'Creating New Score for a Pioneering Woman's Century-Old Silent Films'

from New York Times


There are lots of nice and memorable movie sound tracks such as Mission, Star Wars, Love Story, Cinema Paradiso, Dr.Zhivago and Godfather. Considering how the music could be loved by most people, I think that music also change as the world does. In the past, to entertain people, the resource was going to concerts. There were no mp3, tv show, movie, or CD players. Going to concerts would be a great way to enjoy music, but nowadays there are various methods to do it.

I got an interesting new for it because music for silent film would be made by 4 young woman composers. There approach to how to make it is little bit different (actually more than this to me) from classical music, but I think modern music has been always like this. Now it feels modern, but would do classical in the further future.

The brief news is like this;

The 4 composers make suitable music for copies of the Alice Guy Blache Film score which is made by the French Gaumont company or Solax by Alice Guy Blache own studio.

Tender Forever, Du Yun, Missy Mazzoli and Tamar Muskal are the 4 young woman composers. Music has a important role in the regular movie, but in the silent movie music would be a great part of the movie.

The Performer's Paradox

In our reading for this week, Cook quotes both Mozart and Beethoven in regards to their view on notating their compositions. Both methods were remarkably similar, in that they would hear the composition in full in their head, manipulate and adjust, and then begin physically writing it down on paper. The experimentation happened mostly before taking the pen to the paper.

He also discusses the limitations on musical notation. As an assignment for a class I am in with Dr. Evans (Analysis Toward Performance), I had to transcribe a sentence into musical notation, while paying particular attention to rhythms and speech contours. I found it quite difficult to find an accurate way to capture the rhythm of my actual speech. We don't think about note patterns or durations or whether or not we speak in triplets when we are having a conversation or reading aloud. I feel like this is how creating music is for some composers, at least to start. I am no composer, and would even go so far as to say I have an aversion to attempting to write music form scratch. I think part of that has to do with the challenge of writing it down.

It is interesting to think about the composer vs the performer. A composer has to deal with the charge of writing their pieces out and differentiating between a quarter or an eight note... trying to find the exact notation to document their ideas. While we as performers are challenged with interpreting the language on the page, trying to get into the composers mind, and get the music into out own head. The music takes the path out of one's brain, to a paper, from the paper, and into another's brain. I had never really thought about music in that direct way.

Does this mean singer/songwriters have an advantage? Do composers who perform their own music trump those who don't have to overcome that boundary of notation? What does it mean if you love to perform the music of others, but never want to come up with your own?

Shi-Yeon Sung saves the day

James Levine found himself incapable of conducting last nights Boston Symphony Orchestra concert featuring Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s Requiem. Shi-Yeon Sung, (his assistant conductor) had to step in for him at the last minute, as Levine will have to undergo immediate back surgery, and will be out of commission until early December. A link to the article in the New York Times can be seen here Back Surgery.

This new health issue forming on top of all of the other health problems he has had recently (most notably a cancerous kidney had to be removed, he tore his rotator cuff and had some ongoing hand tremors) are cause for concern. He holds two high profile conducting positions and is the highest paid conductor in the United States, earning over $3 million a year - replacing him would be no easy feat.

Back to the main point here though, stepping in at the last minute like Shi-Yeon Sung did could be a defining moment in her conducting career. Leonard Bernstein did a similar thing while he was the assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic by stepping in for Bruno Walther at the last minute, making headlines around the world, and truly establishing himself as a respectable conductor.

This is not the first time Shi-Yeon Sung has stepped in for Levine, though. Back in 2008 when he was having his kidney operation, she stepped in then too. This, of course, is her job, but maybe if she does well enough in the coming weeks, she too will get the worlds attention.

I expect more articles such as this will be surfacing in the days to come.

Goings On

While perusing "The Rest is Noise" blog by Alex Ross, I came across a link to his review of "Tosca" entitled "Fiasco" in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2009/10/05/091005crmu_music_ross?currentPage=all

Though his review has not been discussed here yet, the contents of his review follow the same opinions expressed by Opera Chic in Lindsey's post, "To boo or not to boo?". Mr. Ross backs up his title choice by using the audience's reaction of adamant booing: "By the end of opening night, Gelb had on his hands a full-blown fiasco, with boos resounding from the orchestra seats, the upper galleries, and even the plaza outside, where people had watched on a screen for free."

