The impact of technology on the "concert hall", live performances: when did you last attend a live performanc?

Question

The impact of technology on the "concert hall", live performances: when did you last attend a live performanc?

Answer 1

A few years ago, a really nice hall was built in our little town, and there is still lots of talk about how lucky we are to have such a nice performing arts facility, and how you usually only find such nice places in big cities. Our local symphony orchestra and opera performs there, as well as many other groups. I have yet to develop an interest in opera, (I keep telling myself that I will try to get into it but for now I prefer classical music that is just instrumental) but I go to most of the symphony concerts. Last thing I saw was Rodrigo's guitar concerto (Concierto de Aranjuez) and Dvorak's ninth, about a month ago. There seems to be plenty of support for our orchestra and the arts in general where I live. People of all the ages attend the concerts, not just rich snobs, as the stereotype goes. There is a "family concert" every year where the conductor talks about all the instruments of the orchestra, and there is also a new program where elementary school students are bused over to hear a concert. As for the impact of technology, I would think that it has helped overall, even though it is now unnecessary to go to a performance to hear the music. It has probably even helped introduce people to classical music, who would otherwise never go see a classical performance.

Answer 2

My problem is not so much the lack of performances - living as I do within a 40 minute train ride of the centre of London - but the cost which, these days, for a pensioner couple, taking into account traveling expenses etc, is really beyond our reach other than for a really special occasion.



But you are incorrect concerning recordings. The Domingo/Tristan was released nearly 4 years ago now. Since then there have been opera recordings. The Chandos label, with its opera in English series, seems to release something new every other month. Before his death, Richard Hickox had recorded nearly all the Britten operas for the same label. Operas by Handel* and other more obscure baroque composers continue to appear. Even the majors still issue a few. The Gramophone Awards in the opera category went to a DG recording of Janacek's Excursions of Mr Broucek (hardly a household name) and within the past couple of months we have had the 'battle of the divas' - Cotrubas in Butterfly v Netrebenko in Bellini's Montagues and Capulets. Bartoli has just recorded a Somnambula. Methinks all the talk of the Domingo Tristan being the last opera recording was so much hype designed to sell more copies.



What the future holds, however, with the recession biting ever deeper, it is difficult to say.



*interestingly enough the current edition of Gramophone has two reviews for his Alcina, one new, one a reissue of a 50 year old Sutherland recordings. There is new recording of Mozart's Zaide, I see. again, hardly a 'Top 10; opera hit.



Edit - later thoughts. One way that technology is helping orchestras is in the way a number have started their own label operation. In the US this has been done by the Chicago SO and San Francisco SO, here in the UK, by the LSO (who seem to have started the idea way back in 2000), the RPO and the Hallé and in the Netherlands by the Concertgebouw.

Answer 3

I've thought of bringing this topic up and have also thought of sending interesting articles through a 'question' but wasn't sure if it was appropriate or of interest. Thanks for addressing this!



If you want insightful and accurate information on the state of American Orchestras, you might try http://www.adaptistration.com.



You can also find a great deal of interesting information on ICSOM's (Internation Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians) website. ICSOM is not a union but is a way for orchestras to communicate with each other as well as to lobby for improvements.



Here's a great You Tube video of a talk ICSOM's chair. Bruce Ridge, gave before the House Committee on Education and Labor in D.C. lasts week that summarizes what is going in the U.S. arts:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVs3ChWxb8U&feature=channel_page



Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minnesota, St. Paul, Atlanta, and many smaller groups such as Columbus, Charleston, and Grand Rapids are all suffering. I just heard Detroit is going to have major problems with the auto industry falling. GM just pulled their $300,000 annual gift, and I thought, holy cow, GM has only given the orchestra $300,000 a year over the years???



Some causes of the trouble are: the drastic fall of endowment dollars, dwindling corporate sponsorship, people pulling back on coming to concerts as well as a culture that is increasingly pop-oriented.



Keeping in mind that ticket sales only account for 30-40% of an orchestra's budget, the rest comes from endowments, annual fund drives, some grants, corporate sponsorships, and small pitances from the NEA, and so forth.



Someone mentioned going to a side-by-side rehearsal between a professional orchestra and students. These are usually free. Orchestras do a lot of free concerts and offer student/senior priced tix. It's possible to find all sorts of opportunities that don't cost an arm and a lege, at least in the States. If you look, there are opportunities.



We always need support from 'outside'. Believe it or not, we need volunteers! I know many who are on a fixed income who 'donate' time instead of money, and believe me, it is appreciated a great deal.



