Friday Miscellanea

You know, I am almost certain that fifty years ago the arts section of a major newspaper would NOT have had as the main item something like this: "Katy Perry Shares Her Latest Piercing on Instagram." Believe it or not, fifty years ago, most people would have thought that the "arts" were about, well, the fine arts: painting, sculpture, literature, theater and classical music. And even if one of the artists had had something pierced recently, it would not have been considered news. Not arts news at least. But times have changed, and not for the better. I'm still thinking about releasing my own fragrance...

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Now here is something quite nice, found in a slightly odd place: the National Review Online, which we don't necessarily associate with discussion of classical music. But here is an interview with Heather MacDonald on the future of classical music. She is quite optimistic, which is refreshing. It is only four minutes long, an excerpt from a longer interview, so have a listen.

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So, you are due to perform the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev and at the last minute he, Gergiev, cancels. So what do you do? Easy, you conduct and play it yourself. Here is violinist Vadim Repin, showing us how it's done.

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Here is a little statistical analysis of the relative popularity/obscurity of popular songs:

There's more to it in the post, so go have a look.

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Instead of getting paid for this gig, the promoters are asking the artists to pay them. As I recall, if you pay to play a gig, or if you do one for free, the Musician's Union is likely to make you pay a fine. The gig is the Superbowl and the publicity is likely to add a lot to the performer's bottom line. But still...

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Here's a quirky little story about a man who lived as a hermit in the Maine woods for nearly 30 years and is now returning to society. He isn't really happy about it, saying:

"I don't think I'm going to fit in," he said. "It's too loud. Too colorful. The lack of aesthetics. The crudeness. The inanities. The trivia."

So, it sounds as if what drove him into the woods in the first place was pop music and tv advertising. Boy, do I ever know how he feels! And now, it's even worse. Instead of The Police and Talking Heads, he is going to have to deal with Lady Gaga and Beyoncé.

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To end this brief miscellanea, let's have a listen to the Talking Heads. Here is the leadoff song on side one of Speaking in Tongues, the song "Burning Down the House":

UPDATE: Here is an article substantiating my comments way, way back, that this 10,000 hour rule is a bunch of bunk. For most people, working on something for 10,000 hours will NOT make you an expert.