and the guy dinging the triangle gets paid the same as they guy playing the bassoon
Posted on 03/27/2019 9:38:30 AM PDT by Borges
hh, what a soft and easy life the striking Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians lead!
They show up for a concert, play for a couple of hours, then go home and relax until the next one. For these few hours of work they’re paid handsomely – and just for doing something they love!
What’s wrong with these “prima donnas”?
I put that term in quotes because it’s drawn from one of many messages I’ve received – via email and in person – articulating the underinformed sentiments referenced above. Ever since the CSO musicians went on strike on March 10, some people have been complaining to me about the pampered, “privileged” CSO.
Whether you side with musicians or management, can we agree on at least one thing? These musicians’ “privileges” are hard won – every day, week, month and year of their professional lives (and long before and after).
As one correspondent astutely put it, the problem is that these great artists make their work look easy. This leaves the general public unaware of the vicissitudes of performing classical music.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
The venues they perform at are typically taxpayer owned.
Symphony Center In Chicago is owned by the orchestra association.
Ok. In Houston and other cities symphonies play in publicly funded venues.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians? What happened, did some Nigerian brothers throw bleach on them? /s
‘Mozart in the Jungle’?
I read it and he doesn’t clarify the idea properly. Of course it’s important for a performance to be precise and observant of the score but the room for interpretive leeway is considerable.
The issue is not the difficulty and skill to do the job, instead it is the fact that ticket sales are insufficient to support the job.
Hire cheaper musicians from India or Eastern Europe.
Yeah that’s the main problem with one of the world’s greates orchestras...it’s not good enough. /sarc
Interest in attending live orchestral performance has declined. Many have closed and more will fail. Many charitable contributors relied upon to keep the doors open have turned their interests elsewhere. There is an imbalance, too much supply too little demand. A correction is coming. Those of us that enjoy classical music have no shortage of recorded performances to listen to at our leisure.
Exactly! Leonard Bernstein has a series of talks on YouTube about the orchestra. A good starter is ‘Bernstein on Conducting’. He has numerous others.
It was said that Doc Severinson practiced 4 hours every day.
$160k a year plus a pension seems high for a musician.
People who play instruments in groups on the charts don’t seeing figures that high and have no pension.
We can debate relative merits of one type of music over another but even many recognized jazz musicians don’t get that.
Hollywood uses Eastern European orchestras for film scores these days.
Everyone can be replaced.
and the guy dinging the triangle gets paid the same as they guy playing the bassoon
There was a radio story I heard that Beethoven’s 5th Symphonywas meant to be played at about twice the tempo we usually hear.
Too Much Talk Not Enough Music In This Thread (Ping)
CSO Summer 1997 ‘Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, 1st Movement’
https://bit.ly/2TZtjYz
You are not taking into account differences in interpretation. Some conductors emphasize certain aspects of a piece over others. Some are faster, some are slower. Some just suck. Sometimes, a recording does not do the performance justice, and you cannot hear something that should be heard. Or there could be a soloist in a concerto or a concert piece that makes or breaks a performance.
Again, the people in the world’s top orchestras are the best instrumentalists in the world. They are like NBA or NFL players.
Play pretend some more.
Are George Lucas or Francis Ford Copolla or Martin Scorcese among ‘the best’? And yet still they are capable of producing some crap every now and then.
Technical greatness does not equal art or a championship trophy every time.
A bit conceited to demand millions for the rest of your lifetime because you won an audition that one time.
Hollywood has opted to go with cheaper orchestras and that decision has a permanent record. The budget on the productions could certainly absorb the cost but they determine it isn’t worth it.
The London Phil has its crossover appeal but much of that came through works with composer conductor John Williams.
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