How has technology helped or hurt orchestras? It has helped us. Period. Google it and you will see stats that the arts earn more income than sports in many cities in the U.S. Technology has helped bring people in the doors. The internet has been a really help. The key is having programs people are interested in, and that is tricky. It's a dance, a balancing act, a constant adjustment. Glad I'm not in administration, for it would be tough. Trying to figure out how to maintaim and grow donors while still bringing in new people (future donors) is an art in itself.



It's so different in Europe...I know there are problems, but it has always seemed easier with government supporting the arts more fully.



Have to run...more later!

Answer 4

There have been a few restorations of art-deco theaters around here. There has also been the development of several performing arts centers in my area as well. From what I recollect only one of them was a replacement for an existing facility. The others have been new, from-the-ground-up builds. Attendance is enough to have justified the building and renovation projects. There is nothing like live performances. There have been a few classical performances here, but there have also been phenomenal jazz (swing) orchestras, musicals, plays and solo acts. So, I'm happy to report it isn't all Rock, Rap and Grunge or 5 year-old dance recitals.



My preference is always live. Last performance I attended was about four month's ago.

Answer 5

The last time I went to a performance was back in September. As usual I went to Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and saw the Minnesota Orchestra(and also the Chorale for this one). It was Sibelius(Oceanides), Vaughan-Williams(Sea Symphony), and Ravel(G piano concerto). ☺ I couldn't miss it.

I'm not completely sure of their financial situation, but it seems like they're doing well. And no, I'm not doing anything to support, as I'm (almost!)16 and am going to college one of these days.

But it seems they're trying to make their concerts more accesible because of the economy by offering lower priced tickets, which is good.

But I still find myself not going to many concerts, probably because I'm just too busy because of school. Sad. But I think the live classical performance is the best way to experience music, and I hope it always will be.

Ravielsen

Answer 6

Just last Sunday, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) performed a side by side concert with the Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra (TYSO) and I went to that. Some of my friends played in it. I don't go to that many concerts... Maybe a fourth of the TSO concerts a season?



Hey! I'm still in high school! Do you honestly expect me to fund the TSO? Hahaha... I do support it though of course. I know the TSO has a TON of sponsors (about 8 pages in the program just to list them all), so I'd imagine they have a great financial situation.



On April 17, Yuja Wang is playing Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto. I have to say, I've only heard that piano concerto hundreds of times, so I'm not going... Is that terribly bigotry on my part?



I wish more pieces were less overly performed...



Anyway, well take care Alberich!



Cheerio!



Edit: Just remembered, Tchaikovsky's 1st is one of your favorites isn't it Alberich... Maybe you should come to the concert... =]

Answer 7

Where I'm from, if you were to say in public that you want to see a symphony, or any classical performance for that matter, people around you will look at you funny, call you names, or both. it is really unfortunate, because the only classical performance that came within a en mile radius of my house, as far as I know, was Andre Riue, or however his name is spelled. His orchestra is good, don't get me wrong, but there are no local orchestras where i am that I know of, and I'm not travelling to Europe just to see Andre Riue. It's a real shame.

Answer 8

The last time I went to a symphony was about a 2 years ago. Front row :D



The only reason I can't go all the time is because of my schedule (work/school) is just awful. I would support it if I could go all the time - I would get season passes. plus if I had the money to throw around I would totally donate to them.. I am all for promoting that type of work.



Our orchestra is pretty good too :p



its about 26 miles from my house. and 2 miles from my Job.



I could see how possibly not having ANY access to music would cause me to go more often, and the music would have a greater effect on me (wow factor) but I totally get into it regardless of the accessibility of digital formats. (to me its just not the same - I suppose that's why people still go to cinemas)

Answer 9

I went to a concert in October, 2008.



It's pretty expensive to go! So I can't frequent it as much as I would like.



I listened to Bartok's Hungarian Dances for orchestra.

Saint-Saens' "Piano Concerto No. 2" (performed by George Li) -amazing

and Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9" (my favorite)



It was pretty packed to.



I wish I could actively support it by attending. They had a performance of Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto No. 3" which I wanted to go to. They also had a few orchestral pieces on the program.

But I couldn't.

Pay, and work, and school.



When I go down to Pennsylvania this year for Music in college there will be plenty of opportunities to listen to the school orchestra.

In fact, it's required to attend a few! I'll go to them all.

