Music review: YouTube Symphony Orchestra's final concert
As I write this -- 18 hours after watching the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Grand Finale concert -- the only musical thing that sticks in my mind is Romanian bassoonist Laurentiu Marius Darie's excellent playing in Stravinsky's "Firebird" and William Barton's mind-blowing didgeridoo beatbox. It's unfortunate but not terribly surprising.
The concert was performed on Sunday at the opera house in Sydney where the orchestra members chosen via auditions by YouTube had been rehearsing for the week with Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
In an irony so acute it's almost painful, what will surely become one of the most-watched classical music concerts in recent memory was never really meant for an audience. Like the final showcase after a week of band camp, when all the parents come to collect their children, Sunday's concert was all about the players' experience. The problem is: If you weren't there it doesn't really mean anything.
Making music is an intimate activity, so musicians tend to become friendly with each other quicker than, say, delegates at a dental convention --that is one of music's great gifts. What digital projections, sand artists, new compositions, star soloists, a massive budget and buckets of goodwill couldn't hide was that it takes more than a week to make an orchestra.
The biggest indicator of inward nature of the evening was the program. By the time the last notes of "Entr'acte II" from Schubert's "Rosamunde" faded away, nearly three hours had passed. As often happens at band camp final concerts, Thomas chose egalitarianism over aesthetics and programmed several small, forgettable pieces featuring individual sections instead of a big symphony.
It might not have been technically perfect, but engaging repertoire would have garnered more enthusiasm from all involved parties than an obscure piece by Australian composer Percy Grainger or an unimaginative new commission.
Of course, quibbles about repertoire can be put down to personal preference in the end, but what's been nagging ever since the YTSO 2011 was announced is the imbalance between rhetoric and results. There has been a lot of talk about how music brings people together across boundaries of culture, class and religion; the democracy of YouTube auditions and the intersection of technology and classical music culture. When all that the ideological chatter is turned off, we should be left with music. Instead there is nothing. At this point in its development the YTSO doesn't have the chops to stand on its own.
In order for the YTSO to grow into something really meaningful, in order for it to stop telling us it's revolutionary and actually change things, the organizers need to decide what it wants the orchestra to be. Band camp? A training orchestra? Good karma for Google?
It may seem that I'm hating on the YTSO for being a bit of fun. For not being serious. That's not the case at all. There are many youth and adult amateur orchestras around the world who have boatloads of fun while still keeping the bar extremely high. The two needn't be mutually exclusive.
At the moment, the YTSO is a unique position. As a privately funded enterprise, it doesn't need to satisfy government requirements or compromise on programming to keep elderly patrons sweet. Its association with YouTube means that the orchestra can easily able to publicize its activities.
In view of all the available resources, the lack of imagination and willingness to settle for a middling performance is depressing.
Another two or three weeks of rehearsal with a mini-tour on the schedule...now that would be something to write home about.
Despite my disappointment, there were a few rays of sunshine. Here are some highlights (full video above):
0:22:18 Cameron Carpenter takes the Opera House organ for a drive and the digital projections get a little crazy.
1:07:25 The most entertaining part of the evening. Berlin Philharmonic hornist Sarah Willis turns intermission commentator. If you're short on time, the very best part is at 1:18:42. Vox populi FTW!
1:29:00 William Barton beatboxes on his didgeridoo.
2:08:40 Ukrainian artist Ksenia Simanova does amazing things with sand.
2:20:10 The orchestra plays the last 3 dances from Stravinsky's "Firebird."
2:35:58 The orchestra plays "Entr'acte II" from Schubert's "Rosamunde" in honor of victims of natural disasters in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
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--Marcia Adair
Full Disclosure:
I performed in as a member of the YTSO 2011 at the Sydney Opera House
Dear Reviewer,
The title of this article begins with "Music review." However, there is nothing to indicate why the performance was good or bad aside from the most general of comments. Some specificity would be nice when you declare that "The YTSO doesn't have the chops to stand on its own."
After focusing on issues of programming, you finally admit: "Of course, quibbles about repertoire can be put down to personal preference in the end, but what's been nagging ever since the YTSO 2011 was announced is the imbalance between rhetoric and results." This nagging which you link to turns out to be an article published in the LA Times blog. By you.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that your biggest gripe with the YTSO is its lack of a clear vision. You reference this artistic void many times:
"[The YTSO] was never really meant for an audience"
...
"the organizers need to decide what it wants the orchestra to be. "
...
"When all that the ideological chatter is turned off, we should be left with music. Instead there is nothing."
etc.
Nothing? The program included works by Berlioz, Britten, Grainger, Stravinsky, Ginastera, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Bach, and others. If you ask me that is a heck of a lot of entertainment for one night's ticket. The concert featured a who's who of young musical soloists, diverse programming (you would have preferred simply to hear Mahler 5? Really?) and radical explorations of what technology could do for music. Top it all off with production values normally reserved for Lady Gaga concerts. Sounds like classical music just got a shot of adrenaline in the arm and steaming hot cup of relevance.
