Opera Chic has a weakness for Michael Tilson Thomas, a great American conductor, one of our greatest really, a man who, if anything, is underappreciated -- he is one of our foremost musicians. And the sad thing is that, all things equal, if he were European and more aloof -- or even a bit of a douche -- many Americans would probably appreciate him more.
MTT spake with the Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith about a bunch of things -- music, the media, young orchestras vs the old school, YouTube, and his PBS series Keeping Score.
This is just a little quote -- but the whole interview is really, really good.
There are book clubs. Why not symphony clubs? I think the major
performing organizations will have to look at the expansion of their
roles in educating people, in leading the process, in creating new
partnerships...
...When an audience goes to see a play by Shakespeare, what percentage can follow it line by line? Not many. They can hear the famous lines. A good deal they pick up form the production, the way it is done. Maybe we’re going to see some kind of change in the musical fashion of performing. We’re in a bells and whistles age. We’re in a world of video, and some musicians treat it the way some silent movie stars treated talkies — it’s just a fad. It is important that musicians get inside of this, rather than have it forced on them.
...When an audience goes to see a play by Shakespeare, what percentage can follow it line by line? Not many. They can hear the famous lines. A good deal they pick up form the production, the way it is done. Maybe we’re going to see some kind of change in the musical fashion of performing. We’re in a bells and whistles age. We’re in a world of video, and some musicians treat it the way some silent movie stars treated talkies — it’s just a fad. It is important that musicians get inside of this, rather than have it forced on them.