About a week ago a friend asked me why I hadn’t posted a blog on the Minnesota Orchestra lately. My response was that I was waiting until the lockout was over. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised: him, for what I said; or me, that he was surprised I said it. Unfortunately, it’s the truth – the lockout is not over.
Context versus Urtext – Part 2 – The First Time We met
So you have become a Music Director, bravo! Time to work on that repertoire bucket list…well yes, but not yours!..
The Conscience of the Kings
Those who are not fans of the original Star Trek do not realize what a gift to our society that show was. It gave us our first interracial kiss on TV (Plato’s Stepchildren), a searing look at racism (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield), and profound episodes dealing with what it means to be “human” (Miri, Amok Time, Turnabout Intruder, The Corbomite Maneuver, and a host of others). But my favorite episode has always been “The Conscience of the King,” a terrific look at the aftereffects of dictatorship/fascism on society and on individual lives, with a little Hamlet thrown in for good measure. Some of my colleagues should sit down and watch this.
The Super Bowl; or What’s Wrong With Classical Music
Like millions of Americans, and indeed hundreds of millions of people worldwide, I look forward to the Super Bowl every year, even if there’s not a chance in hell that my Buffalo Bills will be playing in it (again). It’s one of those cultural rituals that interrupts the long and ghastly winter, and it’s a convenient excuse to overdose on wings and guacamole. This year, of course, there is an added reason to look forward to the big game because Renée Fleming is singing the national anthem. And then the haters come out of the closet…
Context versus Urtext – Part 1 – It should be about not caring what we play!
The wringing of hands over programming might as well be the wringing of necks because it can literally put a stranglehold on the success of an organization. Warning pop culture reference and cliche dead ahead!
What’s In A Name
Happy New Year, everyone! I’d like to suggest a New Year’s resolution for everyone in the music business who is going to play a recital this year – keep it simple and do name the piano player.
The Desolation of ……. HeDaCam
It’s that time of year, when good little boys and girls eagerly await the next installment from Middle Earth. I can’t wait for 25 years from now when at Christmas time I will take my grandkids to see Peter Jackson’s 29th installment from Tolkien’s universe – The Children of Hurin: Revenge of Mȋm. If you don’t get the reference don’t worry about it. That story also involves a dragon, and a desolation….
What Biko Taught Me
Well, it’s happened again. There goes another bitter confrontation centered around the Minnesota Orchestra lockout. What I wonder, though, is how people could manage to have so disparate views about what has happened?