I would like to also direct attention to the blogs the New Yorker publishes:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/index/blogs

The blogs encompass topics from politics to pop music. The two that I believe to be particularly relevant to our discussions here are "Goings On: Cultural happenings in New York and elsewhere, both online and off" and a subset category of "Goings On" entitled "Classical Music".

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/goingson/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/goingson/classical-music/

The New Yorker also publishes an excellent Blogroll where you can find blogs on music from New York to London and if you explore these links long enough, topics that range from current musical events to marketing the performing arts.

NY Music: http://www.feastofmusic.com/
Marketing performing arts: http://www.artsjournal.com/lifesapitch/

Blog Deficiency

I have never been one to seek out a blog before. The only real experience I have had with it up until this point was reading my friends blogs about their adventures in weight loss, about their lives and relationships, or about their children. Ive occasionally glanced over some cooking blogs or what have you in search of specific information, but all in all, im no blog expert.

I did find a blog that I think could be worth sharing. I include the disclaimer that I have not gone much beyond the surface with this yet, but I have a feeling I will enjoy this blog. It is a blog by the composer Eric Whitacre, whom I greatly enjoy. I was introduced to him by a friend who enjoyed his orchestral pieces, and actually ended up singing some of his choral works a few years ago. He is active on Facebook and Myspace, and does as much as he can to keep his fans informed and involved.

His choral piece Sleep is probably one of my all-time favorite pieces. The build at the end gives me goosebumps every time! I found a youtube clip from one of his CDs.

So check out his blog. I know I plan to.

To boo or not to boo?

After reading the article posted several days ago (below, titled "On Booing," seen here Booing) I consulted a few others, but most notably the article from Opera Chic, a pretty good blog I found that mostly deals with opera reviews and related information. Her review of the same performance of "Tosca" that we commented on in class last week was quite similar to the New York Times article in that it detailed the lackluster reception by the audience, and noted the large amount of booing that ensued at the end of the performance. It can be viewed here killing-me-softly-with-a-knife . Opera Chic also describes how uninspiring James Levine was in his role as music director, and how many of the tempo choices were too slow or inappropriate in one way or another. Though his direction was faulty, the musicians were still just as talented, and played just as well as should be expected.

I was inspired to look into this particular subject of audience reception by our discussion last week about whether it is okay to show that a performance was disappointing by booing. I am of the opinion that the performance has to be pretty bad in order for someone to boo at the performers, and personally feel that it is disrespectful, especially when it is coming from musicians like ourselves, who know how good the musicians are that we are booing. If it was the directing that was bad, boo at that group of people, not the musicians (unless they too played poorly, but that's a whole other story...)

The fact is that the interpretation of the opera was not what people expected, so they booed at it. But really, that doesn't mean that the performance was lousy, or that the performers in the orchestra played any less profoundly - it simply means the audience wasn't ready for that change in interpretation and that is not the musician's fault, (in this case it was Luc Bondy's fault, as he staged this "new" version of an old favorite, if anyone should be booed it should be him). The musicians should be praised for a performance they played with exquisite quality, and the audience should be respectful enough to realize that and boo at the people who deserve it, not the ones who don't.

A few different sources and stories

Here is a website I found that has links to tons of different music blogs: Top 50 Classical Blogs. You can browse to your hearts desire and find one that fits your viewing pleasure the most. I spent some time looking at Sequenza21 and enjoyed the information it had on there. It has more current news on it rather than the author's personal opinions. But it's a wide variety of information and I found it entertaining.

But there are some articles from the online version of the magazine Muso that I wanted to bring up because they sort of deal with some of the posts that have been made this week. The three articles that I read are at the following links:
http://www.musolife.com/beer-and-brass-at-liverpool-phil.html
http://www.musolife.com/south-west-camerata-mix-vivaldi-prokovfiev.html
http://www.musolife.com/the-american-contemporary-music-ensemble-announces-two-genre-hopping-new-october-concerts.html

I find myself wondering every now and again what would be a good way to bring classical music to the masses without completely abandoning the actual music. There are tons of people out there who play violin or some other traditional classical instrument but they play rock, ska, etc. rather than classical music. I think that helps expose people to the world a little bit but not very much because we cannot rely on them to take initiative to then go and listen to a classical piece played by that instrument. Concerts like the first one in the third link are a good mix of the two. You have a musician/composer who is well known in the pop world showcasing her classical compositions. I believe that this is a step in the right direction in terms of getting the masses more involved in the classical world through these crossover musicians.

