Minnesota Orchestra

adam0408 · Post by **adam0408** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:18 pm

A monster?

He seemed to me to be a great guy and wonderful teacher when I had a lesson with him.

You should see if he would be willing to give you a lesson while you're in town. PM me or something if you want his email.

Sam Gnagey · Post by **Sam Gnagey** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:47 pm

This brings up a topic that is rapidly becoming my greatest pet peeve with playing. In my orchestra we're doing nearly as much pops crap as serious literature. The kicker is that it is not really paying off. We're barely breaking even on the pops series, if that. Why do symphony orchestra managements and boards think they need to compete in an entertainment market that is already overcrowded with performers who do nothing else and do popular music well? Perhaps they don't really understand what a symphony orchestra is all about. If the pops series isn't helping to subsidize the other offerings of an orchestra then it surely shouldn't be part of what we do.
When we started doing pops concerts here there were very few of them during the season. It was sort of a novelty for our audience to hear us do something other than "classical" literature. Back then it was even a bit of a nice break for the musicians. That novelty has long worn off in most cities like ours. I do believe that symphony orchestras exist to entertain but not to entertain by playing Highway to Hell. I believe that audiences attend symphony concerts to be stimulated, enlightened and challenged; all of which is entertaining in a very special way, unique to an orchestra concert. What we do with pops here is senseless pandering to a class of patrons (surveys have verified) who don't even care enough to cross over to hear our other offerings.
I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment in Minneapolis, but, believe me, you have a sympathetic ear in me.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:58 pm

The local opera company just tried to do something outside of the usual Verdi/Puccini/Rossini/Donizetti/Mozart stuff; "Hansel and Gretel" by Humperdinck. Have a look at what happened:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/ ... 315.p1.php

With things the way they are today, maybe the best policy is to play safe...

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:52 pm

Sam Gnagey wrote:What we do with pops here is senseless pandering to a class of patrons (surveys have verified) who don't even care enough to cross over to hear our other offerings.

Amen

quinterbourne · Post by **quinterbourne** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:05 pm

I think one purpose of Pops concerts is to get people to come who don't usually come to their classical concerts.

For example - a die hard ABBA fan sees that advertisement for the orchestra's ABBA concert. The ABBA fan goes, and is so impressed with the orchestra's rendition of ABBA tunes, he/she decides to go to a classical concert. That person loves the classical music too, and becomes a season subscriber.

Another example - that die hard ABBA fan is the CEO of a major international corporation. He is so tickled by the ABBA tunes played by the orchestra, that he cuts the orchestra a check for a million dollars.

I think that most orchestras get good crowds for their pops concerts, such that their pops concerts end up subsidizing their poorly attended classical concerts.

If I was an orchestra general manager and if I was losing money on the pops concerts, I think I would cancel the pops series the next year.

Keep in mind that many of the pops programs are accessible to classical audiences as well. Something like music by John Williams will bring in a huge crown - many regular patrons and many people who don't usually go to orchestra concerts.

Our local orchestra is offering a $60 student subscription, and at over 35 concerts you are able to attend, that's less than $2 a concert. Do they lose money with these subscriptions? Probably. However, they get a lot of audience they wouldn't regularly... and those people are more likely to become regular patrons of the orchestra when they are out of school.

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:47 pm

Andre Rieu

Discuss

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:18 pm

Alex F wrote:Andre Rieu

Discuss

While hearing "Trisch Trasch Polka" gets a little boring after the 100th time, one thing is obvious--Andy Roo gives his audience not just music, but a whole show suitable for audiences of any age.

I admire him for the fact that he's able to be successful in doing it.

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:30 pm

I wonder who his tubist is. The tuba was prominently featured (visually) in his last show, The Flying Dutchman. It's making the rounds of PBS Spring pledge weeks again. My mother loves his programs. I did not care for hm the first time I saw one about nine years ago but the last few have been enjoyable. And the audiences do love it.

I recall when Mitch Miller was a regular fixture at the Grant Park Concerts in the 70s and 80s. People would flock to see him. in addition to the obligatory sing along and dancing it the aisles during Havah Naghila ( sp?), the program always included one or two "standanrd" orcehestral pieces. It was a lot of fun and great music on a warm summer night by the lake. I think He's still alive but no longer active.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:38 pm

Alex F wrote:I wonder who his tubist is. The tuba was prominently featured (visually) in his last show, The Flying Dutchman.

From the Andy Roo website:

Ton Maessen
Tuba

For Ton, those first concerts with the Johann Strauss Orchestra took some getting used to! It is very hard work to play a tuba. Such an enormous instrument demands a great deal of energy and breath, so in most orchestras tuba players usually only have to play a few notes during each concert.

After Ton joined our orchestra, however, we immediately arranged all our pieces so that he has to play with all his might throughout the programme! Luckily Ton has become accustomed to it and knows how to evoke powerful, deep tones from his instrument without too much effort, giving the music a marvellous, full sound.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:26 pm

What!? Andy Roo (nee) doesn't play it himself!? I want my pledge money back!

finnbogi · Post by **finnbogi** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:08 am

Chuck(G) wrote:The local opera company just tried to do something outside of the usual Verdi/Puccini/Rossini/Donizetti/Mozart stuff; "Hansel and Gretel" by Humperdinck. Have a look at what happened:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/ ... 315.p1.php

A similar thing, albeit not with as dramatic consequences, happened here. The opera company's autumn piece was The turn of the screw, a really great production, both according to critics and viewers. The opening night was sold out, mainly to patrons and elite, but all the other nights the hall was half-empty.
This spring, the produced La Cenerentola, which was sold out every night.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:00 pm

finnbogi wrote:A similar thing, albeit not with as dramatic consequences, happened here. The opera company's autumn piece was The turn of the screw, a really great production, both according to critics and viewers. The opening night was sold out, mainly to patrons and elite, but all the other nights the hall was half-empty.
This spring, the produced La Cenerentola, which was sold out every night.

This is life in the business world. When you're flush, you have plenty of padding for the times when you make a strategic misstep. But if you're in the position that many opera, ballet and symphony groups are in these days, there's no margin for error. A flop could mean bankruptcy.

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
- Charles Dickens

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:46 pm

A few years ago the London Symphony made some recordings of classic rock songs that were surprisingly wonderful. They did everything from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to "A Whiter Shade of Pale." As it was previously stated, music is a business. We don't play for ourselves. We play because we do. What we play isn't up to us as musicians. We aren't critics. We should do the best we can. When we go to a concert, we should try to see the pops concerts and give them support.

When I was growing up, AM radio stations were very specific about the popular music they played. Today, we have a few stations that specialize in country and western and the urban stuff on FM radio, but on AM radio, music is music. In one hour you might hear a Beatles song, a Glenn Miller song, a Willie Nelson song, and George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Everything old is the same!

Not all Americans have such refined musical tastes and we have to live with that idea as musicians. And if you are playing a concert, you aren't playing for yourself, you're playing for the people who are paying money to see you. If you don't play what they want, you won't be playing anymore.