(note about video: My inclusion of this is a bit unfair to Lang Lang, as this is not a formal performance. Truth be told, it’s wonderful to see such joy and delight in the act of making music. Nevertheless…)
My good friend Melissa sent along an article that I missed yesterday from the New York Times.
When Histrionics Undermine the Music and the Pianist
By BERNARD HOLLAND
Another reason classical music is not reaching more young people: not because of how it sounds, but because of how it looks.
It’s a great article – but then, I’m sympathetic – and Melissa was curious to hear what I thought about it. I jotted off a quick response and, after sending, realized that it would be perfect for discussion here as well.
I’ve removed the personal details from the message and tidied it up for display on the web (adding some links and whatnot), but what you’ll read below is largely my quickly jotted thoughts on the subject.
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Lang Lang has for a while now been the “hot young thing” on the classical piano scene, but in truth, I’ve had a hard time appreciating him and find much more in the older performers, either now dead or significantly more mature than Lang Lang.
With the exception of Gould, I’d say that most of the performers that I revere are indeed less demonstrative (and keep in mind that I’m young – not some old fuddy-duddy with romantic thoughts of more sane times).
As a performer myself I fully and entirely – intimately, even – realize the need for theatrics. On stage, one is “putting on a show” and must deliver. Yet I can’t help but sympathize with the feelings that the author expresses and find wisdom in his questions. In the case of music – and classical music in particular – is the performance getting in the way of the music? I find it hard to believe that excessive movement would not directly impact control of expression (that’s a bit of a rhetorical statement, for everyone knows that it does), and by control I don’t mean to imply any sense of hard-nosed, tight, restricted or conservative control, but rather control of subtlety, color and refined touch – the very foundation of an artistic palette. The author himself even touches on this:
“Technique is not about muscle building but about optimal allocation of resources. More happens faster and more clearly with the minimum of gesture. Weight and relaxation, not force, make big sound. So much energy is squandered on these melodramas for the eye — and so much attention diverted — that it is a wonder our pianistic thespians can hear themselves at all. “
Instead, a hugely demonstrative player sacrifices the communicative power of his instrument – his very voice – in favor of attention grabbing communication of the self as art – not just artist.
Most classical music is marketed today not by composer or composition, but by performer, and what you purchase is not Beethoven – As Performed by Lang Lang but Lang Lang – Plays Beethoven. That’s not to say that historically the industry downplayed the performer – it didn’t, as can be seen by people specifically seeking out Rubinstein, Horowitz, et. al. … – but in this latter case, it’s typically the delivery of the work itself as presented through the mature interpretive eyes of the individual performer that listeners sought, not, as is the case today, the performer qua performer, who happens to be playing some composition or other…
Did I state that clearly?
Reminds me of a line from Marilyn Manson’s [s]AINT – “I’m not an artist, I’m a fucking work of art.” Performers today tend to be demonstrative on stage in order to sell themselves as a “fucking work of art” – regardless of what they are playing – much to the expense of the actual music – or truly authentic artistic voice, for that matter.
Its seems like reaching. Trying too hard.
Am I being too hard?
It’s not necessarily the artists that are to blame, though. It could be the general public. It’s almost a “dumbing down” of the material to appeal to a wider audience, something that is often necessary to make ends meet financially. I speak from experience here.
But then, perhaps there’s nothing wrong with being specialized and niche, a rarity to be fully appreciated by a select few and not the hoi polloi. Perhaps the classical industry is taking the wrong approach by trying to widen their net and should instead concentrate on securing their core?
Virtuoso performances are of course exceptional in many ways – the author even cites Liszt – but it’s usually without fail that the more physically expressive or unusual a performer is, the more the general public is attracted to them for non-musical reasons. The author’s use of Liszt is a perfect example, for Liszt had throngs of followers, mostly woman (though many notable men as well), who would literally swoon over him, even collect his cigar butts, following him from concert hall to concert hall, and were obviously attracted to him not for the refinement of his music – though his virtuosity undoubtedly represented some sense of power and perfection to them. Historically, the less demonstrative the virtuoso, the less widespread public following they developed, though amongst music lovers their reputations soared. The inverse for more demonstrative players.
The irony is of course as the author pointed out – today’s players may actually be alienating the general public, because their performances make them seem “weird.” Then again, he could be wrong – sales have indeed improved and the industry is not in nearly as much trouble as people commonly suspect.
To each their own, I suppose. It really is a matter of personal taste. There’s nothing wrong, in my mind, with wanting to watch a performer because you enjoy the way in which they perform. Neither is it wrong – and Gould would endorse this – in wishing to take the performer visually out of the equation because they are a distraction to the music, a barrier.
I don’t like the music, but I love watching Madonna and Michael Jackson perform. Likewise, I could care less what Stephen Kovacevich looks like or how he moves when he plays – his Beethoven sonatas sound divine.
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[tags]artists, Bernard Holland, classical music, Lang Lang, performers, performing, piano[/tags]
Composed and created by Manson and guitarist 
Though the new 