All three stories seem to use good ideas to create a blend between the classical world and the other.

RE: No Passport Required: Around the World With Five Compositions

In the New York Times from today, September 28th, the article titled, "No Passport Required: Around the World With Five Compositions," caught my eye. This article reviews the first concert of the season by the New Julliard Ensemble, referred to as, "one of the best and most interesting of the Juilliard School’s student groups." I found this opening sentence of the article quite intriguing in itself, for it captivates the reader into an interest for new music. New music is often viewed as less accessible, or pleasant to listen to by the general audience/public attending classical music events. But, by opening an article in the NYT with this praise for the group, it hopefully serves to grab a reader's attention and thus encourage them to become a future audience member at New Julliard Ensemble events. 

The mission of the music director, Joel Sachs, to give the ensemble experience playing music from all over "the planet," is fascinating to me. I can imagine that as a music director, especially of a more standard era ensemble, and not just new music, would find this goal a challenge. It is far easier to stick to compositions from certain parts of the globe - western europe, etc. Sachs' goal is impressive, not only in it's potential listening variety for the audience, but also in giving the musicians a wide range of experience with varied kinds of musical compositions. 

I especially enjoyed reading about Chris Gendall's piece, "Rudiments," because Chris was a friend and TA of mine at my undergraduate school, Cornell University. I attended many new music performances at Cornell, as the composition department is rich and varied. Thus, it was interesting to read this writer's review of Gendall's work in comparison to my interpretations of his work a few years ago, when we were both at Cornell. 

I enjoyed reading this review and it made me hopeful for the future of new classical music, as this writer made it sound exciting and accessible to listen to. He also framed the pieces in a style that made me, as the reader, feel like I could relate to the music on a personal level. Hopefully, his article had this affect on many other reader's, too and will thus help to increase the interest in exciting new additions to the classical music genre.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/arts/music/29juil.html?_r=1&ref=music

The New Face of Classical Music

I would like to call attention to an article I read in the New York Times recently. In some ways, this post is something of a response to Ivan's post. Some of what Ivan said, while perhaps a part of the issue of revitalizing Classical music, I believe may miss the mark--to put it another way, I think that Ivan may have looked too much at negative possibilities while perhaps not giving positive possibilities enough of an examination.

It seems to me that the situation in which Classical music finds itself is based upon the active attempt at providing Classical music with its current image--that of elitism, of something special, or at least, of something set apart.

Now, one idea I would like to suggest is the idea of symbols.

Symbols, of course, characterize a thing, an idea, etc., and they hold an amazing amount of sway over perceptions. Think of rock and roll for a moment. What comes to mind? Probably many things, but one thing that surely one would eventually think of is the electric guitar or a drumset. Now, think of classical music. What comes to mind? Probably pianos, violins, and conductors. What is my point? Instruments (among other things) are the symbols of musical style.

Back to the NY Times article. One of the things I think is key in this article is the new context that the symbols of classical music have been placed. They are in a venue alongside cutting edge electronics, where sweet legato phrases are never to be heard, and where the music has a rough edge comparable to certain styles of rock. The symbols of classical music are being re-contextualized with new ways of playing and relating to audiences. I believe that eventually, it won't be a big deal to see someone play the cello--it will be no more special than playing guitar, it will be without elitist associations.

What does this mean for Beethoven and Mozart? Post your comments.

"Chopin and the Ghost of Beethoven"

from j.store

For me, ‘Chopin and Beethoven’ sounds too different, so the title was enough to make me want read this article. As we study, and experience, the two genre’s characteristic is clear.

This is my brief review about the characteristic of each composer

A. Chopin (Romantic period)
-Rubato
-Poetic, lyrical
-Characteristic piece ex) Ballade, scherzo, polonaise, impromptu
-Functional progress

B. Beethoven (Classic period)
-Little invisible rest (accuate)
-His later sonata shows the transition to the next Romantisme .
-Ex) Sonata, symphony
-Much more traditional than Chopin


The writer says Chopin seems not to be inspired by Beethoven, but his influence is seen in his music such as sonata or Impromptu. He tried to prove that in some ways; one is the environmental situation depending on how Chopin moved here and there, second one is some episodes from other musician’s experience with Chopin, and the other one is a specific analysis, comparing Chopin’s music and Beethoven’s one.