Answer 10

I went to the 2nd performance of Verdi's Rigoletto at the San Diego Civic Theater on Tuesday (rush ticket only costs $20!) and will be attending the San Diego Symphony at Copley Hall this Saturday when they have a go at Mendelssohn's E minor violin concerto.



I subscribe to the opera when I can (have to tighten my budget this year and so I didn't renew, but I still go to every show) and try to catch 5 symphonic performances a year. San Diego Opera's general manager is someone I'd want to keep working there. He has balanced the budget every year since he took over the job (and still putting on good shows with good cast. Two years ago we had Giulio Cesare with Podles, Genaux, Asawa and Carmen with Domashenko. Last year we had Pagliacci with Cura and Cavalleria Rusticana with Leech. Furlanetto was our Don Quichotte this year and we'll have Pat Racette in a few months as Butterfly).



But still, they are hit hard by the lack of donors and had to cut the number of operas staged in 2010 and 2011 from 5 to 4. The audience is being good in matching the donation drives, but there hasn't been a sold out show yet this season. We need more tv ads, I think, but they are expensive. I try to promote the opera as much as possible but there is a limit of propriety I can't cross since I review their shows.



LA Opera to the north is also trying hard to get donors and is cutting number of performances. Opera Pacific has gone out of business forever.



To tell the truth, I'd vote for the opera here to go into minimalistic conceptual staging to cut the cost (they only do traditional staging here with big sets). Those staging can be very interesting and engaging when done thoughtfully and well (not the sex-oriented 'Regietheater', mind you).... but that won't happen because they wouldn't want to take the chance of turning the reputedly old-fashioned area's audience off. I wish they would try one opera staged that way next season and see what sort of response it gets. I'm sure they are aware of the possibility (they're even leaving the curtain up between acts I and II in the current run of Rigoletto to let the audience see how the set gets changed and understand better why an opera ticket costs so much. A lot of manpower is used to get any performance going).



Another thing is, somehow the opening performances of the operas here seem to always fall on the same day with the Met HD broadcast to the cinema. There are times I'd love to see both but can't. I think the HD broadcast are doing quite well in getting younger audience. The heads aren't so uniformly white whenever I look around the hall now. Though it sorts of compete with the local live performance when they're scheduled on the same date.



Opera will survive, I think. I've talked with many young newbies who attend a show for the first time and they all liked it, being amazed that they enjoyed the show even though they couldn't understand what was being sung most of the time (the sur-title here tend to go dead for long stretches of time) and want to come back for more. I think it is the music snobs who has nasty comments about everything no matter how good it is who turn potential new opera and classical music fan off a lot more than the arts themselves do.

Answer 11

Hm, it's been a while- I think almost a year since I saw a live performance, a major one at least. Mostly because I can't afford it! I'm in college and barely employed, plus I live in the boondocks. We don't have a single orchestra in town, the nearest real one is about an hour away and they play a lot of "pops" concerts and Harry Potter music concerts; even with this, I know they're barely surviving. I heard this sad news piece on NPR once about how the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra was struggling, because Cleveland has high rates of poverty and most people can't afford it. I swore I'd go to a concert of theirs (it's about two hours away) until I saw the prices. Again, I just can't afford it. Maybe I'll drag my parents there



I love live performances, though, and I have gone out of my way in the past for them. There was this really touching moment a few years ago... My friend and I were backpacking through Germany and Austria four years ago, and we were *so* excited because we had tickets to a performance of Mozart's piano concertos 20 and 23 in the Salzburg Festival. We paid dearly for them, and we could certainly not afford the operas. We showed up in jeans lugging backpacks and changed into dress clothes in the bathroom; everyone stared at us like we were crazy. (It was full of filthy rich people who seemed really snobby, maybe it was just us being paranoid!, but we were certainly out of place). When we left we changed back into our street clothes and were talking about how much we loved the concert. In halted German, because we'd sworn to only speak German. This old man walked up to us and was almost crying, he said he loved Mozart and had gone to the festival every year, he lived in Germany; he told us he was touched that young people like us would attend a concert. Then this woman nearby was listening in interest and she came up and told us how nice an impression we made for American teenagers, that we spoke some German and liked classical concerts. Hahahaha we felt so proud



Sorry to have rambled but it's a nice uplifting story, for people who think classical music is dying out... :)



In general, the Salzburg Festival sells out fairly quickly, especially the operas. That should make you feel better Alberich! Of course it's world renowned and probably an exception, but it still makes you feel a little better. I still think a lot of people attend classical concerts for the snob appeal, but I don't care as long as it keeps them going! And my college sponsors a lot of chamber and solo performances that are fairly well attended, mostly by students but also by a lot of the community. They're free, though. I think the cost is the main issue, more than lack of interest, and probably more than technology too. I mean, people who download pop and rock music illegally pay a fair amount when it comes to live performances in those genres. Technology may play a role, but I'm not sure it's as severe as you'd think.



