 Wednesday, April 2, 2003; 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" (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 with his wife, Julieta Stack. 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: Good afternoon and welcome to another on-line chat about classical music. It's a gorgeous day in Washington and I think a lot of my usual readers are likely enjoying the outdoors. Meanwhile, the war seems to be reaching some sort of crisis and there are a lot of Post reporters on-line even as I write.
I guess this is a roundabout way of saying that I think this may be a slow afternoon. Please feel free to write in during the program -- we just might be able to get to most questions today.
Let's start a few minutes early.
Washington, DC: Hello Tim,
Thank you for your online column. Nice to see what shows you recommend around town. Is this going to be a regular feature? Tim Page: Thanks for the good words. Yes, I'm going to write one on-line column a month -- and I'll try to mention as many promising concerts as I can.
I don't have time to write all the advance features I'd like to for the paper. This at least allows me to give a little "head's up" to my readers and tell them about some events that might be of interest.
This is the reason I always try to write a "Here and Now" item for the Sunday paper, even when there isn't very much going on. A newspaper ought to offer news -- and part of that news is what is going on in the local concert halls, before it is too late to do anything about it.
washingtonpost.com: Tim Page's Best Bets for April Concerts.
Great Falls: Your "review" of the Mahler last week was a disgrace. You've never liked Mahler, and why you continue to write about Mahler performances strikes me as simply bizarre. Tim Page: Gosh, I thought I wrote something of a rave of the Mahler (until the last movement, which I'll discuss in a moment). I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the fourth symphony, as it has been some time since I last heard it in concert. I'd even go so far as to say I loved this symphony.
It's true that I'm very picky about my Mahler. The Symphony No. 8 always thrills me but I could skip happily through life without listening to, say, the sixth, seventh or ninth symphonies ever again. (Did I listen to them too much when I was a teenager? Probably -- maybe that's why they seem so mawkish and over-exaggerated.)
Any critic is going to have quirks. Virgil Thomson couldn't stand Sibelius. Andrew Porter found Philip Glass intolerably boring. Ned Rorem detests Berlioz. John Simon doesn't like Mozart. My friend Allan Kozinn at the New York Times can't bear the bel canto operas (even those by Rossini -- who strikes me as one of the purest geniuses in the history of music). Cecil Gray had nothing but contempt for Richard Strauss. The list goes on and on.
I consider myself pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to Mahler. I like some of his pieces, and find others overwrought. I think a lot of audience members probably share my feelings. In any event, I hope we'll find ourselves in agreement on other subjects.
Georgetown, Washington, DC: Mr Page,
I've enjoyed your insightful music reviews over the years, but was taken aback last Friday at your unprofessional attack of soprano Linda Hohenfeld. I can't help but wonder if there isn't some personal antagonism here.
Why did you you feel it necessary to mention that she's married to Leonard Slatkin? Is there a higher bar for married women artists? I can't help but think of Frieda Kahlo's critical fate -- only lately revived. I was at Saturday's performance and she sang Mahler beautifully.
Tim Page: I'll answer this one and the next one together.
Bethesda, MD: I was saddened to read your review of the National Symphony's Mahler 4. I believe everyone who was at the Kennedy Center Thursday night considered this a special and memorable evening. You seemed to be the only person there who did not respond to the poignant message of this profound work. The NSO has grown so much in recent years, I doubt we could have heard Mahler of this exceptional quality even a decade ago. Why do critics always choose to focus on the negative? Tim Page: In fact, I was very happy with the program -- with the exception of Linda Hohenfeld's singing of the final movement. I bear her no personal animus at all -- I've met her on several occasions and find her a charming person. Still, when the NSO -- an orchestra I take very seriously indeed -- charges up to $69 per ticket to its spectators, it owes them the courtesy of engaging the best soprano available.
In my opinion, Linda Hohenfeld was not that soprano. My mail on this subject has been running about half and half -- some saying that it was rude and unprofessional of me to call attention to Hohenfeld's relationship to Leonard Slatkin, others offering thanks and congratulations.