Of course, there is an obvious difference between the composers, but I thought when I learn new music for Chopin specially Bb minor sonata and Fantaisie –Impromptu, which is the examples for this article, it would be a good reference for my own interpretation.

www.j.store.org/stable/746802

Give give give & ...take?

If classical music needs to appeal to a younger generation in order to survive, what are we, the composers, conductors and performers, willing to sacrifice?

Should we only perform the little repertoire that has been embraced by the masses?
- Are we okay with fueling the popular belief that the only two composers worth noting are Mozart and Beethoven?

Should we allow it to be performed at a wider variety of venues?
- Are we okay with having people order beers during the performance?

Should we allow it to share the bill with the rockstars so many worship?
- Are we okay with being opening acts to get the exposure?

It seems that our community needs to unite and discuss if we want to live playing classical music or to live playing music in order to be classical musicians.

With the necessary changes, we can gain the momentum we need to thrive in the years to come.
Should we come together and create a poll in hopes to move in the right direction, what would the concrete sacrifices be?


http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/ - A blog on the future of classical music with discourse on writing another book about the subject

On booing

Today's New York Times published 2 stories on the opening of the Metropolitan Opera: one that reviewed the production and one that commented extensively on the booing! (If you need to register to read the story, do so: they don't abuse their registrants.)

Contemporary music: challenges?

When most people see a modern composition which is written in an unusual manner, they get confused because they're not used to that "language". This could be happening because string players become used to certain patterns which are learned while practicing "golden repertoire".For me, since I started playing modern music, it wasn't difficult at all. Maybe it's due to the way my brain works. Or is it a quick reaction where eyes transmit visual image of the score to the brain and fingers. Does contemporary music performance, require perfect technique, good working brain or loads of practice?

As I was wondering what to write about here last week, John Williams kept popping up into my head. After he was brought up in class I decided to sort of further my thoughts on him, his music and some other things that came to mind.

The main point of this point is to dwell on a different rift than the one that we talked about last week between "classical musicians and the rest of the world." Something that intrigues me very much is how we as musicians separate ourselves from each other. Many musicians seem to think that it is a horrible decision to do film music and those that do it aren't true classical musicians and they tend to be pigeon holed as such.

This sort of brings me to Williams. He is most well known for his film scores that have won award after award, but he is also exiled in the mind of many people for doing this. They look at his music and see how he incorporates ideas from "true" classical composers and they ridicule him for this. He is known as a rip off artist who cannot compose his own music.

But how many composers use ideas from previous composers as a little joke, as a sort of dedication to that composer, or simply because they happen to like that one idea a lot. Just about every composer does it at one point or another in there career. So how come Williams seems to be one of the few who gets called unoriginal for that? It's not his fault that George Lucas originally wanted Holst's The Planets for Star Wars but that it didn't fit well with the film so he had Williams write something that had the same sound. As to other pieces, I cannot say for certain how much he uses from other composers. I have not studies scores for all of those pieces so I should not pass judgment one way or the other.

Another quick factor that people quite often overlook is how accomplished a composer he is outside of his film music. He has written 30 something other pieces, he studied at UCLA and Julliard, studied under notable composers, in a notable conductor and so on. These are some pretty good credentials for a hack that can't write his own music.

I'm curious as to what you think about how classical musicians cast off fellow musicians who cross over into another realm of more popular music?

Renee's Revelations

Toward the end of the summer I started reading "The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer" by Renee Fleming. I received it as a Christmas gift, and in looking at the cover alone expected it to be a book which would make me feel insufficient. THe back cover stated it was an autobiography of her voice and the story of her artistic development. I of course expected to read about nothing but instant success and perfect experiences. To my surprise, this was not the case. To read about a famed singer with a dazzling career write of losing competitions and being rejected from various programs was actually quite comforting. It is sometimes hard to remember the path to consistency and a successful musical career is a process. 

