Klarinet Archive - Posting 000040.txt from 1995/12

From: Helen Emerson <helen.emerson@-----.NZ>
Subj: Re: Remarkable musical event
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 17:43:33 -0500

On Dec 2 Dan wrote:

[snip]
>Now any premiere of a work by Harbison is worth nothing because I believe
>him to be a composer of considerable substance but this issue is really
>unrelated to him. The premiere will be done simultaneously by 43
>saxophonists in 43 locations in the United States as well as 9 saxophonists
>in 9 locations outside of the United States including the Netherlands,
>France, Switzerland, Cyprus, and Singapore.
>
>The object of the exercize is this: normally a work is premiered and
>then its success is left to chance. Most don't make it because of
>lack of exposure or any of a dozen different reasons. The bottom line
>is that it is difficult to get even a major work performed once.
[snip]

This is not actually a new idea; Pietro Mascagni tried doing the same thing in
Italy with his opera "Le Maschere" in 1901.
" . . . the curious experiment was made of having the first night occur
simultaneously in six Italian cities. It was a failure in all, save Rome, where
it survived for a short time."
[Gustave Kobbe, Complete Opera Book]
This is not a reflection on the experiment however, but rather an indication of
Mascagni's success with opera! "Cavalleria Rusticana" was the only opera of his
to enjoy any real degree of success.

I think it's a great idea and I hope the Harbison work has more success!

Helen

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Helen Emerson *
* Department of Music *
* University of Otago *
* New Zealand *
* helen.emerson@-----.nz *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *