 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: msloss
Date: 2005-11-04 12:31
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/nyregion/04radio.html
I would be interested in JJM's read on this, but it looks like the AFM played right into Cablevision's hand. With no contract since May, the walkout gave Cablevision the opportunity to put the show on with tape, and has demonstrated that the largely unsophisticated show-going public doesn't care. Now they've taken the upper hand by sustaining a lockout even though the musicians tried to come back to work. Every day each show is sold out and RCMH is filled to hear a tape is another reason why Cablevision doesn't have to move toward reconcilliation.
How did this come to pass without the support of AGVA and Equity, or even IBEW? There is a lot of labor crossing the line to put those shows on. Solidarity except where Santa Claus is concerned?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2005-11-04 16:54
Yes, where I heard about this I wonder what the position of the other involved unions is.
Also, I have a different question. Do people usually buy tickets for this show way ahead of time or is this the time? In other words, are there a number of folks out there who bought tickets thinking there would be live music? Whether or not many tickets have already been sold, is this an angle that might be a source of action for those who care about the livelyhood of the musicians?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JessKateDD
Date: 2005-11-04 17:51
Interesting story. I couldn't help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George quits his job, calls his boss some names on his way out, then becomes remorseful of quitting when he realizes his job prospects are bleak. So the next Monday, he shows up for work and tries to convince everyone he was just kidding when he quit.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: larryb
Date: 2005-11-04 19:39
I hate to say this, but the RCMH xmas show is one of the most tired, boring pieces of crap I've ever seen. The people who attend it (and enjoy it) wouldn't know the difference between a live orchestra and a glass harmonica. Why should they care about recorded music? As long as they don't care about quality and continue to shell out the money, the musicians are lost.
The problem is all about the general lack of music education and appreciation starting in elementary school. Forget about turning out great musicians at the conservatory level - the real need is for audience: people who know how to hear music.
Cablevision has developed a winning formula - it's the same con game they play with the Knicks across town (every game has been "sold out" for years; team sucks)
I feel sorry for the muscians - they're clearly going to miss that sweet $40,000 eight week gig.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: allencole
Date: 2005-11-05 06:02
LarryB, you hit the nail on the head. No amount of union solidarity is going to save us from waning audiences in music, theatre and dance. We need to reach out more to folks who aren't exposed to it.
Allen Cole
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2005-11-05 14:43
I, too, think LarryB has articulated something important vis-a-vis audiences for classical (or any live?) music.
Let your mind wander back to what you know of the status quo of music-making , say, 50 or 100 years ago (some of us actually CAN remember back 50 years -- probably not 100, even if you're Don B ![[whoa]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie10.gif) ).
Before iPods, before CDs, before 24-hour radio, before home-entertainment systems -- before the sounds of music became ubiquitous in our daily lives -- if you wanted to hear something, or hear it without distortion, you had to go where the music was being made. It was a special event.
Now? Music is the wallpaper of our daily lives. We get listener fatigue, from being bombarded at every turn with the various sorts of recorded or electronically transmitted performances. The opportunity to listen to music is not a special event any longer. In fact, the opportunity to NOT hear music might actually be more unusual.
Is it possible that recording technology, in all its manifestations, has rendered live performance obsolete?
O tempora! O mores!
Susan
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: msloss
Date: 2005-11-05 14:45
This isn't a case of a waning audience, though. Dubious artistic value or not, the RC Xmas show is one of the hardest tickets in town to get. My original point is that the sponsors know the audience is unsophisticated in large part and doesn't care about tape vs. live as long as the Rockettes are real. We have to do more and better outreach not to get more people, because nearly everyone listens to music of some sort already, but to educate them about the experience and value of live music. Not exactly a new problem. I'm sure theatre organ players went through the same thing with the advent of pre-recorded sound tracks for movies.
The decline of the fine arts in public schools for the last 30 years has finally come to full flower. Pittsburgh Ballet, RC Music Hall, Tulsa Phil, MP3s -- there are plenty of great musicians and lots of live music but nobody cares because nobody knows any better.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
