New York cancels Mozart

[barney]

By Taki in the Spectator

This is the best news since the Bush-Blair duo saved us from the nuclear holocaust Saddam was about to unleash upon us. Half a million, perhaps even one million dead Iraqis later, we were nevertheless saved with minutes to spare, so we should always believe official sources. Especially when Uncle Sam is involved.

This time the good news is not nuclear but musical. The Mostly Mozart Festival has been cancelled by New York’s Lincoln Center after 60-odd years because of rising disdain for ‘elitism and exclusivity’. Instead we have the Criminal Queerness Festival, a ‘celebration of 50 years of hip hop’, a day geared toward ‘neurodiverse audiences’, and ‘the world’s first LGBTQIA+ mariachi group’. So long and goodbye, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I read that the final two Mostly Mozart concerts were packed, but in today’s low-life, celebrity-driven woke culture disdain for great music and the miracle that is Mozart needs no excuses. Lincoln Center will probably soon be renamed George Floyd Memorial or, better yet, Black Lives Matter Hall. Once upon a time art had a responsibility to make the planet more beautiful. Mozart and thousands of others did just that. Now Damien Hirst and fellow ‘artists’ such as Snoop Dogg make the planet as ugly as those who own their art or listen to their rap music.

Wolfie, as I like to call the greatest of musical miracles, wrote six immortal operas including the Requiem, 41 symphonies, almost 50 concertos, 24 chamber works and 18 miscellaneous pieces, but is now replaced by ‘artists’ who include the F-word, the N-word and the S-word in every single women-hating, violence-praising sentence of their singularly untalented noise. Bravo, and long live the decision-makers at the Lincoln Center.

Never mind, as an eternal optimist said in Hiroshima after the blast: ‘It could get worse.’ I know it could, but cancelling Mozart in favour of the cesspool that is rap and hip hop is the equivalent to choosing Lizzo over Lily James, or one with moles, boils and warts over the divine Keira Knightley. And the irony is that no one in the packed house of the last concert dared say a word. That’s because the woke left defines what Americans can think and say nowadays.

What rankles is that aggressive minorities are imposing their ideology on the rest of us and no one is doing anything about it. ‘Rule Britannia’ and flag-waving at the Proms should be ruled sacrosanct, as Mozart should have been at the Lincoln Center. Unfortunately, as Douglas Murray wrote: ‘The growing divide between what the people want and what a small elite at the top of politics, media and finance want are two different things.’ And yet the remodelling of society in the image of a tiny minority should be science fiction, not a symptom of our weakness.

Take climate change. The media won’t report negatively about it, and our politicians would not be caught dead denying it, but except for the braindead publicity-seeking idiots who glue themselves to highways, climate change is Alice in Wonderland stuff. What I’ve noticed is the expression on the faces of those gluing themselves. It can only be compared to that caused by severe constipation, and the expression on the faces of the fuzz standing around is like the vacant stare of undertakers. Net Zero, in the meantime, is a fantasy, a Baron Munchausen joke. While unwanted electric cars are piling up everywhere, the government seems to have gone as deaf as Beethoven, sadly without a scintilla of his genius.

And while China, India and the US are spewing out good old-fashioned fumes like gangbusters, tiny Britain is determined to stop its tiny contribution to pollution in 27 years. If this were written as a comedy script it might be taken seriously, as official government policy nurses are needed and quickly.

Thirty-three million years ago, even before I began this column, the Earth transitioned to become cooler, and as a result ice sheets formed. The oceans dropped by 131ft exposing old plant matter that rotted and caused CO2 to rise. Then the Earth began to warm again and the ice melted, and this pattern – from warm to cold and back again – has been going on since before high life began, which means since time immemorial.

Back in 1939, the dustbowl days in America, droughts and high temperatures were worse. When Romans ruled the roost most of their food supplies came from Africa. Nowadays African farms are dustbowls. Long before that, half of what is now called the Land of the Free was underwater. I read somewhere that the CO2 level a million years before the Greeks and the Egyptians was so bad it made the Earth practically unlivable. So, take it from the great isotopic scientist Taki, just because the Earth’s axis tilts slightly at times there’s nothing to worry about except for those wind turbines that kill birds and murder nature’s beauty.

It all has to do with the new American trend of manifesting, the practice of thinking ‘aspirational’ thoughts in order to cosmically attract success – i.e., total bull. Aspire all you want, suckers, there is not enough electricity-generating infrastructure, and internal combustion is here to stay for the immediate future. So buy electric and stay put.

[Lance]

My question is why would the Mozart be canceled especially if the last two recent presentations were packed? Doesn't THAT say something? America is crumbling away.

[Belle]

My question is why would the Mozart be canceled especially if the last two recent presentations were packed? Doesn't THAT say something? America is crumbling away.

Is, or has already? Australia isn't far behind, just much more unjustifiably self-regarding.

[Rach3]

By Taki in the Spectator

Often better, Taki , to remain silent at risk people may think you possibly clueless, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[diegobueno]

My question is why would the Mozart be canceled especially if the last two recent presentations were packed? Doesn't THAT say something?

It should be noted that Mozart has NOT been cancelled. Just a festival that bears his name. There's going to continue to be an onslaught of Mozart in all venues in the coming season, so don't worry. Mozart is everywhere.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind if Mozart were cancelled. Not because of any political sin I could imagine retrofitting onto him, and certainly not for any fault of his music (though I wouldn't object to giving a rest to anything earlier than K. 350). And certainly not because I have an urge to celebrate an alphabetically identified social group (although Copland, Barber, Britten et al are certainly worthy of celebrating) It's just that our preoccupation with past composers is strangling the art form. There's so much music in the 20th and 21st centuries that would thrill audiences if they only knew it existed. Every time Mozart appears on a concert program, a contemporary composer is cancelled.

[Belle]

My question is why would the Mozart be canceled especially if the last two recent presentations were packed? Doesn't THAT say something?

It should be noted that Mozart has NOT been cancelled. Just a festival that bears his name. There's going to continue to be an onslaught of Mozart in all venues in the coming season, so don't worry. Mozart is everywhere.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind if Mozart were cancelled. Not because of any political sin I could imagine retrofitting onto him, and certainly not for any fault of his music (though I wouldn't object to giving a rest to anything earlier than K. 350). And certainly not because I have an urge to celebrate an alphabetically identified social group (although Copland, Barber, Britten et al are certainly worthy of celebrating) It's just that our preoccupation with past composers is strangling the art form. There's so much music in the 20th and 21st centuries that would thrill audiences if they only knew it existed. Every time Mozart appears on a concert program, a contemporary composer is cancelled.

It's just that our preoccupation with past composers is strangling the art form. There's so much music in the 20th and 21st centuries that would thrill audiences if they only knew it existed.

Completely agree with this sentiment, and your other comments.

I'm going out on a limb: Mozart is so yesterday and I've thought this for decades. It will probably be heresy here, but Mozart bores me with its endless consonance, tremolo, restriction to a small part of the (modern) keyboard (OK, he uses many clever devices to disguise this), fussy piano concerti (many of which sound alike) and church music which is more operatic than sacred. Some of the symphonies are the very finest: 38 onwards to 41, and the operas are beyond comparison. String quartets very good, some chamber music and piano sonatas are refreshing and inventive but the rest just shout "18th century" to me. Are they still performing Mozart Piano Concerti in the concert hall these days??!!! If they are that's probably a function of newer audiences in Asia and aging pianists for whom this repertoire was their trademark.

[barney]

Where is Belle, and what have you done with her? I never thought to hear such heresy!

[maestrob]

My question is why would the Mozart be canceled especially if the last two recent presentations were packed? Doesn't THAT say something?

It should be noted that Mozart has NOT been cancelled. Just a festival that bears his name. There's going to continue to be an onslaught of Mozart in all venues in the coming season, so don't worry. Mozart is everywhere.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind if Mozart were cancelled. Not because of any political sin I could imagine retrofitting onto him, and certainly not for any fault of his music (though I wouldn't object to giving a rest to anything earlier than K. 350). And certainly not because I have an urge to celebrate an alphabetically identified social group (although Copland, Barber, Britten et al are certainly worthy of celebrating) It's just that our preoccupation with past composers is strangling the art form. There's so much music in the 20th and 21st centuries that would thrill audiences if they only knew it existed. Every time Mozart appears on a concert program, a contemporary composer is cancelled.

Of course.

While I love Mozart (especially the Da Ponte operas) and find room for his music quite often, you make a telling point Mark that I find myself agreeing with.

That said, I decidedly do not wish that Mozart should fade away into the past.

So much music, so little time!

[diegobueno]

It's funny. I've spent 50 or more years adoring Mozart, and now in my later years I can say "OK I've heard him. Let's see what else there is". But I've got to say, earlier this year one of the orchestras I play in did the Concerto in C minor, K. 491, and I can't imagine a more perfectly written concerto in so many aspects: balance between soloist and orchestra, balance from within the orchestra -- every section gets to shine, flute and oboes, clarinets, horns, strings, and always in keys that he knew the instruments would sound good in -- and emotional depth. This piece has just got it all.

Well, I've got my Brilliant Classics set of the complete Mozart, which I've now gone through in K. number order from 1 to 626, so when I need a fix of Mozart I know where to look. I also have the Brilliant Classics Haydn set, with all the symphonies, most of the string quartets, a lot of other goodies (masses, oratorios, piano sonatas, piano trios) plus disc after disc of baryton trios and Scottish folk song settings that I will NEVER listen to.

When contemplating going to a live performance, I don't want to hear Mozart. I seek out unfamiliar music by composers I know to be good, or modern works with brilliant orchestration, or where the modern piece is the featured work, not a filler. I stayed away from the National Symphony's cycle of George Walker Sinfonias because they were wedged in with programs that were otherwise all-Beethoven.

[barney]

Well, that's your choice, and no one can say it is illegitimate. But few people have dedicated the time to Mozart that you have (and I have), and most people have not heard every work or are familiar with even all the opus numbers after K350. Also, Mozart continues to put posteriors on seats. So programming Mozart is entirely appropriate.

[diegobueno]

Well, that's your choice, and no one can say it is illegitimate. But few people have dedicated the time to Mozart that you have (and I have), and most people have not heard every work or are familiar with even all the opus numbers after K350. Also, Mozart continues to put posteriors on seats. So programming Mozart is entirely appropriate.

If this was a different discussion I would actually use Mozart as a perfect example of a what music needs, a figure who is placed at the very apex of the musical pyramid by both the general public and the cognzenti, someone who puts butts in seats as well as articles in journals.

What the heck, let me say it in this discussion: what we need are composers who can put butts in seats as well as articles in journals. Since we know Mozart can do this, what's wrong? Well, consider why the Mostly Mozart Festival was cancelled. Lincoln Center wanted something that better reflects contemporary culture. Classical music is viewed as old and out of touch, something that only reflects old culture. Protest as you will, this is the perception, but if all we do is bow down before composers from 200 years ago, maybe there's more truth to the perception than we'd like to admit.

So the challenge is to find the music of our time, or at least closer to our time, that fills the twin mandates of popular as well as intellectual appeal. It's something we can do now, when composers "care if you listen". If I it were up to me I might institute a "Mostly Minimalist" festival, since that kind of music has a fairly good track record of putting butts in seats, though some may fault the idea for duplicating the efforts of "Bang on a Can". Undoubtedly there are other options. Art only lives when there's an ongoing dialog between its creators and its audience.

[Rach3]

Reminds me I need to explore more of the music of composer Missy Mizzoli . I heard a couple I liked.

