What ails classical music criticism

A recent post on Zach Carstensen's fine blog "The Gathering Note" asks a good question:

So why are newspapers dumping their critics? My own feeling is that newspapers, Seattle’s two daily’s included, haven’t figured out a way to fit their classical coverage to a greatly changed classical music scene and changed ways people, including the current audience for classical music, digest both music and news about said music.

That's certainly part of the puzzle, but the fault isn't entirely with the newspapers. Much of what passes for music criticism bears some of the blame. Why? Because more often than not it is tired and boorish.

The idea of Glenn

Are you devoted Glenn Gould fan? Then put your devotion to the test and take the CBC's online "Glenn Gould Trivia" quiz.

You'll find it right here.

new work by J.S. Bach Discovered!

Wow!

" GERMAN scholars claimed today to have found a long-lost organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach dating from the early days of his career.

The piece, entitled Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns haelt (Where God the Lord does not stay by our side), was found in an auction lot by professors from the Martin-Luther University in Halle, said one of them, Stephan Blaut." Read the rest here.

A Video Game for Classical Music Lovers

Jeepers! And I was just getting the hang of the whole Wii thing.

"Classical music attendees across the country are being treated to a videogame in concert halls that lets them conduct an orchestra through a rendition of the William Tell Overture, Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony or Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. The game is simpler than Guitar Hero;"

read the rest here.

and more details here:

Wave the baton too slowly and the orchestra arrayed on the screen plays the "William Tell Overture" at a crawl. Wave it too fast and the music gallops away.

Chopin and the BBC

This is good news and something to look forward to this next month.

"BBC Radio 3 is to broadcast every note written by Frederic Chopin during a weekend dedicated to the Polish composer, who died in 1849 aged 39. The Chopin Experience, which runs on 17-18 May, follows similiar tributes by the station to Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky."

and of special interest: " A dedicated website, launched as part of the Chopin weekend, will feature video piano lessons by pianist David Owen Norris"

deets here.

We'll keep you posted. The calendar's marked.

A Romance on Three Legs

It's not too early to start planning your summer reading list. And if you're a fan of Glenn Gould, then like me you'll be looking forward to this one.

A Romance on Three Legs by Kate Hafner

According to the publishers jacket blurb:

"...perhaps Gould’s greatest obsession of all was with a Steinway concert grand known as CD318. To explain that relationship, which Gould himself described as “a romance on three legs,” Katie Hafner introduces us to the important figures in Gould’s life, including Verne Edquist, his longtime, long-suffering, blind tuner. She offers a fascinating history of the art of tuning, and takes us inside Steinway during the war years, when CD318 was built. And she dissects Gould’s life with the piano, from his first encounter with it to the endless coddling and tweaking that Edquist performed over the years. Hafner includes Gould’s stormy, sometimes outrageous, correspondence with Steinway, and describes his despair when CD318 was fatally dropped from a loading dock."

To be published this June. Pre-orders on the amazon.com site. Link.

because it's always been played that way

This has me searching for the score to see for myself.

At some point he had a problem with the second variation of Beethoven's Sonata Opus 111.. Verville thinks that the third variation in the second movement should be played in 9/16, not the 12/32 that pianists invariably use. This was heresy as far as most of the musical establishment was concerned. It's disappointing to see the great pianist Anton Kuerti arrogantly scoff at the idea. He says essentially, so every great pianist has been playing it wrong for 200 years? And who are you? Others are not so sure, like the pianist Arthur Ozolins, and the piano manufacturer and musician whom Verville called at 3 a.m. with this bombshell.

I think I'm with Kuerti on this one..

Link.

Missouri Southern International Piano Competition

Competition junkies take note. The Missouri Southern International Piano Competition gets underway next week. Deets are found here.

piano wizard

Piano Wizard. It's software designed to teach piano. But does this really work? Have you tried it out as a student or teacher? I'd be interested in hearing of your experiences. Here's a recent review of it. link

Blue Suede Piano?

Actually it's 24-carat gold leaf piano that was owned by Elvis Presley (a gift from his wife Priscilla), and it is going on the auction block.

Elvis Presley’s fans can now look forward to adding one more rare piece of this legendary’s star’s memorabilia with his 24-carat gold piano soon to be put on the market for the very first time. The buzz around this unique offering has set the international memorabilia world into a tailspin...

Link.

It will no doubt fetch a pretty piano or two. So I'll have to resign myself to the "pretty in pink" Elvis music box. (link)