Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002; 2 p.m. ET
Tim Page is the chief classical music critic for The Washington Post and the author or editor of a dozen books, including "Dawn Powell: A Biography," "The Glenn Gould Reader," "The Unknown Sigrid Undset," "William Kapell: A Documentary Life History of the American Pianist" and the forthcoming "Tim Page on Music" (to be published in September by Amadeus Press). He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1997 for his writings about music for The Post.
He has also worked as an artistic adviser (the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra), a radio host (WNYC-FM in New York), a record producer (BMG Catalyst) and, in his younger days, a rock musician and cocktail pianist. A graduate of Columbia University, he lives in Washington.
"Throughout the chaos and waste of human history, exceptional men and women have managed to create works of rich and lasting art that can truly be called classics. My beat is the world of opera, symphonic and concert music, but I am interested in good music of all kinds and cannot imagine limiting my listening to any one genre. Welcome in."
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Tim Page: Hi Folks -- sorry to be a little late today. A mixture of rain and computer problems. We'll do our best to get as many questions as possible answered.
Washington, DC:
Has there been any talk at the Post about you reviewing the upcoming release of the Reggio/Glass movie Naqoyqatsi?
What is your opinion of the 'qatsi' trilogy in general?
Tim Page: I loved "Koyaanisqatsi" -- seems to me a revolutionary film, although some of the philosophy is a little simplistic for me. But it was a brand new way to mate music and vision and it has been incredibly successful. As for "Powaqatsi," it struck me as less impressive, although it has an excellent score.
I don't review Philip Glass's work anymore, though. He is a friend of more than a quarter century and I simply feel strange writing about him.
Bethesda, Md:
Hello, first-timer here. In a review a week ago, you said that Kurt Masur had been hired by the NY Philharmonic "to clean up the shambles left by ... Zubin Mehta." Would you explain? I enjoy symphonic and choral music and would I hope recognize truly sloppy playing or out-of-tune instruments or singers, but I don't pick up the nuances that a critic does. I always enjoyed Mehta (only once in person), but perhaps that was more for showmanship than musicianship... What specifically was wrong with the NYP before Masur came along?
Tim Page: Hi. Welcome to the fray. Mehta was unhappy with the Philharmonic, and the musicians were increasingly unhappy with him. Many, perhaps most, of his later performances with the group were sloppy, expedient, and poorly played. I never realized how good a conductor Mehta could be until I heard him do the "Ring" in Chicago about 1997. I was amazed -- but he had devoted about a month to the preparation. In New York, he seemed to "fax it in" all too often. The orchestra didn't seem to take him seriously and, after a while, everything seemed demoralized.
I should add that the Philharmonic is a notoriously difficult orchestra to command.
Spain:
After reading some articles about music I think we must follow the new trends and vintage is beautiful. There are many works very interesting that we do not know well: "Deux Arabesques" by Debussy is a work it is full of musicality if you can get it, studying and analyzing its performance.
Tim Page: Thanks for the observation.
Collinsville, Alabama:
Little bit of a dilletante with classical music but I do enjoy large choral--200 voices or more--works. Had the undeserved opportunity once to sing in a rehearsal conducted by Robert Shaw.
What are your top five works of orchestra and chorus?
Tim Page: A hard question! I'm going to try to include a few works that are perfectly suited to larger groups.
Start with the Symphony No. 8 by Gustav Mahler -- it's called the "Symphony of a Thousand" but most performances get by with only 500 people or so.
The Beethoven Ninth has a famous choral finale: the same composer's "Missa Solemnis" is 90 minutes of deeply weird but magnificent choral writing. (Robert Shaw: "The first thing to remember about the 'Missa' is that it was written by a deaf pianist." Virgil Thomson: "It is too high and too loud too much of the time.")
Choose a Requiem -- Brahms, Berlioz, Verdi, Faure, and Mozart are much loved.
Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" is a sure-fire crowdpleaser -- the single most popular work of classical music, or so I am told. Loud and primal and great fun.
I'll leave the fifth choice up to the audience. Any thoughts?
Washington, DC:
Are you a fan of Steve Reich's music? Could you recommend any particular recordings for someone who isn't very familiar with his work?
Tim Page: I think Steve Reich's best music is among the most beautiful and original work of the 20th century. I'm very fond of the "Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ," which has been reissued on a DG disc. Also, the Octet; "Music for 18 Musicians" and -- if you're brave -- "Four Organs."
Denver, CO:
Would you agree that in terms of big time violinists, Eugene Fodor is pretty much washed up? His playing is nothing like it used to be, and he now records for a minor label instead of RCA. He was one of the best once.
