Thanks for this post, as well as all your posts interrogating the public face of the elite. I wonder if a closer look at the financial operations of classical industry would bear fruit. How much does Dudamel make? What is Netrebko's fee? How big is the disparity between headliners and second-string soloists, not to mention first violin? Who actually holds the purse strings? I'm a jazz cat first, classical music is my second language, but from where I sit, it seems like the whole world of grand opera and the state-sponsored symphony is essentially "the rich at play." (Joseph Kerman in CONCERTO CONVERSATIONS (I'm paraphrasing): "Opera is one of the few places left where the rich can display their clothes and pearls in front of each other.") I am going to Yuja Wang and Thomas Adès at the end of the month in NYC, and the cheapest pair of tix total $500. I'm paying it, but it is really a stretch.
The US and Europe are two incredibly different financial beasts when it comes to this; my take after about 20 years in New York and now living in Berlin for the last 5 (and having traveled here for work fairly consistently beforehand) is that it is a more democratic experience as an audience member. Cheaper tickets, smaller houses, and much younger audiences. So that’s a plus. But the industry is a different kettle of fish.
I’ll put it this way: When I did digital media for classical musicians, one of our clients sent a nice bottle of bourbon to their team (me and two senior staff members). I joked that the person who couldn’t afford such a bottle normally should be the one to take it home. This was both absolutely true and not at all well-received. (As for the bourbon, I’m sure it’s still sitting in a closet in those offices.)
Thanks for this post, as well as all your posts interrogating the public face of the elite. I wonder if a closer look at the financial operations of classical industry would bear fruit. How much does Dudamel make? What is Netrebko's fee? How big is the disparity between headliners and second-string soloists, not to mention first violin? Who actually holds the purse strings? I'm a jazz cat first, classical music is my second language, but from where I sit, it seems like the whole world of grand opera and the state-sponsored symphony is essentially "the rich at play." (Joseph Kerman in CONCERTO CONVERSATIONS (I'm paraphrasing): "Opera is one of the few places left where the rich can display their clothes and pearls in front of each other.") I am going to Yuja Wang and Thomas Adès at the end of the month in NYC, and the cheapest pair of tix total $500. I'm paying it, but it is really a stretch.
The US and Europe are two incredibly different financial beasts when it comes to this; my take after about 20 years in New York and now living in Berlin for the last 5 (and having traveled here for work fairly consistently beforehand) is that it is a more democratic experience as an audience member. Cheaper tickets, smaller houses, and much younger audiences. So that’s a plus. But the industry is a different kettle of fish.
I’ll put it this way: When I did digital media for classical musicians, one of our clients sent a nice bottle of bourbon to their team (me and two senior staff members). I joked that the person who couldn’t afford such a bottle normally should be the one to take it home. This was both absolutely true and not at all well-received. (As for the bourbon, I’m sure it’s still sitting in a closet in those offices.)