Either way, it was not exactly one of those reviews that is fun to write.
Atlanta, GA: Thank you, Mr. Page, for exposing the sad (and highly provincial) matrimonial scam that pervades the Kennedy Center's most prestigious organizations.
At this stage of her career, Mrs. Leonard Slatkin, as you wrote, is simply not vocally talented enough to be singing with the NSO.
Mrs. Placido Domingo, likewise, does not have the basic skills to direct productions at the Washington Opera.
Yet these powerful men insist on letting their spouses take center stage -- to the embarrassment of the company.
Did they think no one would notice? Tim Page: Another opinion...
Long Beach: Mr. Page, What is your position in regards to media consolidation? It appears that Clear Channel, as a major backer of the GOP, has faked "grass roots" Pro-War rallies by their 1,400 stations around the USA. I consider this to be dangerous. Surely more consolidation will be bad for small classical stations, right? Tim Page: I'm going to let this one pass because I have no idea what it's about. This is a classical music chat...
Washington, DC: Hi Tim,
I agree with you that Linda Hohenfeld should not have been up there singing. She was simply out of her league.
I hope you will answer the question I sent in earlier, when I thought I could not be around for this chat: I'm going to the free performance of Don Giovanni this weekend. Where in Constitution Hall do you think I should try to sit? It's general seating.
Many thanks! Tim Page: I'm at something of a disadvantage here because I've only sat downstairs in the orchestra. From there, the acoustics are pretty good, but you can't see the titles and watch the stage at the same time. If titles are important to you, you may want to sit back a way.
How about it, folks? Any suggestions on where one should sit at Constitution Hall? I know that at the old Metropolitan Opera House, the very best seats were the ones highest in the hall -- the sound rose and had a wonderful bloom up in "the Gods." What's the story with Constitution Hall?
Arlington VA: Well, if the NSO has to find the best artist possible for the $69 dollar top price, how do you justify the Washington Opera engaging Natalia Ushakova? You said that her "pitch sense is only approximate" and she "poked stiffly at notes". They charge more than three times as much for tickets. Is she married to someone at the Opera? I was at the Friday NSO performance and felt Ms. Hohnenfeld brought uncommon distinction to her part. No intonation problems and perfectly judged musical thought. Tim Page: I won't defend Ushakova.
Long Beach: The employment credentials of Mrs. Slatkin are now the norm in D.C., as evidenced by the children of Colin Powell, Rehnquist, Bush 41, Cheney,Scalia, Hatch, etc.etc. having cushy jobs at public expense, with little expertise other than in influence peddling.
You are behind the times, Mr.Page.
Quality is meaningless when compared with
access to influence. I wish I was off-key.
Tim Page: Hmmmmmm....
Washington, D.C.: The NSO is posting a list of its 2003-2004 concerts on the Kennedy Center Web site. What's your take on the season? (I was particularly impressed by the list of guest conductors) Tim Page: It seems a terrific season to me -- a lot of conductors we haven't heard with the NSO before: Kent Nagano, Lorin Maazel and many more.
Baton Rouge, LA: Well, maybe if it's a slow day you could comment on this. Hope you don't think I'm a barbarian.... I don't know much about classical music. My tastes run more toward Springsteen's Nebraska. But I do enjoy listening to classical music, and I like to buy a CD now and then. Every now and then I have bought very cheap classical CDs. Sometimes like $2 each. For example, I have things like Bach by something called "Members of Philharmonia Slavonia." Or Mahler by "Orchester Ljubljana." My question is not about these specific recordings. Rather, from the point of view of an expert, how much better, for the casual listener, are the expensive, big label recordings than my $2 ones? I know that some people say you haven't listened to Beethoven's Fifth until you've heard (I think it is) Toscanini and the NBC Symphony. But I can buy a lot of these CDs for what one from Deutche Grammophone costs. I might also mention that I'm as poor as a church mouse. General comments? Tim Page: No apology necessary to me for liking Springsteen's "Nebraska" although I think I prefer "Tunnel of Love." So far, I've been unable to get into "The Rising" at all.