Edit: kindclarinetist- the arts make more money than sports? REALLY? That amazes me. I have heard lots of baseball people complaining about how it's dying out, but I couldn't care less, it's about my least favorite sport... (I know, I'm unpatriotic.) As much as love a lot of sports, the arts beat them any day haha

Answer 12

Last thing I saw was Itzhak Perlman's recital @ Avery Fisher Hall in NYC last year. It's so expensive and public sentiment is so against providing more support for arts-oriented institutions when they all need much, much more. It's horrendous as all of our great companies are reducing staff, performance schedules. raising prices and nothing is being done to groom the future audience for calssical arts. My sister the ballet costumer just lost her job. Without a great deal of government assistance, it will gradually become like Greek theatre - just a curiosity performed for the intelligentsia.

Answer 13

I usually attend the Proms for at least one long week-end during the season, still only £5ish a ticket, and at least one WNO performance still gettable at £30 ish....the University hosts concerts at reasonable prices £2+...I try and help/organize/perform at least one concert a year in the local Parish church....there is a lot going on if one looks for it

Answer 14

OK - I am spoiled rotten. And we, too, are retired now. I live across the river from Bard College - incredible summer series, American Symphony concerts all year longs, great recitals, masterclasses (going again Friday). I also live 1.5 hours from Tanglewood (OK, I do not go often because of the old-lady programming - HEY! - I *am* an old lady!!!!! just not THAT kind. . ..) I am also 2 hours or so from Saratoga, and 4 hours or less from both Boston and Philadelphia, 2 cities I also know well (from Boston originally, returned for MM, son live near Philly). So I get to hear a LOT of live music - not counting the recitals and concerts we perform in. Each has its own sound - the shoebox clarity of the Boston Symphony Hall, the BANG in your face of the Gehry hall at Bard, the *situational seating* of the Kimmel in Philly. We donate money to all of them - and we do not HAVE a lot of money to donate - but NPR, live music, and some medical charities get it. No religious donations except what we drop in the basket personally - with one exception. We had a visiting priest from Nigeria who was speaking to us informally about going home to visit - it wold be a big adjustment after having clean running water HERE in the US - we asked how much a decent well would cost. "A fortune! Maybe ten thousand dollars!" He left the church parking lot THAT DAY with the cash - and showed us all the photos when he returned. And yes, we had seen his home-town photos before - no well - not a scam. Now we want to get him solar-powered electricity.



All of the above musical organizations - plus libraries and other places we give to - call us or send us stuff regularly. It might not be MUCH - but we always send something. Bard gives my name out for wedding gigs. The local library is the source of HUNDREDS of free downloads of audiobooks - even though I have not set foot in the building for YEARS - maybe decades! I fall asleep and wake up every day to NPR. Just yesterday, we bought a NY Phil series of 4 concerts (11 am on Fridays - we are now OFFICIAL senior citizens, even tho we are not old enough yet) for just over $200 for EIGHT SEATS. wow . . . .



We go to the Met Opera 3-4 times a year - it is our gift to ourselves, since we do not exchange material gifts anymore for holidays. And when my son is here this weekend, the MM in Digital Music guy and Computer Guru will help me hook up my laptop FINALLY to my home theater, so we can stream operas from the Met. So - it's worth it to send THEM something extra, too, even tho I have to pay for each opera video.



On the flip side - we just bought 2 tickets for ONE GAME at the new Yankee Stadium. Now THAT is an example of obscene prices!!!!!!!



Added -



Yesterday, we drove over to Bard where we could attend - for FREE - a master class for SIX HOURS (we did not stay that long) with Richard Goode, coaching fine conservatory students on works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. We were transported by the level of playing, even in just his *illustrations* of fine points. We can hear Dawn Upshaw sing with her graduate students for $15. There is a list of maybe a dozen FREE things I can go hear and learn from, within the nest 2 months - for free, or close to it - that are this 15-minute drive from my house! Move to Florida when I am a Geezerette? Not on your life!!

Answer 15

many years. why fight the crowd when you can see it in comfort at home.