Interesting review. Thanks for kicking down some previously unknown knowledge and uncontemplated thoughts. I got a few specific reactions though...
> Lebrecht blames the sad state of classical music on the greed and
>selfishness of the agents and their clients who care nothing about the
>music, its tradition, nor do they believe they have any duty to the
>public(1).
[...] >1) Lebrecht often falls into an elitist-aristocratic type critique
>accusing businessmen of being philistines who know nothng about music
>and therefore should not be "running the show" so to speak. Classical
>music like everything else in today's hyper-capitalist world is
>thoroughly controlled by the business class.
Does Lebrecht fall into "an elitist-aristocratic type critique" only because he is defending something that has the reputation of being elitist and aristocratic, ie, classical music, or is his basic outlook and critical stance elitist-aristocratic? It's not clear to me. It seems too easy, not to mention wrong, to label someone who is passionate about classical music an elitist, if indeed that is what your are doing. I mean, Edward Said adores classical music but i dont think he can be called elitist. Also, I don't see that *everything* is controlled by the business class...or maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic.
>Naxos has, in effect, taken over the market through its excellent prices
>and decent recordings of unknown performers from the former Eastern bloc
>countries. Lebrecht goes into the fascinating story behind the rise of
>this label.
As a reader of your review, I want to know more about this Naxos. At least a few words. Ya left me hanging.
> Lebrecht gives us no hint as to why the audience for classical
>music is shrinking and why that diminishing audience is composed
>primarily of petty-bourgeous and bourgeois types trying to show that
>they are sophisticated and ":cultured" and in the process distancing
>themselves from the hated unwashed masses. The truth is that most people
>who attend concerts do so for the social prestige and to be "seen".
I dont think that is necessarily THE truth. In fact, probably the biggest classical music fans i know are a part of the great unwashed, at least economically, and these are people who really do appreciate the music and have never touched a tuxedo or opera glasses in their lives. But my evidence is purely anecdotal... sort of like yours.
> Lebrecht does not criticize today's music from a musical point of
>view. He could have pointed out that today's music is often played cold
>and clinically with most of the performer's attention and effort spent
>on technical details rather than the emotional and psychological aspects
>of the music.
Maybe I am a complete Philistine, but I have never been able to locate any emotional and psychological aspects in classical music. I have tried. My girlfriend constantly tries to get me to hear it, but I can't. I get more emotion and feeling out of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" than all of Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Verdi,etc. combined. (And I haven't mentioned Monk, Mingus, Ornette Coleman, oh I could go on...) As I said though, I am probably a total derelict.
eric