I have always been a fan of Norman Lebrecht. His book Mahler Remembered is an anthology of recollections from friends, colleagues, observers, critics and the like. The personal nature of the book drew me in giving me some sense of Mahler the man along with the times he lived in, going beyond his musical prowess. It therefore puzzled me to read his blog post dismissing 10 or so current conductors personal takes on Mahler…..
The post over on his Slipped Disc blog rails against Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine for asking 10 condcutors about their “current issues” with Mahler. As usual he doesn’t pull punches:
The banality of what these conductors write, or recite into a reporter’s machine, is mind-boggling: ‘The final movement (of the Fifth) is colossal,’ declares one interpreter. ‘Mahler finds a way of making a very basic idea appear in many new guises, so we get a constant spiral of uplifting energy until a glorious climax.’ So tell us something we didn’t already know.
Well I would say someone looking at the magazine who was only a casual listener might not know that? Plus maybe much more detail was offered and was edited out. Who knows, but these are magazines not intellectual journals. They are not meant to edify but to gratify. There was one intellectual mag called Harmony but it is no longer published, I wonder why? From what I read in the articles these conductors are just offering personal thoughts. Personal thoughts and recollections are what his Mahler Remembered is based upon (albeit with first hand accounts). That is why it is puzzling to me that he would be so critical in his post, although if you read The Maestro Myth (another great book), he definitely doesn’t have a soft spot for conductors!
His prose is pretty spectacular:
It may have been necessary for the music industry to invent the conductor as hero in order to satisfy public cravings for celebrity leaders. But when the publicity machine attempts to make an Aristotle out of an Achilles heel the results are about as edifying as asking Tiger Woods to explain the geometrics of his downswing.
It is the whole Dammed if you do Dammed if you don’t analogy at work here. I don’t think the Music Industry invented us to be heroes, (I thought we were needed to keep Orchestras together?), and Dudamel aside I wouldn’t say we are celebrity leaders. Plus to Tiger Woods right now “Swing” means something slightly different! Now if the same two magazines asked these conductors for their thoughts and they all said no thanks, then the accusation would be that Conductors are so high and mighty that they wont talk to anyone who isn’t learned in their eyes.
For me personally whenever I am asked about thoughts on a composer or a work, I give personal thoughts with the hope that others might want to check it out for themselves so that they may form their own thoughts. I want to excite people about music not bore them to tears. For me great music is not about music, it’s about the personal stuff! This may not be the most “edifying” approach but it sure is gratifying! And, especially to see our audiences here in Springfield growing in size and in their love for music…whatever that means!!!!
Links: Mahler Remembered, The Maestro Myth
Our teacher/Choral conductorrole was to let everyone see and explore their roles as a co-creator; he was by no means neutral in critiquing music or performance! –
His own or others. Ego played very little [too little?] part in his work, which is why his students do it for him!
He might agree with a condemnation of HYPE/exageration, which is an overweening aspect of public, even academic life.
Credits on all resume’s simply reflect, like ingredients listed on a jar of food what one expects/hopes to taste.
How does one, asked by media, explain taste=the proper response to art?
Lebrecht is a total phony. He’s nothing but a sensationalist yellow journalist.
His concern for factual accuracy is non-existent. His books and commentary are filled with countless half-truths and outright fallacies.He’ll make any scurrilous claim about the classical music business and famous musicians and doesn’t give a damn about it.
He’s the Rush Limbaugh of classical music; all blather and no substance.