Who cares if you listen?
Back when I was a grad student at New England Conservatory, I took a few courses with Prof. John Heiss. They were absolutely the most provocative and eye-opening courses I took in the course of my musical education. Among Prof. Heiss’ many reading requirements was this essay by Milton Babbitt:
http://www.palestrant.com/babbitt.html
I encourage you to give it a read, then read it again. It’s short. I am reminded of it on many occasions as a performer.
This past week, the National Symphony Orchestra performed Mahler’s Symphony #2 (Resurrection) under the baton of Ivan Fischer. It was by nearly all accounts an exceptional performance. After 12 + hours of meticulous orchestra rehearsal, plus additional personal practice time as well as some low brass section sectional rehearsals (off the clock), I was extremely proud of the product which my colleagues and I delivered to our audience.
After reading the rather backhanded compliments from The Washington Post,one would think that the orchestra had very little to do with the actual performance. Still, the concerts were well sold and audience response was incredibly enthusiastic following each performance. I received several e-mails as well as phone calls telling me how great the orchestra sounded this week. Orchestral musicians, especially at the NSO level, know full well when we give a sub-standard performance or a remarkable one. I saw a lot of smiles backstage after these concerts and a lot of kudos being passed around from section to section.
This entry does not serve to bash music critics and the job that they do. It just seems to me that the closer I get to any news worthy story, be it a musical performance or other, when I read about it I think, “Do they know what I know?” or, “Did they hear what I heard?”.