Opera Chic Goes Head 2 Head With ~The Swed~: OC Speaks with the CBC's Arts & Culture Program "Q"

Opera Chic speaks IRL! This time with CBC Radio 1's daily program for arts and culture called "Q", hosted by Jian Ghomeshi.

She was invited to speak on the Monday, May 4th, 2009 podcast, and riff with Mark Swed, the Los Angeles Times classical music critic about Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman's outburst during his recent Disney Hall performance. 'Tho OC phoned it in -- as she was sipping Cristal on the gorgeous beaches of Côte d'Azur for a long weekend -- unavailable by phone on Monday.

You can download the mp3 directly from the CBC Radio here. Team Opera Chic can fast forward to minute 15:00 to hear OC's Shaolin Tiger Style.

Comments

[Turandoze]

That rocked my world! Well done, Opera Chic :)

[El Cajon]

I totally agree artists should keep their political beliefs out of the concert hall, opera house, etc. when performing before a "standard" paying audience who are there to listen to music. That's why we have op-eds, blogs, etc. If an artist wants to speak out a politically themed benefit, fine. Otherwise, leave the politics in the dressing room.
P.S. O.C. has a very nice voice! Matt Lauer has so got to invite her for a Today appearance.

[Vissi d'arte]

You go on wit yo bad self, OC! Kickin' §ss and takin' names!

[Renee]

It was great to hear your voice, OC.

And what you said was so right, although, IMHO, your best and most concise comment was the clown nose you photoshopped on his face in your original blog.

What a hero he was, speaking to his adoring concert audience in LA Disney Hall, complaining about the previous president's disastrous policies and then collecting his (probably) considerable fee. That is called 'biting the hand that feeds you.' And all that without having to fear any consequences for his personal comfort or safety. Why didn't he put this show on five years ago, for instance during a performance at the Bush White House or on the Washington Mall? That would have been gutsy and more appropriate.

What a paper tiger. He should just shut up and do what he is good at.

[Mike]

I'm gonna set it as my ringtone....

[Hal]

Zimerman must be one of the few Poles who supports the Russian position on the missile site and is anti-American. (I don't favor the site, but I am not a Pole). In the final analysis, using a captive audience who came to listen to music to express your political views is out of order, as you argue, OC.

[dofaust]

...CZ simply lost it....thoughtless and inappropriate....it was needless and thoughtless of Zimmerman - after all, more than half the people in the US opposed most the US foreign policy until very recently already....and if CZ had thought about it more, he might realize that BHO will probably rectify the missle shield situation...most of all, it was just inappropriate of CZ for such a venue...yeah you were right on....and it _was_ nice to hear your voice...still have a bit of the eastern US accent, eh....? hahahaha

[Iphigenie]

That little laugh at the end was the deal breaker. I just fell a little bit more in love with you and your sarcastic wit.

[evenflow]

Your voice reminds me of all those hot college girls that denied my weak pickup lines in the bars. Please be nice! And well done for sparing with Swed. Of course he doesn't mind Zimerman's anger. Just wait until the first Pro Abortion or Anti Gay Marriage performer starts using his Los Angeles stages as a soap box, and we'll see how quickly Swed changes his mind about free speech laws in the auditorium.

[woodenhouse]

Opera Chic > Tom Service > Mark Swed

[Puck Swami]

What a thrill to hear your voice - for me your comments were not only spot on in terms of content, but delivered in kind of a sexy, NY-machine gune pace that totally fits my image of you - this nexus of Julliard/Lincoln Center-meets Barneys/Bloomingdales, but living in Milan.

Wow.

[afrotenor]

Zimerman is annoying because he reinforces the unfortunate stereotype that great musicians are underneath it all huge nerds with Aspergers. Zimerman, get a grip on yourself.

[AB]

I'm a big fan of Q and Jian Gomeshi. OC > Billy Bob!

[JD]

Good for you, OC. You got it right when you pointed out plenty of artists who are vocal about their politics, but not in concert, and you clearly have no problem with that.

What does Zimerman think the concert attendees are thinking? "I just can't wait for the concert to begin. Do you suppose that he will play his 'Diatribe in F-sharp, with his breathtaking Cadenza Antipatica?' I do so hope he will. All that Brahms he has programmed will put me to sleep. Instead, a nice bracing string of poorly reasoned carping taken from the Guardian's editorial page is just the thing to cap off a wonderful evening of music, don't you think?"

Maybe he looks down on audiences that don't think that. If so, then it's sad for him - having to play for audiences whose sensibilities are so very far beneath him. That's a lousy way to earn a living, innit?

Back to the podcast - "It was real," said Swed. "[The performance] blew everybody's mind." Someone please revoke Swed's writer's license, for excess California-speak.

