The Well-Tempered Ear
Will the public pay for online virtual concerts? Will you? Consider the fate of newspapers
4 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
More and more local classical musicians and music presenters are moving concerts and music-making to virtual online events, at least for the fall and early winter – and quite possibly for the rest of the season. (Below is Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater.)
And although we are still waiting for details, it seems all but certain that many of them will be pay-per-view and require tickets.
True, the move from free streaming to pay-for-view might be very useful in helping performers earn a much-needed living.
But it could also be disastrous – or at least extremely disruptive and disappointing.
Anthony Tommasini (below), the senior music critic for The New York Times, recently wrote a long story defending the move from being free to becoming paid for both livestreams and pre-recorded music concerts.
Tommasini — whose profession demands that he follow wherever the music goes — thinks it will, or should, work.
Here is a link to his story that includes concerts at The Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere with international stars such as soprano Renée Fleming (beow top) and pianist Daniil Trifonov (below bottom).
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/arts/music/classical-music-livestream.html
But The Ear isn’t so sure.
For one thing, many listeners might find alternatives. They might like watching outstanding performances of the same works by great and even historical performers on YouTube for free.
They might like exploring their own collections of recordings, or listening to the radio and watching TV, or even making more music as amateurs.
The Ear also suspects that now that the habit of going to live concerts has been interrupted, many people will simply find that they miss going to live performances much less than they thought they would – or than various arts groups hoped they would. (Below is the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in a photo by Mike Gorski.)
In addition, even since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown last March, listeners have become used to the free events that many organizations offered if only to keep a presence in the public’s mind.
The strategy was understandable and made sense at the time.
But The Ear thinks of what happened with newspapers.
In the early days of the internet, newspapers offered online stories for free, as a kind of extra attraction or added benefit to secure subscribers.
But as the newspapers lost both advertisers and subscribers and tried to “monetize” their online editions, they found that the horse was already out of the barn.
Many viewers did indeed subscribe to digital editions, but many others abandoned newspapers and instead turned to free online media for their news.
So what will happen in cases less prestigious than what Tommasini describes?
What do you think?
Will local pay-per-view concerts, perhaps with bigger volume if lower individual ticket prices, be successful?
Will you pay to “attend” such virtual online events?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AnthonyTommasini, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalRecording, #COVID-19, #DaniilTrifonov, #DigitalMedia, #EdgewoodCollege, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockinger, #LiveStreaming, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #Music-Making, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #RenéeFleming, #ShannonHall, #shelter-at-home, #SopranoSinger, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TicketPrice, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, abandon, added, advertiser, alternative, Anthony Tommasini, Arts, attraction, audience, barn, be, benefit, bigger, blog, case, CDs, certain, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, collection, composer, Concert, Daniil Trifonov, days, defend, demand, describe, details, digital, early, Early music, Edgewood College, edition, explore, extra, Facebook, fall, free, go, great, habit, happen, hear, help, historical, horse, individual, Internet, interrupt, Jacob Stockinger, job, kiving, like, link, listener, livelihood, livestream, living, local, lockdown, lower, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, media, Metropolitan Opera, mind, monetize, move, Music, music critic, New Music, New York City, news, newspapers, offer, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, organization, outstanding, Overture Center, own, paid, pay-per-view, performances, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, pre-recorded, presenter, prestigious, price, profession, public, radi, Radio, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, require, rest, Season, secure, senior, Shannon Hall, share, singer, soprano, star, stars, stories, story, subscriber, successful, symphony, tag, The Ear, the Met, The New York Times, theor, think, ticket price, tickets, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, useful, UW-Madison, virtual, vocal music, volume, waiting, want, watch, what, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, WORT-FM 89.9, you, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Today is the Winter Solstice. Here is a piece to make you look forward to longer days, warmth and the Summer Solstice next year
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today – Monday, Dec. 21 — is the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It arrives at 4:02 a.m. CST.
The Ear expects that Wisconsin Public Radio, among other media outlets, will be marking the event with traditional, often austere, winter music. That includes “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”; maybe some songs from Schubert’s “Winterreise” (Winter Journey); Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” and “The Nutcracker”; and, of course, plenty of winter holiday music, including carols and the Baroque oratorios, cantatas and concertos by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Corelli and others.
But many people – strained by the coronavirus pandemic –are already eagerly looking forward to the days growing longer, which will culminate in the Summer Solstice at 10:31 p.m. CST on Sunday, June 21, 2021.
Who needs to celebrate the season’s cold and darkness? So The Ear thought that we could all use a little sonic sunlight, tonal warmth and musical hope, especially at the end of this Plague Year.
There are standards and favorites such as Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and Vivaldi’s “Summer.”
But to The Ear that work that really lifts one’s spirits, and captures the kind of joyful abandon and youthful energy of the mid-summer event, complete with animal noises and romance, is the “Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream” by a 17-year-old Felix Mendelssohn (below).
You can hear it below in a YouTube performance by the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig conducted by the late, great German conductor Kurt Masur, whose son, Ken-David Masur, is the new music director and conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
The Ear hopes you enjoy it.
What music would you like to hear or play to mark the Winter Solstice?
Leave a suggestion with your reason and, if possible, YouTube link in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #ALittleNightMusic, #AMIdsummerNight'sDream, #AntonioVivaldi, #ArcangeloCorelli, #BachCantatas, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristmasConcerto, #ChristmasMusic, #ChristmasOratorio, #ClassicalMusician, #CoronavirusPandemic, #DanielHope, #EineKleineNachtmusik, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzSchubert, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GewandhausOrchestra, #Handel'sMessiah, #HolidayMusic, #JacobStockinger, #Ken-DavidMasur, #KurtMasur, #LeipzigGermany, #MessiahOratorio, #MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicDirector, #NorthernHemisphere, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PeterTchaikovsky, #PlagueYear, #StringMusic, #SummerSolstice, #TheEar, #TheFourSeasons, #TheSeasons, #TraditionalMusic, #VocalMusic, #WilliamShakespeare, #WinterJourney, #WinterSolstice, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, A Little Night Music, A Midsummer Night's Dream, abandon, animal, Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli, arrive, Arts, audience, austere, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, blog, Cantata, capture, Carol, celebrate, Central Time, Chamber music, choral music, Christmas Concerto, Christmas music, Christmas Oratorio, Classical music, classicalmusic, cold, comedy, comment, composer, concerto, conductor, Corelli, coronavirus, culminate, darkness, day, December, Early music, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, energy, enjoy, event, expect, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, favorite, Felix Mendelssohn, forward, Franz Schubert, Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frederic Handel, German, Germany, great, Handel, heavy lifting, hemisphere, holiday music, hope, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, joyful, June, Ken-David Masur, Kurt Masur, late, Leipzig, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, like, link, longer, Madison, mark, media, Mendelssohn, Messiah, midsummer, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Monday, Mozart, MSO, Music, Music director, musical, night, noises, Northern Hemisphere, oratorio, Orchestra, outlet, Overture, pandemic, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Peter Tchaikovsky, plague, Plague Year, play, post, posting, Radio, reader, Romance, Schubert, Season, Shakespeare, share, short, shorter, solstice, songs, sonic, spirit, standard, strain, string music, subscriber, summer, Summer solstice, Sunday, sunlight, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, teenager, Telemann, The Ear, The Four Seasons, The Seasons, today, tonal, traditional, United States, use, Vivaldi, vocal music, warmth, we, winter, Winter Journey, winter solstice, Winterreise, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, year, youthful, YouTube