Maybe It's Time To Declare A Moratorium On Performing The Beethoven Symphonies
The New York Philharmonic willl be playing a a cycle of the nine Beethoven symphonies later this season under the distinguished Americna conductor David Zinman , and I see that there's another one about to take place in London . So what ese is new ? How many Beethoven festivals can orchestras play ? It's Beethoven, Beerthoven, all you can eat Beethoven at concerts around the world .
Of course, the New York cycle will be somewhat different in that the performances will be using newly corrected scores by a team of musicogists , follow the original swift metronome markings, and make use of period instrument performance practice . But the Philharmonic has played Beethoven festivals under previous music directors Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel in recent years . How many Beethoven festivals do we need ?
Especially when there are so many wonderful symphonies by other composers which you have little chance of ever hearing live but which can easily be heard on CD . Fortunately, there is an amazingly diverse array of obscure but worthwhile music on CD. How about a cycle of all none symphonies by Antonin Dvorak ? Only the last three are played with any frequency, which is unfortunate, since the first six are splendid works . The world-famous "New World Symphony, Dvorak's ninth and last, is a great work, but has been played to death .
The centennial of Dvorak's death occurred in 2004 , but unless I am mistaken, no orchestra I know of performed a series of all nine, although this may have happened in the Czech republic . What a missed opportunity ! Why don't orchestras perform the symphonies of other composers, such as Franz Berwald of Sweden , Russian composer ssuch as Nikolai Myaskovsky, Sergei Taneyev, Vassily Kallinikov, Mily Balakirev , Frenchmen Albert Roussel, Alberic Magnard , Paul Dukas , Englishmen Arnold Bax, Havergal Brian, and Arthur Bliss , and other composers such as Max Bruch , Zdenek Fibich, George Whitefield Chadwick , Rued Langgaard of Denmark , or so many other composers who are unjustly neglected ?
As I've popinted out before , it's largely the fault of conservative audiences who know what they like and like what they know, and don't want to take a chance at hearing something out of the usual ,for fear that it might be something horribly modern . None of the composers I just mentioned wrote music which could be called "horrible" by any stretch of the imagination . People might love their works if they just gave them a chance !
I suppose there's zero chance of a moratorium on performances of the Beethoven symphonies happening , but it might be a good thing . Of course, this is nothing against these great works , which are famous and beloved for a good reason . But we need a change from the same old same old .
Fortunatley, there are encouraging signs of conductors who think outside the box . Havergal Brian's gargantuan masterpiece "The Gothic Symphony" was performed in London this Summer, and a recording has been issued on the Hyperion label . The Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski recently conducted a symphony by the once obscure Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) in London with his orchestra, the London Philharmonic , and New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert is interested in off-beat repertoire . The eminent Estonian conductor Neeme Jarvi has made a career out of performing and recording all manner of interesting rarities , and has put classical music fans and CD collectors all over the world in his debt . Myaskovsky's music , which includes no fewer than 27 symphonies, is finally starting to gain some recognition ,mostly through recordings. He was highly respected in the former Soviet Union, but his music never achieved the recognition it deserves internationally.
Give the underdog composers a chance, please ! Nothing against the immortal Ludwig Van.