An awful lot of the recordings coming out on the budget-priced Naxos label are first-class. Especially the historical stuff -- records by Pablo Casals, Artur Schnabel, Felix Weingartner, and so on.
The Eastern European orchestras are generally -- I said GENERALLY -- not so polished as the ones in Western Europe and the United States. But they have recorded a lot of pieces you can't get elsewhere -- and some of their standard repertory is pretty good too.
You certainly can't judge a recording by how much it costs. Nor is fame a guarantee. If I were to choose the worst recording of Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony ever recorded, it might be the one by Toscanini (rushed, pressured and charmless). My favorite recording of Gluck's "Orphee" has no stars in it at all -- only a long-forgotten soprano named Alice Raveau.
Potomac, Md.: We'll note this one straight-on: Washington Opera fans are HATING, big-time, this crap with having the operas at DAR. There's nowhere to park, the sound is horrible, there's no real scenery, the orchestra is thrown behind the action, which is weird, and the whole operation just seems way off. The performers seem off, too. So does the music. And the acting. And the logistics. We--and that goes for dozens of people--can't wait for the return of the Opera House. And we never thought we'd say that. Tim Page: No obscurantism here! Any other thoughts on Constitution Hall? And where should our prospective patron sit?
Falls Church,VA: I agree with your comments about last week's NSO program and what a subscriber is entitled to for their bucks. The NSO has another tactic that I find irritating. That is, they raise their prices for specific performances when artists like Perlman and Domingo guest conduct (e.g. box prices go from $69 to $78). Conducting is not their forte, and looking at their backs while they keep time to the music hardly warrants the extra cost. Tim Page: I didn't know that. Funny the things that never catch your attention when your tickets are simply waiting at the box office. I should really pay more attention.
On the other hand, the idea of "special attractions" is a time-honored (if not always honorable) practice in the music world. "Melba nights" -- so-called because Dame Nellie Melba would be heard in a leading role -- always cost more at Covent Garden as long ago as a century.
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC: Concerning the comments about the spouses of Slatkin and Domingo, this reminds me of two letters to the L.A. Times several years ago. The actress Valerie Bertinelli wrote a letter in support of her guitarist husband, Eddie Van Halen, whose talents had been trashed in earlier letters. The following week someone sent in the following mean, but very funny, response: "This proves that love is not only blind, it's deaf." Tim Page: Very mean -- and yes, very funny.
Gaithersburg, Md.: About a 90-degree turn from what's usually discussed here... What do you think is the best way for an adult to begin a music-playing education? Are those electronic organs that will play an accompaniment by touching a single key a good place to start? Obviously, I'm not going to play in a professional orchestra some day like a 9-year old potentially could. So would a basic introduction to keyboard instruments produce the best opportunities to both learn and play?
Tim Page: I'd opt for good, old-fashioned piano lessons myself. You'll be adding your own harmonies soon enough.
Fairfax County, Va.: What are your favorite local chamber music groups? I'm partial to the 20th Century Consort and the Smithsonian Chamber Players, myself. Tim Page: The 20th Century Consort played a wonderful new work by Daniel Kellogg a couple of weeks back -- haven't heard such a promising new composer in quite a while. I've enjoyed some of their other concerts as well.
In general, I pick and choose concerts by what is being played, rather than by the group itself. Smithsonian is certainly good. And the Theater Chamber Players. And the Emerson String Quartet (they're here a lot of the time, anyway). And others...
Texas: I love the old Catholic Latin hymns (Sanctus, Sanctus, Ave Maria) and am saddened that they are rarely sung anymore in the "modern" Catholic churches. Do you have favorite religious music? Tim Page: The religious repertory is a vast one and I love a great deal of it -- ranging from the Anglican hymns on which I grew ("Abide With Me," "Hyfrydol") through the great religious works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Faure and others. Favorites? Depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll want Van Morrison singing "Be Thou My Vision" -- other times it's Henry Purcell's "Funeral Music for Queen Mary" or nothing.