I managed to find some time after class on Tuesday to get a few pages in here and there, and felt as though Ms. Fleming had been a part of our class. In one part of the book she discusses "The Business", bringing up managers and traveling and organizational nightmares. She also discusses marketing and the releasing of CDs in company with the future of classical music. She uses Andrea Bocelli as an example, mentioning the staggering number of sales of his CD Romanza. This made me think about singers like Charlotte Church and Josh Groban, as well, who were, and possibly still are, musical icons. Bocelli, Church, and Groban have all been played on the radio, and not just the stations specifically for classical music. They managed to break the barrier and venture into the land of pop culture with their crossover repertoire. So it is possible for the music we love to penetrate the everyday lives of the average person. 

She goes on to talk about CD sales in more detail, making some good points, but giving an underlying tone of concern for the future of classical music down the line. She says it is our job as young musicians to speak up. The chapter ends with the following quote: 

"The music itself will never disappear. Beethoven still makes people cheer, Richard Strauss can thrill, and Mozart can even develop young minds. It's our responsibility to learn how to speak to an audience that is less informed about music, to give it a reason to want to come and see us instead of going to the movies. For me and for the rest of the industry, it's going to take hard work and a lot of creative thinking. But then, thinking creatively is our business."

Just some words of inspiration from someone who is living with a huge career in music. I definitely recommend the book and will be sure to include any other nuggets of wisdom from later chapters if/when I have more time to actually read on! 

classical music as mending or adding to cultural divides...

This week's reading from Levine gave much insight into the divide that still exists between those who frequent classical music concerts and those who still find it a bit of an unapproachable genre. I found the history from last week's reading, in the second chapter of the book, regarding concert goers in the early 19th century as a refreshing realization, that classical music hasn't always been so out of reach for all kinds of audiences. However, from this week's reading in chapter three, the origin of the development of the societal gulph that still currently exists, became more clear. 

As quoted in Levine, members of high class looked down on the new influx of immigrants and felt they were tolerable, "as long as these strangers stayed within their own precincts and retained their own peculiar ways, they remained containable and could be dealt with" (177). This attitude is so close-minded and narrow, and it sadly set the tone for not only class differences and discrimination, but also for future racism. In some ways, the way Levine describes the behavior of audience members in the concert hall helps to explain why complete acceptance of all people to concerts was a challenge. For instance, there was "a tendency for undisciplined audiences to treat theaters, music venues as entertainment halls, rather than sacred precincts..." (178). The controversy, as Levine discusses, relates to the question of how audience members were meant to show their enjoyment for the music without being boisterous.  

He continues to present how as time progressed, docile audiences were praised and encouraged to be passive and polite in the presence of the music. By reading about this happening back at the end of the 19th century, it gives me more insight into why classical music still feels so unapproachable to such a wide majority of our population. In most recent history, audiences respond to a symphony performance with a polite applause, or in rare occasions, a "bravo!". Having grown up attending concerts, this etiquette does not seem foreign to me, and in my eye, seems respectful and an appropriate response to performances. However, I can imagine that for someone who is new to classical music, and has perhaps only attended rock concerts in their life, this kind of reaction to a musical performance, and the fact that you cannot talk or eat and drink during the concert, may seem uptight and unappealing. This is part of where the divide develops, and the question of how to make classical music more approachable and appealing to a wider group of listeners.

How can we broaden our audiences, but still maintain the respect classical music has grown accustomed to receiving? What kind of behavior at a performance would be warranted, if it meant expanding our audience pool and reaching a wider public? Would this effort make a difference in eliminating class and racial differences in our society, or would it widen the gulph by trying too hard to include people from varying backgrounds? These questions certainly play into the future of classical music, though predicting too far down the path for classical music is indeed a tricky task. 

Study Questions for VSI

There follow the study questions for Cook, Music: A Very Short Introduction. Please note that page numbers are not consistent from printing to printing: they may be off by as much as 2 pages.

Introduction

1. In what regard does music function as an agent of meaning?

Chapter 1

1. What are some defining characteristics of musical authenticity in rock? In its construct, who is privileged and who is disparaged? What cultural work do such distinctions do?
2. What are our some of our transparent assumptions about music?
3. How do they reflect the structure of a classic industrial economy?

Chapter 2

1. What role does music play in the early nineteenth century’s construction of bourgeois subjectivity?
2. How does Beethoven differ from his predecessors?
3. What is the Beethoven cult?
4. Which two aspects of the Beethoven cult does Cook discuss? What is their significance beyond Beethoven?
5. What components of music’s mystical qualities does the Beethoven cult celebrate? How?
6. How does such spiritualization affect the historic relationship between words and music?
7. What irony ensued?

