Will it ever change?

[Richard Moss]

Hadrianus,

Sorry to hear about your 'concert' plight, especially the 'catty' comments you  seem to have endured. Unfortunately, somne people seem to enjoy being critical, almost  form the sake of it.  Many years ago, I attended a concert by Sir Simon Rattle in which he conducted Schubert's 10th symphony.  The performance wasn't a patch on the Hyperion CD of the same work but that didn't stop me enjoying a live performance with its own unique atmosphere   

My post was really about  at least trying to get worthy unknowns recorded onto Cd, rather than into concert halls.  As many others have said more eloquently than myself, getting therm into the concert halls is almost a fight with only one outcome (unless anyone knows someone like a Richard Branson, Paul Getty or whoever who has deep pockets AND a love of romantic repertoire AND is willing to break the mould!!)

Anyway, I salute your stand for your principles and will endeavour to support (whenever I can), via a purchase, any romantic orchestral unknowns I find you've recorded.

Best wishes

Richard

[Ilja]

I don't really understand much of the despondency I read here, to be honest. There probably has never been a time in which such a wide gamut of the romantic repertoire has been available to listeners. Perhaps not in the concert halls, but certainly on recordings. From the producer's point of view, it has never been so easy to release a CD, and that has benefited the 'unsung' repertory enormously. The technical costs of producing CDs are very low, let alone purely digital formats. Getting scores is -usually- easier than it ever was: if they're not already online, checking out the libraries where they are has become a relatively easy task. But the big leap forward has been in distribution. What used to be a laborious task involving reps visiting untold amounts of stores, each with their own demands and attached costs, has been replaced by a system where the market is global, making it a much less risky undertaking to release an 'unknown' because costs are likely to be recouped much quicker. There are numerous labels nowadays which devote themselves to varying degrees to the unsung repertoire and who turn out a steady stream of releases: the 'bigs' such as Hyperion, Chandos and cpo, but also lord nows how many smaller ones. I have local releases from villages in Spain, small towns in Switzerland and enthusiasts in Ohio. And even though quality varies, in general I'm a satisfied customer.

To sum up, I feel privileged to live in a time where so much of the romantic repertory is there for me to listen to. Sure, there is lots more that needs to be heard and recorded, but there probably will be. These are exciting times.

[adriano]

Ilja - "technical costs" may be low, but not musician's fees, studio rentals, producing staff fees, travel expenses etc.! You seem to have quite "Romantic" ideas about CD producing 

[Ilja]

Yes, Hadrianus, but those costs were always there (as were, for instance, copyright fees and score rentals). I didn't say that it's cheap, but important parts of it have become cheaper and more accessible, and others developments have helped greatly in creating a larger market that is easier to reach for labels.

[Crescendo]

Certainly I wish there was more - much more - "unsung" music in today's concert programming. But I also think that there has never been a better time to enjoy music. What has been issued on CD until today is wonderful. Of course there will be always more to feed ever hungry curiosity. And that is a good thing, keeps it going. New discoveries are always waiting for those who seek.

What can we do as mere audience?
- Support the artists by buying their CDs and get the best sound system we can afford for transcendent living room concerts.
- Educate and spread enthusiasm to be curious and adventurous.
- Another idea would be to extend this forum into a Facebook page/group. I think this place is wonderful and is filled with valuable information. It is so worth to gain more potential readers. Posting there and have it appear in our newsfeed would be nice. I certainly would enjoy it.

[Ken P]

As a performer (pianist) of the rare and forgotten, I know all too well the frustration.  I discover music of extraordinary beauty by composers whose music once filled our auditoriums.  Now, their voices are as mute as they are dead!  It is a crime and humanity should be ashamed of itself...this is a wondrous part of our world culture.   

[matesic]

Currently listed on imslp are the works of 11,001 composers. It would be nice to do them all justice, but who has the time?

[Alan Howe]

That's assuming they're all worth resurrecting...

[matesic]

But who's to judge which composers are worth resurrecting and which aren't? If the great music-listening public has decided it wants to listen to some rubbish like .... (fill according to personal prejudice), what chance and what RIGHT do we have to persuade them they're wrong? But to return to the original question, "it" changes every week and although I'm just as dissatisfied as anyone that most concert programmes are full of music that I consider hackneyed, I'm also extremely grateful to be amongst the first generation privileged to be able to enjoy the music of 1000 years or more.

[Alan Howe]

Well, performers of unsung music have to make judgments about music they might perform - and do so all the time. Such judgments are an inevitable part of the process of choosing what to play in the first place. I can assure you - having been in on such discussions - that clear opinions about the varying merits of particular pieces are de rigueur. After all, who wants to play something whose merits one is not convinced of? So, who's to judge? Answer: the performers - who usually know what they're talking about and upon whom we depend to access the music. And label proprietors are an important part of the decision-making process too.

[matesic]

Unfortunately performers and label proprietors have to make a living in a highly competitive marketplace, so can seldom afford to risk alienating their customer base by deviating too far from popular taste. I  think a better target for moral blackmail might be those who hold themselves responsible for shaping that taste - the critics and commentators. But in the end I believe we simply have to accept the politician's mantra, that however well or badly informed they may be, the electorate is always right

[Alan Howe]

Fortunately there are some label proprietors who do understand the joy of discovering unsung music. And, as has been pointed out before on this forum, the 'majors' are actually increasingly irrelevant anyway - it's the independents who now lead the way. We have never been so lucky as we are these days; we may lament the neglect of certain composers, but the situation today is better than it has ever been - at least as far as recordings are concerned.

[mbhaub]

That's right: the poor, unrecognized record producer is our hero. And it's been that way for a long time. Think of labels from the past: Westminster, Nonesuch, Vox & Candide, Everest familiar to the US listeners freely filled their libraries with lesser-knowns. The many smaller outfits today will hopefully continue to rummage through the libraries and bring more interesting, unknown music. But I believe technology will once again come to the rescue in the form of computer software that will be able to "read" a score and make a reasonably lifelike realization of it. Far fetched? Not at all. Already, Smartmusic has software that will scan a score and transcribe it into Finale notation format. Then playback with highly realistic sample sounds is simple. Of course, the ability to take a manuscript score of someone's symphony and do this isn't possible - yet. But in time? The wonders of technology!

[adriano]

Notation scanning software may be good for old printed scores, but they must be in good condition. To scan handwritten music ist still very problematic.

[Dave]

I cannot disagree with mbhaub in the state of classical music and the changing economic, demographic, cultural, societal realities that affect it. The audience is getting older and leaner, and orchestras are being forced to be creative in bringing the fans back. I do not see anything getting better, at least in the short-term. And forget orchestras doing a Glazunov, Atterberg symphony (or any obscured works). This is more of survival than of expanding the repertoire. Endowments are down, and have been for a long time (even the American Symphony Orchestra is feeling the pinch).

Here's a glimpse of what the Cleveland Orchestra is facing.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/music/100000002900637/finding-tomorrow8217s-classical-fans.html