Susanna Eastburn
Today’s Daily News Roundup responds to the questions “Where have the great composers gone?” Plus presidential operas, Norman Lebrecht’s latest, and more.
+ Soap opera or operatic tragedy? Schmopera’s Jenna Douglas evaluates the hypothetical operas of the 2016 American Presidential election.
+ Susanna Eastburn, a chief executive of Sound and Music and a champion of new music, responds to Philip Clark’s editorial “Where have the great composers gone?”
“It’s necessary to acknowledge that the world is different from even 10 years ago, let alone the 20th century. We underestimate the disruptive societal impact of digital technology. Most obviously, access to information and our ability to communicate with people across the globe have been revolutionary. But the characteristics of a fully emerged digital age (non-hierarchical, networked, fluid, global) have a much deeper impact on society and therefore culture’s place in it.
Fixed and hierarchical ideas of “greatness” feel off-kilter with the times, even socially divisive in their narrow view of what greatness is and how it manifests itself not only musically, but also culturally and demographically.”
+ Video of the Day – Duet for French Horn and Chair.
+ Read Norman Lebrecht’s latest review of F. X. Mozart and Muzio Clementi piano concertos performed by Howard Shelley.
+ This Day in Music – 1949: Alan Menken is Born.