Chapter 3

1. How have 21st-century realities inverted the basic assumptions of 19th-century musical culture?
2. By what process did modern music become “modern music”?
3. In Cook’s view, what are some signs of vitality in classical music? Which aspects are “beyond resuscitation”?

Chapter 4

1. What is the abiding paradox of musical notation?
2. Discuss the following statement: “[N]otations…transmit a whole way of thinking about music.” (59)
3. What does Cook see as the “basic paradox” of music?
4. How does Cook apply Dakwins’s “river of genes” image to music?


Chapter 5

1. How do our perceptions of “Nikosi Sikelel iAfrica” differ from our perceptions of the “Hammerklavier”?
2. What hierarchy ensues from the traditional understanding of classical music?
3. How does a reception-based approach alter our perception of music?

Chapter 6

1. Why is the concept of a definitive edition problematic?
2. Why can there be no certifiably “authentic” performance?
3. Conversely, how do “authentic” performances mirror our own time?
4. How did musicologists and theorists come to realize the necessity for engagement that had previously been the exclusive province of ethnomusicologists?

Chapter 7

1. What is a transparent system of beliefs? Examples?
2. What applications does critical theory find in music?
3. What is Cook’s antidote to Tomlinson’s extreme pessimism?


Conclusion

1. Comment on the following quote from Philip Brett: “[Music is] an enclave in our society—a sisterhood or brotherhood of lovers, music lovers, united by an unmediated form of communication that is only by imperfect analogy called a language, ‘the’ language of feeling.” (116)
2. In what regards does music have “unique powers as an agent of ideology”?

I closer look at a little bit of Bernstein...

I was reading some articles by Alex Ross and came across the piece "The Bernstein Files." Some of you may have read it, but if you haven't I really suggest you check it out. I had not realized the full extent to which Leonard Bernstein was monitored by the government. The article contains a lot of FBI files and sound clips from meetings with the president and other staff members that record and analyze the activities of Bernstein - it is eye opening!

Bernstein has always been a favorite conductor of mine and this article made me want to know more, so I picked up both Barry Seldes’s book, “Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician” and some old recordings by Bernstein. The best recording I found, and one I would highly recommend, was Bernstein conducting Charles Ives’ “The Unanswered Question.” A chamber piece published by Ives in 1906, it consists of strings, a flute quartet and trumpet. The strings provide a background layer of sustained notes, while the trumpet calls out the “question.” The flutes provide an answer to the question, but the trumpet calls again, and each time the flutes try to answer they get more and more frenzied, until the trumpet calls one last time, this time answered by silence. “The Unanswered Question” in one of my favorite pieces because it is so profound, and this in now my favorite recording of it – I urge you to check it out!

Art and Tradition

One of the ideas I found interesting in the readings was the transformation in people's understanding of art and tradition. As we know, even today, there are a great number of people who, actively or passively, adhere to the idea that the masterworks are meant to be played in a certain way in a certain place for certain people. There is a religious quality to this attitude, and I believe, in light of the past readings (Chapters 2 and 3 in Highbrow Lowbrow), that the religious element is shown to be false and baseless. Regardless, people—in the arts and without, “in the know” or not—believe this idea to be a truth about culture, rather than a product of culture.

I would like to point the reader's attention to a blog by Matthew Hindson I came across that I believe exemplifies the various sides on this idea, to various degrees. Make sure to read the comments on the main post, not just the main post itself; there are some posts that are refuted by the readings, and others that share the spirit of the readings, but not the facts.

" A Night at the Opera in Times Square"

" A Night at the Opera in Times Square " from New York Times


When I went to Time Square in New York for the first time, it was like a dazzling gem. The neon signs would make any visitor to the city impressed.

In the place, a interesting event would happen with those L.E.D screens.

Monday night, 6:30 the Metropolitan Opera’s opening- night gala performance of Puccini’s screens in Time Square will be shown through the multiple screens in Time Square, and at Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza.

Also, the program includes The new things, with Karita Mattila, Marcelo Alvarez and George Garnidze, will be listened by James Levine, who is also BSO conductor.

Both admissions are free, first come – first served, but tickets must be brought for Lincoln Center.

It would be a good chance to connect common people to classical music with modern technical device.


Here is more thing. It is not about a blog, but very useful; www.imslp.org. If you go to the website, you can see most scores and print out for free.