Live Music

[Shapley]

Nicole Marie talked about it on her segment shortly after it happened. Apparently, it originated as an idea several years ago by some famous performer, perhaps Perlman or Stern.

[barfle]

Indeed, it did happen, although I was not a witness to it. I did see some videos of it. It happened at the L'Enfant Plaza metro stop, which is where Bones worked before he retired.

[dai bread]

I have some sympathy for those who passed by. If you have time constraints, you can't stop and listen to a busker, no matter how much you might want to.

The experiment's basic premise is faulty: earning a living takes top priority. Ask the editor of the Washington Post what would have happened to any of his staff who said they were late for work because they'd stopped to listen to 45 minutes of violin music.

[piqaboo]

What dai said. Which I said during our original discussion of this.
Better would be to see what happened if Mr Bell stationed himself in the center of the park on a pretty Saturday.

[GreatCarouser]

Here's a link to the original story. Hope it's not a subscription. Happy New Year to all, btw....
Joshua Bell in the subway

[dai bread]

No, it's not a subscription. It's a very interesting article. I'm glad to know I'm in good company with Immanuel Kant in thinking that context matters.

But there's no acknowledgement that the experiment's basic premise is flawed. As Piq said, they should repeat it in some leisure place like a park.

[GreatCarouser]

...But there's no acknowledgement that the experiment's basic premise is flawed. As Piq said, they should repeat it in some leisure place like a park.

I respectfully disagree. The premise was clearly set out in the article "In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?" A park on a weekend hardly meets those criteria.

I think the problem may have been that "Beauty is in the eye (ear?) of the beholder". Just because many people love butterscotch doesn't make me 'wrong' not to like it.

Note that the people who 'stopped' for awhile all had something in common. They all had some familiarity and connection with either the music (genre) and/or the instrument.

As an aside, would you blame the experimenter if on the day and time in question a large group of deaf people dominated the exposed population?

Now if you want to bemoan the randomness of the sample I might agree that 'more testing' would be necessary before more than the most general conclusions could be reached but I think the 'experiment' was well founded as far as it went. It kept 'the context'.

[shostakovich]

I suspect the short answer for most people is "no". I think that particular test was a poor one, since those using a subway are generally in a rush, and even a sign: "This is Joshua Bell. I make big bucks doing this" would not dissuade people from their paths.
Shos

[jamiebk]

I think there are fleeting moments in every day when we see and appreciate great art in all of its forms...whether its a snippet of a fine composition, a photo, or something that we read. Seldom do we have time to enjoy a full performance or fully ponder what we see. Such luxury seems to be afforded to the very young or very old. Todays hectic and demanding life, especially for the working population, just won't allow that...we do not have the luxury of time or such freedom. In this case, it would be unreasonable to expect the listener (or "hearer" as in this case) to be so overwhelmed with the experience of hearing the music that he/she would put off all responsibilities and urgencies (especially in a transportation center where people are rushing to catch trains etc.). And it's not like there aren't a lot of street musicians anyway...albeit, Joshua Bell would be truly phenominal. Most peoples' ears would not be trained to appreciate the quality of what they were hearing.

So, I too, think the premise was a bit flawed. Perhaps they proved what they anticipated, but it would be interesting to see the same test in a setting where people were at leisure and actually did have the time to appreciate what they were hearing.

[barfle]

I can imagine the people who had at least a passing appreciation for either the music or the musician, but who didn't really realize what was going on at the time, kicking themselves for months afterward.

[dai bread]

So can I. Especially if their time constraints were fairly elastic.

I take GC's point in his post above. It's just that I think the time was not just inconvenient, it was totally impossible for most people. Fronting an irate boss would take the gilt off the gingerbread of any performance. A shopping mall would have been better.

[BigJon@Work]

SInce I don't live in the city, and rarely travel there, I usally give musical buskers an ear, to hear if they have talent. Someone who is a city regular probably would tune all of them out, no matter how talented.

[barfle]

I've heard many musical buskers since I moved to Vahjiniyah. Most of them were in Metro stations, but it seems as though Metro now has a policy of tossing them out.

I remember one Asian man (who seemed quite a bit older than I am) who played a bowed instrument somewhat like a cello, but smaller, and I believe it only had one string. He made an amazing amount of music come out of that little instrument. I have since seen others playing similar instruments on TV, but he's the only one I've seen live.

I've seen violin and saxophone combos, more guitar players than commuters, and a few who were competent on brass.

We also get a fair number of drummers, who use all sorts of buckets, trash cans, and pots and pans as their instruments. Some of them seem to be fairly good, although drum solos can get old unless the performer is REALLY good. Which reminds me of the show STOMP.

[navneeth]

Hey, people! I had the opportunity to listen to an organ (live) for the first time this past Saturday. It was a line-up of works composed/transcribed for the organ in the 18th century. The organist was Richard Marlow, Emeritus Organist and Director of Music, Trinity College, Cambridge Univ.