Arlington, Va.: Hello Tim,
What CD(s) would you recommend for a very casual listener like myself who would want a greatest hits of sort by all the greatest composers performed really well by an excellent orchestra ? A kind of "Classical Book for Dummies" only for a CD ? Thanks. Tim Page: That's a hard question to answer because listening to only the "hit tunes" in classical music doesn't really give you the essence of what it is all about. I have a list of 25 recordings that most novice listeners will enjoy -- it's posted at the top of my chat.
You might want to go purchase a Beethoven symphony -- perhaps the "Pastorale," No. 6. It's wonderfully lovable music and ought to lead you to more.
There are some "Classical Music For Dummies" type recordings -- and most of the repertory choices are pretty good ones. I still think you'll be happier learning a little more slowly but more thoroughly.
Fairfax, VA: Have you had a chance to hear the Rattle cycle of Beethoven symphonies with (I believe) Berlin Phil? If so, what did you think of them?
Thanks. Tim Page: I haven't heard them. Are they recent?
Alexandria VA: I wrote in last session to point out the paucity of historically informed performances (“HIP”) available in this region, and to ask why you complained so stridently about our one recent HIP (Beethoven’s Sixth by the Vienna Philharmonic under Harnoncourt). You responded: “Because it was (in my opinion) a bad ‘historically informed’ performance. Check out the recordings of Roger Norrington and Trevor Pinnock if you want to hear what it should sound like.” We are both entitled to our opinions, but please do not assume mine are based on ignorance. Recordings are fine (and I’d add Hogwood and Gardiner to your list), but real insight, in my opinion, requires the careful study of scores and texts. My primary current interest is the piano, but many of the concepts (such as phrasing and speeds) apply equally to orchestral works. I can recommend Rosenblum’s "Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music," Newman’s "Beethoven on Beethoven," and Rosen’s "Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas." After a bit of study, Harnoncourt’s approach (e.g., his apparently awkward phrasings) makes much more sense. Unfortunately, many critics (at in the U.S. and in Great Britain) prefer to remain relatively ignorant; they believe HIP practices stop with leaner textures and the absence of vibrato, when that is only the beginning. Tim Page: I'm sorry if I seemed condescending. I certainly didn't mean to be. I'm not at all against historically informed performances -- matter of fact, Philippe Herreweghe is one of my favorite choral conductors. I just didn't think the Vienna Philharmonic did a very good job on the "Pastorale" Symphony. In fact, the times the NSO has tried to do "HIP," it's fallen down pretty hard, too. Perhaps musicians need to be trained to play baroque music in "HIP" manner. I think Harnoncourt might have been more effective with his own group -- the same way Trevor Pinnock made a stronger impression with the English Concert than he did with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.
Fairfax VA: If you could pick the music for your funeral (this isn't a threat, I hope that day will be a long way off) -- what would you select? Tim Page: I don't know. It would be rather too grand to have the "Funeral Music for Queen Mary," wouldn't it? I know that Sibelius had the third movement of his Symphony No. 4 played at his funeral. I had a very vivid -- but not at all frightening -- dream about death the other night, and the Strauss "Four Last Songs" were playing gloriously throughout.
I think I'd want a very simple funeral. Maybe something played by a friend -- some Bach or Chopin. If I were to have a chorus, I think I'd want the Mozart "Ave Verum Corpus." It is direct, gorgeous, easy to sing, emotionally appropriate, and very short. Afterwards, my friends could hie themselves to a pub and send me off right.
Tim Page: Well, we've come to the end of another session. Thanks for all your questions and comments. Communication with such a committed, educated audience is one of the things that makes writing for the Post a joy.
We'll talk again in two weeks time.
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