As medici.tv’s Chief Content Officer I spend a lot of time thinking about classical music—and a lot of time on the internet. Here’s my selection of the top five news items you need to see this week if you want to stay in the know.
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Jonathan Biss on the dangerous quest for perfection (NYT)
Pianist Jonathan Biss’s thought-provoking op-ed in the New York Times this week will speak to anyone who has spent hours poring over a score. Biss outlines the paralyzing “fetishization of perfection” he argues is plaguing young musicians today (and more broadly, society at large). An emphasis on technical perfection and mastery has of course long been a part of the classical training system, but the relatively recent availability of “iconic” and “definitive” recordings has compounded the quest for perfection. “Playing an instrument well is phenomenally difficult. It takes a lifetime of arduous work and can become all-consuming, making it easy to forget that technical mastery is a means to an expressive end, not the goal. Mastery is a prerequisite if one is to communicate the essence of a piece of music. In and of itself, it is uninteresting.”
The logistics of bringing The Nutcracker’s iconic snowfall to the stage
It’s December, which means that Nutcracker productions around the world are defrosting and on social media, ballet companies are sharing glimpses of the hard work it takes behind-the-scenes to make the holiday magic happen. The Royal Ballet have a fascinating look on Instagram at how they turn 80kg of tissue-paper confetti into graceful on-stage snowfall. Also on Instagram, the stage manager of the National Ballet of Canada breaks down the iconic scene more globally, which also includes the treacherous task of driving a remote-controlled sleigh through a stage crowded with Snowmaidens.
After watching the behind-the-scenes breakdown, experience the magical ballet from the audience perspective. We have several Nutcrackers to choose from, but here’s my favorite, from the Royal Ballet:
Violinist forced to carry Guadagnini in her arms on Lufthansa flight (The Violin Channel)
Violinist Carolin Widmann had a harrowing experience on a Lufthansa flight this week after Helsinki airport staff told her that her violin case was too big to be stowed on board the aircraft, forcing her to carry her 1782 Guadagnini instrument in her arms.
Can an AI transcribe a Christmas carol? (social media trend)
The answer appears to be a resounding no! Music theorist Robert Komaniecki’s reel of an AI-generated transcription of Silent Night had me literally laughing out loud. The video is part of a larger trend in which users are documenting unsuccessful AI attempts to compose or transcribe Christmas songs.
Remembering architect Frank Gehry’s classical music legacy (NYT)
Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry—perhaps the most well-known architect of recent decades—passed away this week and the New York Times paid tribute to his numerous contributions to the classical world. Gehry designed multiple concert halls, including his magnum opus, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He was a well-versed classical fan and was deeply involved in the acoustic design of the auditoriums: “he had a maverick’s aesthetic and the ear of a passionate fan, making sure his buildings consistently sounded as marvelous as they looked.” Gehry also tried his hand at scenic design, working on repertoire including Mozart, Wagner, and Lucinda Childs.
