are lucky enough to have safer funding bases (e.g. the BBC Orchestras) and can take more risks, but it is the job of the director of an orchestra not to just be a performing monkey for the sake of ticket sales. Doing that is a constant circle of merely raising the money to give the same old concerts. That is not what all orchestras should be doing. Living composers rely upon performances and there is no way any "classics" of the future will enter into the cultural consciousness when they aren't getting played.


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

I would probably consider myself among the group of those with only a shallow understanding of classical music. I see people on TC post about more obscure composers like Biber, Xenakis, etc, and I have never listened to any of their music. I've just gotten into classical music and opera recently (as I'm sure many of you can tell) and I want to first be more literate in the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Puccini, Verdi, etc before I decide to broaden my horizons. I understand that while this may prove irritating to the well versed, I would hope that they might appreciate that I am trying to broaden my knowledge, and I'm sure I am not alone in this. 

Perhaps the perception of classical music as a genre for pretentious snobs may have some validity.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

My hope isn't to come across as a snob. I know the current system works to some extent for those who want to come to know the standard repertoire. I just feel like so many works get neglected while the same ones are always in the spotlight.

The balance of these two points of view doesn't seem quite right to me, at least in my neck of the woods. Of course, I know I live in Utah, one of the most conservative places around.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Well, the nature and landscape of Utah are astonishing. You're lucky, at least if you can appreciate that. Otherwise I'd say move to a more cultural place if you're not tied up there.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Take a look at the September issue of Opera News , which has its annual preview of the coming operatic season in Europe, America and Canada etc . You will see an incredibly wide variety of operatic repertoire scheduled for this season, just as in recent ones . 
Yes, all th most popular operas by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti , Bizet, Gounod, Wagner, Richrd Strauss and others are well represented , but there are also so many obscure ones being performed , even ones by composers you probably haven't even heard of . 
The operas range from Monteverdi, Handel , Rameau, Gluck , Cavalli, Mozart to the latest operas by contemporary composers of many different compositional styles . 
Bave you heard of these operas ? Giulietta & Romeo by Vaccai . La Bella Dormente bel Bosco by Respighi . Die Katze Ivanka by Matesic (where have we heard this name before ?) . 
Resurrezione by Franco Alfano . Ti Vedo, Ti Sento, Mi Perdo by Salvatore Sciarrone .Margherita by Foroni .The Canterville Ghost by Gordon Getty ( the famous billionaire philanthropist ) . 
Marouf , by Henri Rabaud . Der Wildschutz (the poacher) , by Albert Lortzing . 
Probably not . But these are only a few of the unfamiliar operas soon to be performed worldwide . 
Withut a doubt, there is greater diversity of repertoire being performed in the present day than ever before in the 400 year old hsstory of opera .


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'm glad to hear that, Superhorn!


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

<<I'm a bit confused here, it seems that according to the above it is about the dumbing-down of the audience. Or rather that they are rarely stretched and remain narrow because their narrowness is pandered to in the name of 'economics'. >>

Audiences aren't "dumb" and they are getting "smarter" all the time. I unearthed this recently from a book review in a classical publication: 3,500 to 4,000 people graduate from U.S. university and college music schools every year and only a small handful make their living as practicing musicians. That is about a half-million people every decade or so, meaning there are millions of them hanging around playing in community orchestras like the one in my hometown where they pay $200 or so a year to put on a half-dozen concerts locally and maybe charge people $5 to get in. They make their livings non-musically.

This completely excludes all the other music lovers coming into the world around the globe and the non-music grads of colleges in USA. Briefly stated, the number of people that love classical music, and the number of people that can play it professionally, is greater now than its ever been.

So why do orchestras and opera houses only put on old stuff? The books reviewed in that magazine I talked about, called "Lost Secrets Of Master Musicians" and "The Future of (High) Culture In America," both say musicians and composers today don't know how to play and compose music in the way people knew in the 1950s and earlier. They say people are taught to play now, not taught how to read, understand and transmit music. In other words, they are taught technique, not style or language.

I haven't read these books and can't comment further on their contents but clearly something happened to classical music composition and playing in the last generation or two that has helped erode what was still a thriving industry when I started following it in the Beethoven bicentennial year 1970. Once Shostakovich died 5 years after that, there hasn't been a single new composer that's written anything that's taken the world by storm.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

I am not an opera fan so I don't listen to that. My interest in classical music is mostly in classical and romantic orchestral music, and is fairly orthodox. I actually like the fact that our local regional orchestra programs mainly crowd-pleasing workhorses, and so does the BSO in their Tanglewood programming, they are more adventurous in their programming at Symphony Hall in Boston. My reaction to most 20th century composers is mostly negative, with very rare exceptions. So yes, I actually like the status quo.


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