Chron: Choose the symphony (over TMI)
The Editorial LiveJournalists today argue that great cities must have great symphony orchestras, lest we all lapse into sloth:
To compete against movies, television, video games and other forms of popular entertainment, the Houston Symphony has added screens on which to project images of the musicians during their performance. It has engaged in marketing programs to bring young listeners to its graying, arthritic audience. It has leavened its core curriculum of 19th century Romantic compositions with scores from contemporary composers, some of whom show an acquaintance with melody and harmony.
In order to succeed, however, the symphony's efforts must be matched by a commitment from every Houstonian who views the performing arts as an essential part of an educated person's life and learning and a refuge from this era's galloping coarseness and vulgarity.
Well, if they're arguing that the Houston Symphony is an escape from the Chronicle's galloping coarseness and vulgarity, we certainly agree with the Editorial LiveJournalists!
Interestingly, the Symphony under Christophe Eschenbach's direction really established itself as a serious, up-and-coming orchestra among the elitists who carefully analyze such things. However, Eschenbach's embrace of the atonality of the Second Viennese School probably didn't win the symphony many younger adherents (it certainly didn't win me over). If James Howard Gibbons and crew are suggesting that the Symphony since Eschenbach's departure has reacquainted itself with melody and harmony, that's welcome news indeed.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/22/06 09:04 PM | Houston Arts/Culture | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (2)
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