YouTube’s algorithm has presented me with another opportunity to highbrow troll this blargh. Here’s Wynton Marsalis on his transition from reverse snobbery to Beethoven fan. If you want to explore the nine symphonies, there are many great recordings and as many boring ones. To make it simple, check out George Szell’s cycle with the Cleveland Orchestra. No weak links, and should be available for streaming everywhere. It’s been in print since the 60’s, and for good reason.
Tales of True Adventure for Rugged Men Not Unlike Yourself
I can relate to being a youngster and dreading the symphony. Not that I went with any frequency. But I recall being ready to get out of Dodge at the first intermission.
Classical music grew on me over time, much like the Beatles later catalog, which I didn’t appreciate fully as a wee lad.
I’m more concerned that the algorithm is now sending you edifying, interesting material. Do you think it’s broken? If there’s no blockchain or personal glamour hype, how do you know that the algorithm appreciates your unique brand?
I sat through a number of concerts as a kid. I enjoyed some, but grew bored at others. I mostly liked stuff with big power chords and good tunes. Mozart usually bored me. I didn’t “get” him until I was a young adult. He seemed all polished surfaces…but once you get the language, there’s a lot more going on. While I think Amadeus oversold him as a proto-punk, that aspect was definitely there and becomes more obvious the more you listen.
It was great to hear a number of world-class orchestras growing up, but that kind of backfired once we moved to Memphis. The MSO back then sounded to me like a high school orchestra. They weren’t really that bad, but snobbery is hard to resist when you’re young. Also, we moved here from the Chicago area, and the CSO would be on many people’s short list for the world’s best back then. Most regional orechestras would have sounded pretty terrible next to them. Fortunately the MSO has improved quite a bit. Conservatories have been churning out many excellent players for a couple of generations now, and there’s been much trickle down.
Please tell me which of the programs on the Nashville Symphony’s schedule for the first half of 2025 it would behoove me, the classical noob, to attend:
– Mozart: Overture to Cosí fan tutte, Concerto No. 20 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
– Julia Wolfe’s Flower Power and Beethoven’s 7th
– Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, Concerto for the Left Hand, La Valse, and Bolero
– Simon: Fate Now Conquers, Ravel: Shéhérazade, Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)
– Itzhak Perlman performs The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso, Themes from Far and Away, Sabrina, and Schindler’s List, Tango (Por Una Cabeza) from Scent of a Woman; and many more
– Rossini: Overture to La gazza ladra, Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
– Golijov: Sidereus, Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite, Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished”), Strauss, Jr: Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltzes)
– Branford Marsalis on John Williams: Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2
– Barnes: Four Winds Concertante, Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 (“Reformation”)
– Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 23, Capriccio italien
– Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”)
– BUGS BUNNY: What’s Opera, Doc?, The Rabbit of Seville, and Rhapsody Rabbit, Dynamite Dance, Wet Cement, and three new 3-D Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts
– The Music of David Bowie
– Raiders of the Lost Ark
All y’all are invited for Bugs Bunny of course (June 12th). I think they show the cartoons as they perform.
For a noob? Definitely the Beethoven 7th. Also the 9th if you don’t mind all that singing in the finale, which can be a deal-breaker for some noobs–if that’s the case, just listen to the first two movements at home, two of the best pieces of music ever written by anybody.
Definitely the Tchaikovsky 5th, despite the fact that the slow movement is an eyeroll-inducing weepfest (a common problem in Tchaik.). But the rest is great stuff, great melodies and high energy unless the conductor undermines it. A crowd-pleaser for sure. Opening that program is Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra, a sure winner. I love it.
Schubert 8th, although I don’t know about the opening pieces.
There’s something I like on every program, so I’d likely subscribe if I lived there. The Mozart/Ravel and all-Ravel concerts would be must-sees for me. Your mileage may vary. I could say more about what I like on each one, but that’s beyond the scope of your question. You might want to stream some of the music to see what you like.
Then there’s the Mahler 8th. I’ll be driving up for that one. It’s an amazing experience, but I hesitate to recommend it. It’s long, has a lot of singing, and takes a few listens before you get it. It features an enlarged orchestra, organ, three choirs, soloists…it’s absolutley insane. Like all late Mahler, it’s chromatic and has some unresolved harmonies, so to a normal listener it sounds like a lot of yelling. And there are a couple of minor parts I find slightly irritating. But the great outweighs the annoying by a long shot, and there’s nothing like hearing such huge forces going full-throttle. Even if the conductor fucks it up by going too slow or not letting his musicians rip, it’s always worth hearing live when you get a chance, and there aren’t many chances. It’s expensive to stage and hard to schedule a good team of soloists.
Thanks for the What’s Opera Doc invitation, but I think that’s beach week for us. Also, thanks for posting that schedule. I usualy check the schedules in Nashville and St. Louis, but it might have slipped my mind, and I would have kicked myself for missing a Mahler 8th. You’re welcome to join me if you think you can tolerate it. Lemme know, I’ll be buying a ticket pretty damn soon.
Thanks! What a fantastic breakdown.
I’m down for Mahler’s 8th. Maybe I can work my musical constitution up to the level where I appreciate some of its finer qualities. More likely I ask you for the fifth time why the tympani and snare are not considered wind instruments.
I noticed that Mahler’s 8th is the swan song for the conductor. Guerrero has been with the Nashville Symphony for 15 years. He’s leaving to go to the Sarasota Orchestra.
The performances are Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. Do you, the discerning concertgoer, have a strong preference for any particular one of those?
Given that this is his finale, can we expect it to rock all sorts of ass?
Sunday afternoon works best for my schedule. Mind if I go ahead and buy tickets?
Go for it!
Seeing that the conductor chose the Mahler 8 for his last gig, he clearly wants to exit with a bang. I don’t know anything about him, but I would expect it to be very good. The primary role of a conductor in the Mahler 8 is to be a traffic cop due to the huge amount of musicians. So technical skill is a must. I assume the NSO wouldn’t have hired someone technically incompetent, and I would assume the same of the musicians. Beyond that, if he keeps things moving and lets the musicians play, it should be great. If he dicks around and tries to overinterpret, things can bog down in the long second movement. But even then it should at least be good. I’ve seen it three times. Two of the performances were so-so but still very enjoyable due to the massive scale. The third was an incredible one in London, where even the shitty Barbican Center (excuse me, Centre) acoustics couldn’t fuck it up. I’m looking forward to this. Over the past several years, I’ve tried to schedule trips to see it in NYC and Philadelphia but couldn’t swing it.