Tim Page: I haven't heard Fodor in some time. The fact that he records for a small label doesn't necessarily say anything about the quality of his artistry -- a lot of the major labels are pretty much in disarray, and RCA in no exception. Still, he hasn't been much in evidence in the past decade or so. If any reader can help fill us in on what he's been doing, I'll do my best to post it.
Gaithersburg, MD:
Can you recommend a good recording of Copland's "Appalachain Spring"?
Tim Page: Bernstein is always good for the "folksier" side of Copland. I'm sure one of his recordings is available -- and most likely at a budget price.
Arlington:
Hi Tim, a couple of Summers ago the NSO did a series of Beethiven symphonies at Wolf Trap and I missed it; I haven't since seen the NSO or BSO scheduled to play Beethoven's 7th or 9th symphonies, which in my mind are the two fines pieces of music ever written. How would I go about finding performances by composer rather than symphony?
Tim Page: We try to keep our listings as up to date as possible. You ought to ask the NSO, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Washington Performing Arts Society to send you their literature -- it's free and you ought to be able to find some of the pieces you want to hear.
Arlington, VA:
A question about the general viability of live symphonic music. It's pretty evident that, in the early 20th c. as film and TV grew, low-culture entertainment like vaudeville and the circus took fairly mortal blows.
Today, with CDs giving such good sound quality & performances, there is a real question whether every major city needs its own orchestra. (Frankly, hearing Schubert from my wingchair with a glass of Merlot in hand is usually more comfortable than my average Kennedy Center seat!)
How much should we really lament the financial troubles of local orchestras? If community-building/education is important, there is probably some kind of fresh innovative programming-- some regular recordedperformance-cum-lecture-cum-winebar kind of Friday night events-- that would be more invigorating to the community than starting at a dull array of 80 seated musicians. THAT, I'd pay a subscription for.
Or am I just an MTV-addled neanderthal?
-L
Tim Page: It's an interesting idea -- and not at all neanderthal. Why don't people have "listening groups," the way they have "reading groups"? I don't know.
I think that the big orchestras will weather the current financial crisis. So will the ones that are purely volunteer. The ones in the middle are going to have some rough times.
Washington, D.C.:
Your articles are a highlight of my Washington Post experience. I look forward to reading about significant developments in the world of music not just in the D.C. area but around the U.S. Your recent review of the San Francisco Opera's production of Saint Francis is an excellent example of this. Where are you off to next? Really appreciate feeling plugged into such exciting programming, and suspect it keeps local producers/performers on their toes as well.
Tim Page: Thank you for the kind words. I wish I got to travel more often. I was delighted to get to go to San Francisco, as I've always wanted to hear the Messiaen opera. Right now, I have no idea where I will travel next. But I'm certainly going to make it to the Metropolitan Opera early next year when Berlioz's "Les Troyens" -- one of my two or three favorite operas of all time -- will be staged in a new production.
Washington, D.C.:
Addendum to previous question: Will you be covering the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C. this spring? I have attended it several times in past years and believe it offers a wonderful opportunity for sampling the best in American musical performance.
Tim Page: Spoleto is terrific. We were on a very tight budget this year and so I wasn't able to go. I suspect I'll get to go next summer -- I hope so.
Arlington, Va.:
What exactly did your role as artistic adviser to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra entail? How can one break into a career in artistic administration?
Tim Page: I had a hard time in St. Louis. Theoretically, I was supposed to envision programs, engage artists, support new composers, expand the programming into non-traditional venues and so on. As it happened, there was little money -- and even less corporate enthusiasm -- for such efforts. As fond as I was of Hans Vonk, and as much as I admired his musicianship, we were from two different worlds, and I felt it necessary to defer to his authority.
It was a learning experience, believe me!
As for careers in arts administration, there are a number of organizations that prepare people for such endeavors.
Takoma Park, MD:
For Reich, don't forget Drumming and Tehilim, the first if you're VERY brave and the second if you like religious choral stuff.
And the fifth choral work? St. Matthew Passion (Bach, not the Telemann one) of course.
Tim Page: Of course! Or the Mass in B Minor. Sorry -- when I'm typing this fast, I tend to forget the obvious.
DC:
Britten's War Requiem (Latin and English texts)works with larger forces; especially in Cathedral settings.
Tim Page: Another good choice...although for me not on the level of the other pieces.
Silver Spring, MD:
Hi, I was hoping you could post a link to your story about the 25 classical music pieces for beginners? thanks
Tim Page: Hello, master control...can this be done???
Boston, MA:
I recently had a chance to hear excerpts of your interviews with Glenn Gould (on American Airlines in-flight radio of all places.) But I still wonder: do you prefer Gould's first recording of the Goldberg Variations or his later one? And why?
