Shostakovich 5th: Orchestra players break into dance

Shostakovich 5th: Orchestra players break into dance

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

December 22, 2022

Believe it.

The Geneva Camerata find the ghetto moves in DSCH. Truly revolutionary.

 

 

Comments

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    Ah, yes, “The Rite of Stalin”. I hope the players received double pay for being a contemporary ballet company.

  • Tweettweet says:

    That’s really cool! It looks great and expressive. I admire such interaction between musicians and dancers!

  • Haydn70 says:

    Just when one thinks the woke idiocies cannot sink any lower or be more ridiculous, we get this garbage.

    • The incredible Mr. Sarastro says:

      Since when is dancing woke? Or do you just call everything you dislike woke?

    • MacroV says:

      You realize that Shostakovich is pretty much the definition of “woke?” He’s writing music that’s challenging the establishment, portraying the suffering of his people, reflecting his times and place. Most people seem to admire Shostakovich for making everything about the evils of Stalin and the Soviet system – but I guess it’s different when Black people do it, eh?

  • OckeghemMissaProlationum says:

    “Revolta”? More like revolting!

  • Ted says:

    Takes a lot to make me cringe these days so congrats to all involved.

  • JJC says:

    Disgusting.

  • Wayne Bruce says:

    This is clearly utter crap but “Ghetto”…? You may want to think about choosing your words more carefully these days.

    • Reality-based says:

      Did you watch the video? The term is invoked by one of the choreographers explaining the Los Angeles roots of the dance concept.

  • Wannaplayguitar says:

    Aurora gone mad. Does insurance cover for broken bows and instruments used in battle scenes?

  • Julien says:

    In this video, David Greilsammer is more useful as a krump dancer than as a conductor.

  • Imbrod says:

    Copycat krumping (from Paris Opera, 2017). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h9HP-VOJv4

  • E Rand says:

    Everyone wanted DEI in the arts. Here. Here’s your DEI-drink it up. Don’t like it? You’re a bigot, obviously.

  • Hans-Dieter Glaubke says:

    The highest of insults portrayed to DSCH!

  • Margaret Koscielny says:

    Well, I have to say, I wish I had been there.
    Music needs a bit of pick-me-up radical rendering every now and then, and where best to try it, with a overly-dramatic piece of music which has become a cliche of Soviet suffering.

  • Baffled in Buffalo says:

    Wayne Bruce, the word “ghetto” is in the voiceover of the video, and the subtitles translating that voiceover into English (accurately, I suppose).
    Someone connected with the dancing says “this dance was born in the ghetto…as a way of escaping reality”.
    So Norman is not arbitrarily introducing ‘ghetto’ to be a wise guy.
    And btw, it seems to me an interesting mash-up I might have liked if I was in the audience. At least no extra music was added, as in Marin Alsop’s versions of Beethoven’s 9th.

  • MacroV says:

    I love it! It’s probably not something you could get a regular orchestra to do much, since you can’t really choreograph it in four rehearsals, but it gives another sense of the power of music. And since when is it a problem for people to dance to music?

  • anmarie says:

    Shoshty must be cringing in his grave.

    • MacroV says:

      He might be pleased to know that, nearly 50 years after his death, his music is getting played as much as ever. Most composers aren’t so lucky.

      And I marvel at the people who think that something like the Berlin Phil/Peter Sellers St. Matthew Passion is great (I do) but take umbrage at this. They both represent different ways of presenting music (and using music as a statement).

  • MarkinNYC says:

    Cultural Relativism gets you this. And, it will get worse from here.

  • Mecky Messer says:

    Absolutely idiotic, but not for the alt-right reasons most of the opponents of this video mindlessly regurgitate.

    1) Theres absolutely no point in force feeding “culture” to masses who simply regard other mediums of expression as more significant. It does a disservice to both shostakovich and the dancers.

    2) Its cheap, lazy thinking. How on earth is “I’ll force fit Rap/HipHop into anything” a culturally relevant/creative endeavor? This sugarcoating has never worked and it speaks volumes of the lack of intellect that abounds in the cultural sector.

    Whats next? The nutcracker goes to the Bronx? Eine Kleine Rap Musik?

    Yeah, people are going to stop listening to Beyonce or Lady Gaga and move into Mahler just because someone did a video with an african american…does anybody really believe this?

    Another day, another stupid project that wont move the needle in the slow decay of this particular type of artform.

    Its dead. Like the Latin language. Only regurgitations of works of the past but no relevance in today’s world.

    The faster you all accept this, the better.

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