I must briefly discuss this excerpt: "Like the final showcase after a week of band camp, when all the parents come to collect their children, Sunday's concert was all about the players' experience."
Leaving aside the thinly veiled malice in this comment, I can tell you that we have all been to 'band camp,' and let me tell you...this was no band camp. Band camp does not typically involve the principal cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic sitting down next to you at dinner, and giving you a mini lesson on what you personally can do to improve your playing for the concert. At Band Camp, it's highly unlikely for the conductor to begin a conversation with "well when I played this piece at the piano, for Stravinsky..." The final concert was not the parents coming to collect the children, it was 2000 paying customers and millions of online viewers. We spent the week playing shoulder to shoulder with great artists, not as their students, but as their peers for a truly wonderful musical and personal event.
As for the reason for the concert existing... like most watershed moments, you dive head first into inspiration, and let history figure it out later.
respectfully yours,
Greg Robbins
Bass, YTSO 2011
Posted by: Greg | March 22, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Full disclosure: I am part of what you call "the organizers" at YouTube. However, I am not representing my company here but my personal opinion alone.
Although you don't seem the biggest fan of the YTSO project, I'd like to thank you for your interest in it. Personally, I think it's healthy to be challenged and if no one disagreed with what we did, it probably wouldn't be worth the effort. It would just mean it's not disruptive enough.
Admittedly, the objectives of the project are very ambitious and it's trying to achieve many things at the same time (maybe too many), so it's no wonder that it creates some kind of confusion. What is important though is to understand that it doesn't claim to be the future of classical music but just a [refreshing] new way of experiencing it. We want to make classical music more accessible and bring it to a new audience. The numbers suggest that we are doing just that.
Personally, I wouldn't want every classical music concert to be like YTSO either, but I'd certainly would want more of them around.
Happy to discuss in more detail and answer any questions, but for now I have to get rid of my jetlag...
Best,
Max Madile
Posted by: Maximilian Madile | March 22, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Oh dear.
Can I respectfully suggest you have a long hard look in the mirror and query whether by writing like this you are actually contributing to the death of a genre which you claim to be so passionate about? It's so sad that you have so completely, and utterly, missed the point of this. Did you read the tweets from all around the world? Did you see #ytso was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter during the concert? I guess not.
How can you legitimately lay claim that what will most likely be the most viewed classical music concert of all time was a bad thing? How will young aspiring musicians who are inspired by this feel, when they read your views? Maybe they won't take up the cello after all. Pity, that.
This post is a dismal and insipid attempt at insight which is a testament to the cancerous state of classical music today.
Bravo YouTube. Bravo MTT. Bravo to those who try to grow our beautiful genre.
James
Posted by: James Smyth | March 22, 2011 at 12:12 PM
This review is surprisingly unfair. The orchestra sounded very nice and played with a lot of spirit and the result was a very soulful and memorable concert. There were many touching moments, and I enjoyed it enough to watch it three times. I'll probably watch it several more times, and I predict it will attract many many views on You Tube.
Posted by: Lisa | March 23, 2011 at 09:08 AM
wow...
I took some time to read up on your articles regarding the Youtube Symphony and I am a quite impressed. You managed to take an incredibly bold and innovative idea, that holds infinite potential for classical music, and completely throw it and its dedicated performers, under the bus. I second James; did you see how many people visited YouTube Symphony in some way? 30.7 million streams via computer and 2.8 via mobile devices. Perhaps even a few of those millions of viewers might be inspired enough, to attend a local symphony concert.
Also, would Mahler 5 really be wise for a worldwide audience? In regards to that, would any "one" piece be a wise choice for an orchestra giving only one performance live streaming performance? I think who ever was in charge of programing hit the nail on the head by creating a musical pallete satisfying for a grand scale audience.
I understand that as an artist, we must constantly seak the highest level of excellence in our respective field, which is why I am so inclined to say that this review is simply in bad taste. I do beleive what YTSO represented was a solid performance of a variety of music, that gathered the attention of millions of people around the world. It could have been better in some respects, it could have been worse, but its all subjective. What is a fact however, is the popularity that the performance gained for a struggling genre.
Posted by: annonymous | March 24, 2011 at 05:35 PM
I found this concert to be quite interesting. The parts I liked best was the beatbox and the sand. Those were great and I believe those two stole the show. The orchestra was great but I have to say that I felt that it was a little dull. The hype of the whole thing was a little much for the turnout. Over all I think the show was good but I wouldn't fly to Sydney to see it.
Posted by: Justin Hendrix | April 30, 2011 at 11:46 PM