Money concerns force DSO to drop concert
Britten's 'Requiem' 'very expensive'
One of the headliner concerts promised for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's 2007-08 season is being scratched. Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, which was to have been performed under principal guest conductor Claus Peter Flor, will be replaced by another program because of money concerns.
"We were reviewing the budget for next year, and we determined the need to make a few programming adjustments," says Fred Bronstein, president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Association. "It's a very expensive piece to produce, and we just determined it would be prudent to postpone it."
You know, I understand that the War Requiem is an expensive piece to perform. It requires a full orchestra, a chamber orchestra, a full chorus, a boys' choir and soloists, and it's still a rental piece. It's modern and difficult and probably not a huge audience draw, although every time I've seen it performed, it has been to a full house.
However, in a time of war, when the message of Benjamin Britten and Wilfred Owen is as relevant as ever before, and particularly in a community as conservative as Dallas, in which support for the president's increasingly unpopular and idiotic war remains inconceivably high, it is, in my opinion, impossible to cancel a performance of this piece without covering yourself in the stink of artistic cowardice.
I mean, the War Requiem didn't get more expensive to perform in the time since it was programmed by the DSO. But the statement that it stood to make about the futility and pity of war? That just becomes more relevant and desperate (and controversial, at least in this town) by the day. The War Requiem is a vastly important work, one that an audience has much to learn from. It represents the very best of what a contemporary symphony orchestra should be trying to accomplish, bringing music of the highest quality and most significant social relevance to a community. Canceling a performance like this one, even for financial reasons (or perhaps especially so) doesn't just disrespect the veterans who have faced these issues in a slightly more harrowing setting than a cushy concert hall. It disrespects art.
Because I have become a grouchy old man, I sent an email saying as much to the DSO back in May. After getting a response from an anonymous Patron Services Center representative (a response that felt like a canned response, which I found to be a hopeful sign since it suggests I'm not the only person who responded negatively), I sent the following, which pretty accurately represents my current thinking about the issue and the responsibility of artists in troubled times.
I did not receive a response. I did not require one.
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Subject: War Requiem
From: robert@schuylersmonster.com
Date: May 21, 2007
To: customerservice@dalsym.com
I understand the financial difficulties of putting together a performance like that. But it is also unfortunate and frankly suspect timing that this piece should find itself on the block in the midst of a controversial and politically charged time of war. Britten's piece is divorced of politics, addressing instead the undeniable horror, futility and suffering of war, topics that go beyond politics and patriotism and force the listener, no matter what their partisan beliefs, to look deeper. Regardless of the financial reasons for doing so, canceling your performance of this piece in particular sends a strong message, and not a positive one.
Music matters. The artistic choices that an orchestra makes send a message to a community. If this is a matter of purely financial concern, then I and a great many other will be watching your choice of replacement repertoire with great interest. I wish you the best of luck in maintaining your organization's artistic integrity as you make that choice.
Robert Rummel-Hudson
Plano, TX
9 comments:
You hit the nail on the head. I'm glad you expressed your opinion.
Perhaps those who want this music played should ask how much money they need to raise to remove the perceived financial risk, rather than just complaining because the symphony chooses not risk losing money on a performance.
Does "music matter" enough to spend your own money on it, or does it just matter enough to get pissy because it doesn't matter enough for somebody else to spend their money on it?
I didn't see anything in the blog to indicate whether or not Rob gives financially to the DSO, so I'm curious how someone has leapt to the conclusion that Rob is "just complaining."
Whenever you write complaint letters do you ever feel the urge to add ps. I have a pretty popular blog I hope you know!
Not that I've ever... you know, had that urge. I'm asking for a friend.
My husband works for a large symphony orchestra. They are perpetually flirting with bankruptcy, just like practically every symphony in the country save LA, Boston, and NY.
Perhaps it doesn't cost more to perform the War Requiem since the DSO programmed it (although for all we know, it might), but their financial situation may have changed considerably. The thing that surprises me is that they were pragmatic enough to make the change. Symphonies, being dominated by people who are all about the arts without considering how to keep a business alive to nurture those arts, are woefully blind to financial realities, often plowing ahead with whatever is "artistic" without caring what people will pay to hear (and with their financial departments trailing behind, wailing in protest). Your heart may applaud that, but your head should not, since the city stands to lose its symphony from that kind of hubris.
Hearing about the other side of the story day in and day out, I say congratulations to the DSO on having the wisdom to make that call, at least once in a blue moon. The people who are upset by it should, instead of vilifying the organization, remember that feeling when it comes time to donate money to a cause and donate generously to the DSO. At least with our local symphony, it costs something like $80k per day just to keep the doors open.
Woah, anonymous. I would not have guessed that it cost that much to operate. Wow.
I'm sorry, but I've performed and worked with enough orchestras over the years to have a pretty good idea of where their expenses lay, and it's hardly in score rental or paying extra musicians union scale.
If finances really were the reason for this cancellation (and of course I don't personally believe they were), then it is a tremendously pound-foolish decision. An orchestra that thinks it's going to save significant money by sticking with the tired old scores that it has sitting around in its library is a living museum piece waiting for obsolescence. If you pander to the older, more conservative members of your listening audience, you'll find, as many failing orchestras and opera companies are learning the hard way, that your core audience is dying off, and your Mostly Mozart, middle of the road ensemble with them.
Look at the areas of the country like Los Angeles with solvent musical organizations, look at their programming, and tell me if you think they are thriving by playing it safe.
Oh, I don't think it has anything to do with playing it safe or not playing it safe. I think it has everything to do with whether rich people in a particular city want to pay big bucks to support classical music. Simple as that. LA had a lush infusion of cash and a new hall that totally changed their outlook, and now they can do anything they want.
I agree, the core audience for classical music is dying off...but many of the "daring" things that are programmed for the sophisticated ear don't bring a lot of new young folks to the fold either. It's things like getting Clay Aiken to play with the orchestra that break even, which I don't think advances the organization's mission (as they see it) that greatly.
Incidentally, I believe for our local symphony, the major expense is the musicians' salaries, by far...and since you can't save on them at all, there aren't many places left to cut. During one of the leaner times where my husband works, they had to stop ordering office supplies in order to meet payroll. The symphony industry is a mess.
All arts are a mess, and it is because of what anon said. Artist types tend to be very liberal, very economically-challenged, and at the same time think they are smarter than everyone else. For example, not conceiving why there is so much support for the war despite living in Bush country. If you cannot figure that out without just saying "everyone else but me and my friends are stupid", you will never get those people to agree with you or buy your tickets.
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