A few words about adventurous programming

The 1807 & Friends chamber group wasn't trying to offer a pair of obscure novelties when it scheduled the sextets by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky that I discussed in a recent BSR post. Yet, as I noted in my review, one of the most enthusiastic concertgoers I know told me she'd never heard either piece. Since then, I've heard from another indefatigable ticket purchaser who said he too had never heard the Tchaikovsky sextet on that program.

Such incidents are worth remembering when we consider items like Beeri Moalem's recent plea for programming that puts more emphasis on new music. Pieces that seem wearyingly routine to professionally trained musicians and critics may be total novelties to people who form the backbone of the local concert audience.

In the 20 years I've been writing about Philadelphia music, I seem to have become one of the local specialists in early music and new music. But you can't concentrate on one aspect of music without slighting others. My experience with harpsichord music dwarfs my exposure to the literature for unaccompanied piano.

The sonatas I've missed

I had a wonderful time at Cynthia Raim's recent all-Schubert piano recital at the Philosophical Society. I was duly impressed when the program notes informed me that the G Major sonata on the program doesn't get played as often as Schubert's three late sonatas. But I must confess that the late sonatas would have been just as unfamiliar, since I've never heard any of them. For me, the 19th-Century piano repertoire consists of works in which the piano collaborates with other instruments.

On the other hand, I feel perfectly comfortable writing about 20th-Century works like Messiaen's Visions de L'Amen for two pianos, as well as the cosmic visions George Crumb creates with amplified piano— works that might baffle someone who has heard Schubert's sonatas dozens of times.

The Western art music repertoire is essentially a huge library containing more than six centuries of music, from the earliest years of the Renaissance to this season's crop of world premieres. No one can explore all of it in a single lifetime.

Ticket buyers have rights, too

Different organizations have different missions. As Phillip Maneval points out in the BSR Letters section, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is presenting six world premieres this season, plus more than 60 pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries. But PCMS is primarily supposed to present the great music that has survived the test of time. Adventurous listeners can expand their musical experience by patronizing the Network for New Music, Orchestra 2001 and Donald Nally's The Crossing. The Lyric Fest art song series and the Dolce Suono chamber series play a notable amount of new and unfamiliar music, and most of our other music organizations regularly offer excursions off the beaten path.

And lest we forget: People pay money for this stuff. Why shouldn't ticket-buying patrons approach their seats knowing they're going to hear at least one piece that makes them feel they received some joy in exchange for their dollars?

Older composers, brighter glow

The latest Philadelphia Orchestra chamber session sandwiched three 20th-Century pieces between two entries from the first half of the 19th-Century— a lyrical 1832 sextet by Mikhail Glinka that featured some unusually sensitive piano work by guest pianist Sonya Ovrutsky, and Schumann's Andante and variations for two pianos, two cellos and horn. The three younger works were composed by Bartok, Carter and a British composer named York Bowen, and all were worth hearing. But the program planners did the right thing when they made sure the afternoon included a good dose of 19th-Century melody and emotional depth.

On this occasion, the older composers provided the glow that made me feel I'd attended a memorable event.

And how familiar were the older works? Glinka isn't exactly Beethoven, and the Schumann employs an ensemble that's so unusual it can't possibly be overscheduled. The Philadelphia Orchestra is probably the city's only musical organization that can put two cellists and a horn player on the same stage with two pianists of the caliber of Natalie Zhu and Kiyoko Takeuti.

If you look at all the programs presented by our local musical organizations, you'll find you have ample opportunities to venture into unexplored territory. And don't be surprised if you run into a native who can't understand why you think his back yard is a fascinating terra incognita.



To read a response by Beeri Moalem, click here.

To read a response by Dan Coren, click here.