[Rach3]

Reminds me I need to explore more of the music of composer Missy Mizzoli . I heard a couple I liked.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/@missyarmy/featured

[Rach3]

Reminds me I need to explore more of the music of composer Missy Mizzoli . I heard a couple I liked.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/@missyarmy/featured

Heard these today; had heard "Bolts" before ( in a more effective reading by Jeremy Denk), these new interesting, but for me not particularly memorable.You may differ:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C15icblKDYo Violin Concerto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UznuS7O63HE Loving Bolts of Thunder (solo piano )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-nF4l21wlE. Heartbreaker ( solo piano )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz4E5lIt9bM. Dark with Excessive Bright (Double Bass Concerto )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-muf3yWRxo. Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres

[Rach3]

Some more Missy Mazzoli, just listening now:


BBC Radio 3 In Concert today Feb.28,available for 29 more days:

" The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dalia Stasevska and Guildhall Musicians perform orchestral and chamber music by Missy Mazzoli, one of the most singular, potent voices of today. Pianist, visionary, musical dramatist and Grammy-nominated composer, Missy Mazzoli has been called “the 21st century’s gatecrasher of new classical music”. She’s an artist for whom the personal is political, and in whose hands the intimate stories of modern America take on an epic scale and a global significance. “With each work, I endeavour to provide a new language for thoughts and feelings we suppress in everyday life” she says - “to provide space in which we can process the overwhelming nature of the world”.

Family memories, spiralling galaxies and a god of song, tormented by fate. In the orchestral works of Missy Mazzoli, private emotions inspire visions that span time and space. Dalia Stasevska conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra as the composer introduces four of her most powerful (and personal) orchestral pieces.

For Mazzoli, small ensembles unlock infinite possibilities, and her music for ensembles and electronics finds her exploring the wildest reaches of a boundless musical imagination, performed by the superb young artists of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Recorded at the Barbican Hall, and Milton Court London, on Sunday 25th February 2024. Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch."

Missy Mazzoli: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)

Missy Mazzoli: Violin Concerto (Procession)*
Elina Vähälä (violin)*
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)

Missy Mazzoli: Goodness, what powers you possess (from Breaking the Waves, 2016)
Steven van der Linden (tenor)
Violetta Suvini (violin)
Amy-Louise Johnsson (viola)
Spencer Klymyshyn (piano)

Hildegard of Bingen: (arr. Missy Mazzoli) O Frondens Virga
Rachel Roper (mezzo-soprano)
Kosta Popovic (cello)

Missy Mazzoli: A Thousand Tongues
Trio Casella:
Violetta Suvini (violin),
Gabriel Francis-Dehqani (cello)
Luke Lally-Maguire (piano)

Missy Mazzoli: These Worlds In Us

Missy Mazzoli: Orpheus Undone (UK Premiere)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)

Missy Mazzoli: Vespers for Violin
Krystof Kohout (violin)

Jessie Montgomery: Lunar Songs
Hannah McKay (soprano)
Elmore Quartet:
Xander Croft (violin)
Miles Ames (violin)
Inis Oírr Asano (viola)
Felix Hughes (cello)
Gabriel Maclel Rodrigues (double bass)

Missy Mazzoli: Harp and Altar
Elmore Quartet:
Xander Croft (violin)
Miles Ames (violin)
Inis Oírr Asano (viola)
Felix Hughes (cello)

Missy Mazzoli: His name is Jan (from Breaking the Waves, 2016)
Steven van der Linden (tenor)
Holy Brown (soprano)
Elmore Quartet:
Xander Croft (violin)
Miles Ames (violin)
Inis Oírr Asano (viola)
Felix Hughes (cello)

Missy Mazzoli: Ecstatic Science
Alex Ho (flute)
Sofia Mekhonoshina (clarinet)
Nina Tyrell (trumpet)
Violetta Suvini (violin)
Izzy Doncaster (viola)
Gabriel Francis-Dehqani (cello)
Richard Benjafield (conductor)


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wt24