Listening to BWV 565 was an amazing experience! At the high points it drowned out the sounds of the heavy traffic from the road.

The images below contain the programme info. and specs of the instrument for the geeks out there.

[Trumpetmaster]

Hey, people! I had the opportunity to listen to an organ (live) for the first time this past Saturday. It was a line-up of works composed/transcribed for the organ in the 18th century. The organist was Richard Marlow, Emeritus Organist and Director of Music, Trinity College, Cambridge Univ.

Listening to BWV 565 was an amazing experience! At the high points it drowned out the sounds of the heavy traffic from the road.

The images below contain the programme info. and specs of the instrument for the geeks out there.

Nothing compares to listening to the power of an Organ Live!
What power!!!

[Shapley]

I am green with envy!

[jamiebk]

I may have related this story before and if so, my apologies...When I was in college Westminster College in New WIlmington, PA the school had a massive and hugely expensive pipe organ in the auditorium. Being a Liberal Arts school, there was a very good music program and "organ" was a major. Most of the time the students practiced on smaller pipe or electric organs in the Chapel (Presbyterian affiliated college) or music center room. However, the seniors got to use the big boy. Their "final exam" was Widor's tocatta and they practiced often. My greatest joy between classes was slipping in the back of the auditorium to listen to the rehearsals. WOW...that organ had some real power and the music just echoed off the acoustic walls. Virgil Fox played there while I was attending school and what an experience that was.

One of these days before I leave this earth, I want to hear the SF symphony in Davies Hall play Saint Saen "Organ" (3rd). They have a magnificent Ruffatti Organ that was hand crafted in Padua, Italy and installed in Davies Symphony Hall for the 1983-84 season. The customized concert pipe organ boasts 8,264 pipes ranging in size from a ballpoint pen to over 32 feet tall with a façade measuring 1600 square feet. Those not visible in the façade are housed in a three-story structure built behind the auditorium wall.

SPECTACULAR!

[navneeth]

Nothing compares to listening to the power of an Organ Live!
What power!!!

A lot of power!

I am green with envy!

I'm usually greener.

I may have related this story before and if so, my apologies...When I was in college Westminster College in New WIlmington, PA the school had a massive and hugely expensive pipe organ in the auditorium. Being a Liberal Arts school, there was a very good music program and "organ" was a major. Most of the time the students practiced on smaller pipe or electric organs in the Chapel (Presbyterian affiliated college) or music center room. However, the seniors got to use the big boy. Their "final exam" was Widor's tocatta and they practiced often. My greatest joy between classes was slipping in the back of the auditorium to listen to the rehearsals. WOW...that organ had some real power and the music just echoed off the acoustic walls. Virgil Fox played there while I was attending school and what an experience that was.

Thanks for sharing that, Jamie.

a magnificent Ruffatti Organ that was hand crafted in Padua, Italy and installed in Davies Symphony Hall for the 1983-84 season. The customized concert pipe organ boasts 8,264 pipes ranging in size from a ballpoint pen to over 32 feet tall with a façade measuring 1600 square feet. Those not visible in the façade are housed in a three-story structure built behind the auditorium wall.

SPECTACULAR!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

The Three Redneck Tenors show: Worth the price of the cheap seats, fer sure.

If you are a dignified and cultured sort of person, this may not be your cup of tea. And I suspect one of the Tenors of being more of a baritone but he still sounds good.

It's a fun night out. Wear your comfortable jeans if you don't look good in Daisy Dukes, and you might want to smuggle in a couple of beers.

[piqaboo]

Tho it meant missing the Three Redneck Tenors, Massenet's Don Quixote was well worth the price of admission too. Its a good story and was very well staged. Its lively. Should be popular and yet its rarely performed. The only reasons I can think of for this is because it has no major roles for soprano and tenor - which may make it tough to sell seats.
There are two wonderful roles for basses and a good mezzo part (Dulcine).
Ferrucio Ferlanetto sang the lead. Absolutely wonderful. And he can act too!
Eduardo Chama sang Sancho and was excellent. He's got a strong clear bass, if not quite as powerful as Furlanetto. Eduardo had the best aria of the piece, at the end of Act 4, when he scolds the townspeople for their disrepect of Don Quixote. Even the men in my seating area were dabbing their eyes after that one.
Dulcine was sung by Denyce Graves. Although I respect her voice, I'm not sure I like it. She had fun with role.

The music is beautiful. Great fun with the orchestra pretending to be a mandolin.
I think I'd like it slightly better if it were sung in Italian or Spanish instead of French.

Great scenes with the windmills including the Don being trapped on one of the blades, around and around and around....
SD Opera Don Quixote info

OT got himself some good staging too. He spent the first act being one of three men on the stairs, gossiping, and thus saved himself a couple entrances and exits.