Swed's comparing Zimerman's little speech with Gergiev's concert in Tskhinvali is specious. Those who attended Gerviev's concert knew that it was meant to be a big political statement from the beginning. (I'm not defending Gergiev here). Zimerman's concert was not intended, as far as his concert-goers knew at first, to be a political statement.

The issue here in my opinion is one of manners. Swed seems to be fumbling towards this concept when he says that more artists don't speak out partly because of "protocol."

Minor quibble about the interviewer. He graciously thanks Swed - calling him "sir" at the very end. As for you, he says again who you are (well, that you are the blogger OC), but no "thanks" to you. In fact, he says, "That was the [blogger OC]." I hope he was a little more gracious to you on the phone and that it just got edited out.

[geddaisgod]

so true evenflow. if he had spoken out in favor of... well, anything deemed "conservative" in america, he'd be slammed by swed and the faux critics like him. as an aside, was that little twenty second clip the only part OC was in? you sound like a second-generation asian american. am I right?

[Willy]

Now I have two things to be proud of: the CBC, which sadly our current government is trying to cut to the bone if not close down, and our own beloved OC.

[Willy]

JD - I am sure that Gomeshi was as polite to OC at the end of their conversation as he was to Swed (though OC may want to set me straight on that), it just wasn't included in the clip - anymore than it normally would be on any sound clip. Gomeshi is always polite and respectful to his guests - in fact I find he is often to diffident, an irritating Canadian trait.

[Susan]

Well spoken, OC! :)

[furst]

@ Renee

I've commented on this before but feel the need to repeat it as an elucidation of the following comment: I did and do disagree with many policies pursued by the Bush administration, I do so with considerable intensity and am absolutely of the view that the United States and the world are worse of as a consequence of those policies (this is not to be read as either an endorsement or condemnation of the policies of the Obama administration - many of which, for better or worse, - resemble those of the prior administration.

I do want to ask Renee for one, just ONE, example of the where a critic of the Bush administration - and most specifically its foreign policy - was subjected to even minimal government pressure, or, indeed, even robust public rebuke. (One prominent, if very isolated, exception being the ridiculous and disgraceful nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a choice which might be analogized to casting Gregory Kunde to sing Wotan at the Met).

[furst]

On a separate, although somewhat more pertinent note, we look forward to hearing OC's commentary. While we have been fortunate enough gleam her insights from the blog, we are anticipating with especial excitement actually hearing her voice.

[-Ed.]

OMG you sound just like I thought you would!

If ever I pay my money to attend a classical music concert and am instead treated to an unadvertised political rant of any stripe, I will demand a refund. Kick 'em in the Benjamins.

Music is my escape, my refuge, from troubles. Don't go messin' with my refuge.

[ellie]

Well done, Opera Chic! You are absolutely right that the venue and timing were malchosen. Swed sounds a bit too impressed. And to mention Gerghiev playing Shostakowitch in Georgia in support of the Soviets is seriously disturbing...not to mention the fact that it does not in any way contradict what you said. Did Gerghiev speak to the audience, telling the Georgians how much he detested their politics? Moreoever, the concert was explicitly given AS a political statement, which makes it totally different. Anyway, you can't expect everyone to think rationally--not even smart music journalists.

[Ivan Helfman]

Miss Manners couldn't have stated the case for civilized behavior on the concert stage any better than OC. Unfortunately, the degree of civilization and amount of serious public political discourse remaining in the USA is too negligible for the old rules to apply. If OC wants to dis a political pianist, she'd be better off picking on the polite Condoleezza Rice, who, unlike the rude Zimerman, plays her national anthem with bloody fingers.

[Henry Holland]

Wow, Mark Swed talks just like he writes reviews: long-winded, confusing and missing the point by light years. Thanks for the clip, OC.

[Warren]

I see your point, Ivan. That's why it has been hard for me to get too worked up over Zimerman's behavior, though I'm not particularly impressed with how KZ went about his spiel. Moreover, it is noteworthy that--from the accounts I've heard--Zimerman gave an amazing performance. If he hadn't played well, or had been seen/heard to not be into his playing, that would be another thing altogether.

[sb]

OC,

I think I got your point. But let's quote a further passage of the LA Blog:

"Zimerman has had problems in the United States in recent years. He travels with his own Steinway piano, which he has altered himself. But shortly after 9/11, the instrument was confiscated at JFK Airport when he landed in New York to give a recital at Carnegie Hall. Thinking the glue smelled funny, the TSA decided to take no chances and destroyed the instrument. Since then he has shipped his pianos in parts, which he reassembles by hand after he lands."

I must admit that I somehow understand his anger....