Tim Page: They are both great recordings -- the 1955 version for its fleet, strutting exuberance; the 1981 version for its muted, austere wisdom. Fortunately, now you can buy them both -- and at such a low price.
Washington D.C.:
Chromatic modern music has not succeeded in capturing a wide audience or critical acclaim (as you note in comments about Elliot Carter), even among audiences who pay $100+ for Richard Strauss. Now consider for a moment white note modern music. Why have pieces such as Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles and In Memoriam Dylan Thomas failed to catch on?
Tim Page: Both of those pieces, particularly the latter one, are pretty hard sells -- and hardly "white note," at least on any scale I know. I'm very fond of the "Requiem Canticles" -- and of the "Canticum Sacrum," with its wonderful sense of space. But I continue to fear that this will always be music for the few, rather than for the many. That doesn't make it "bad" of course -- quite the contrary -- but I think it will always be a little special.
Washington DC:
Mr. Page,
Good day. I want to thank you for recommending Rautavaara's Canticus Arcticus in the Post a few months ago when the NSO played the piece. After hearing his Violin Concerto last season and with the premiere of the Clarinet Concerto this weekend, I've taken a great interest in Rautavaara's music. Do you recommend any other Finnish
composers (other than of course Sibelius)? And why the sudden
programming of Rautavaara from the NSO after neglecting him for so long?
Tim Page: Finland is awash in splendid music-making right now. Check out the works of Aulis Sallinen, Kalevi Aho, the late Joonas Kokkonen and, from a younger generation, Kaija Saariaho (I hope I'm spelling that right) and Magnus Lindberg. Even Esa-Pekka Salonen, director of the L.A. Philharmonic, is an accomplished composer. Amazing country -- amazing people.
Washington D.C.:
Twenty years ago there was a NY Times Magazine cover article about the broken alliance between the symphony conductor and composer. The article, as I recall, went on to note that there were no present day partnerships such as the earlier pairings of Bartok-Reiner or Koussevitzky--Copland/Stravinksy/etc], unfair comparisons perhaps but the point is that no one was nurturing such relationships. Is the situation today better, or worse than in 1982?
Tim Page: Wow -- can you imagine the New York Times Sunday Magazine putting anything so esoteric on its cover nowadays?
I think that things are probably a little better than they were 20 years ago. Leonard Slatkin has championed a number of composers (John Corigliano is probably the best of them) as has Kurt Masur. Say what you will about Daniel Barenboim -- he has shown a continuing interest in the works of Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez (although I wish he had paid more attention to Ralph Shapey.) Michael Tilson Thomas has done much for West Coast composers.
A lot of the best composers are either writing for chamber ensembles (often their OWN chamber ensembles) or for electronics. It's a different world.
The St. Louis Symphony will be playing music by Virginia's own Michael Hersch in a couple of weeks. Pittsburgh has also shown considerable interest in his music -- and now that Janssons has left, he will probably carry on the tradition elsewhere.
Big Time Violinists:
Who needs 'em? The best playing these days often comes from less jaded professionals who are stepping UP for a big chance, not jetting routinely around the world.
The best surprise I ever had on a CD was Dubravska Thomasevich (maybe spelled wrong), a totally unheralded pianist on various cheap labels who just knocked me out. I had no idea who was playing the magnificent, felicitous insightful stuff I was hearing on the CD. What a treat!
Tim Page: I think it is Dubrovksa Tomsic -- and she is wonderful. Correct my spelling if I'm wrong.
(I'm sorry but I don't have my reference books in front of me today -- as you must be able to tell.)
Washington:
Comment: If you join WPAS, you now get invited to members-only pre-symphony concert lectures throughout the season.
Tim Page: Thanks for the tip.
Washington, D.C.:
Do you know whether there are any plans for the Kennedy Center and PBS to record and delay-televise -- for a wider audience and for posterity -- Kiri Te Kanawa's Washington Opera performance of Barber's Vanessa ? It would seem to me to be the type of opera more in need of filming and distributing than Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. (Didn't the Washington Opera or the Dallas Opera broadcast Argento's The Aspern Papers?)
Tim Page: It would be a great idea. Such telecasts cost a fortune, however -- and I don't think anything is in the works.
Tim Page: I should mention that "Koyaanisqatsi" and "Powaqatsi" are now out on DVD and look fabulous. I'm looking forward to the opening of the new film.
Chevy Chase, Md.:
I'm really excited about the Rautavara's premiere this weekend. What should we expect from this great composer?
Tim Page: The wonderful thing about Rautavaara is that he surprises you every time you hear a new piece. That's one mark of originality.
Well, we seem to be out of questions, and so I'll wish you all a very pleasant two weeks until we speak again. Do try to make it to the NSO and the Finnish evening -- it promises to be one of the season's intellectual highlights.
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