Boos for Beethoven’s 9th in Vienna
OrchestrasThe Konzerthaus audience voiced its dismay at the end of a revised Beethoven 9th on Saturday night.
Between the second and third movements, the conductor Omer Meir Wellber inserted a new work by the Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff (pictured). ‘The Eternal Stranger’, a monodrama on homelessness for actor and orchestra, did not go down well with the Viennese bourgeoisie. The newspaper Die Presse designated it ‘a completely unnecessary experiment’.
UPDATE: Hwere’s a different view from Kurier:
Kurier, 02.01.2024 (Wien)
Beethoven’s Ninth” as an appeal for human love and against anti-Semitism
Meir Wellber and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the year
Review.
Before Omer Meir Wellber handed over his post as music director of the Volksoper to Ben Glassberg, he transformed the traditional performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ninth” with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Konzerthaus into a stirring appeal for human love and against anti-Semitism.
This was achieved by means of the disturbingly powerful composition “The Eternal Stranger” by Ella Milch-Sheriff, which he wove into Opus 125.
Milch-Sheriff set a letter by Beethoven to music, in which he imagines a journey to Syria, Arabia and Israel. Joshua Sobol wrote a monologue that tells the story of someone stranded in our world. It is a moment of disturbance when Beethoven’s harmonies mutate into shimmering string sounds, an oboe suddenly intones an oriental-sounding solo, the actor Eli Danker rises from the orchestra to speak rhythmically, telling of his love for everything that exists, but which offers him no protection against the hatred of others.
Associations with Gaza
Danker acts brilliantly, drumming, dancing, falling, awakening associations with the sentence: “My son, where are you?” with current events in Gaza. How many parents shout this in their thoughts to their children who are still being held hostage? Wellber leads seamlessly to the Adagio of the Symphony in D minor, leading with verve to the finale. Christopher Maltman, Michael Schade, Mari Eriksmoen, Wallis Giunta and the Vienna Singakademie are excellent and expressive.
It was unfortunate that some of the audience did not want to appreciate the memorable nature of this performance and protested against the new music, but in the end the cheers dominated.
Susanne Zobel
It has nothing to do with a bourgeois audience. It has do with respecting a work of art for what it is. Shame to Meir Wellber !
If Elmer Milch Sheriff thinks her work is good enough to be played in public it should be able to stand alone not inserted into the middle of the works of arguably one of the greatest composers of all time Beethovens works have been performed & loved world wide for centuries & should not be tampered with in this way.Beethoven b 1770 d 1827 & his music will live for many many more I imagine.
Well said, the problem is we all tend to listen to what we know and it often gives new works little audience.
But, pissing off an audience isn’t the way to go.
Those exposed to art of all kinds have been angered by new and different. All art was once new.
Why rape Beethoven to “expose” people to some inferior modern composer? Can’t stand on its own?
I have nothing against new art. Let it be separately -before or after. But to break any piece of art in two like that is immoral.
I can understand members of the audience wanting the comfort of the familiar – but there is great joy in discovering new ways of appreciating traditional art. We should explore for our own benefit but I suppose it depends on one’s mood at the time of performance.
Glenn – is your father’s name Fred L? Sydney, Australia? And your Australian public name is Glenn A Baker? If so, we have intersecting families here in Australia.
Well said, Peter Johnson. Change can be uncomfortable. Admiration extended to those who do it.
I’m all for new works-but they do not belong “inserted” into an existing work of such magnitude. Just wrong.
That’s why God created encores.
Roger, that.
Yes quite so, and in Vienna if all places!
Agreed-very good
Exactly. For example, one wouldn’t insert a play by a modern playwright – however good – between Acts II and III of ‘Macbeth’.
Don’t give anyone such an idea, please!
Yes, another dumb anti-human woke move. Silly, unnecessary, insulting.
The very definition of stupidity.
Although I haven’t heard Elmer Milch Sheriffs music I doubt that it would enhance Beethovens music in anyway shape or form,Beethoven arguably one of the greatest composers of all time his music has been played & enjoyed world wide for many many years & no doubt will be enjoyed for many more without the introduction of a relatively unknown composers work in the middle of his 9th Smyphony.
We must not be too hard on such a ploy it’s an effort to get unknown works exposed. I’m a bit of an old stick in the mud but it’s not easy for new blood to get heard.
Don’t put a new work in the middle of a much loved classic.
The BBC proms have been introducing new works along with the classics since Sir Henry Wood started the Proms
I am all in favor of giving exposure to new works, but there are better ways of doing it than this. Beethoven conceived of his symphony as a complete whole; the movements flow from one to the next to give the listener an overall experience.
Nevertheless, new work should be played as a debut and not inserted in a masterpiece.
Well said, thank you
It wasn’t necessary to put in between movements. It should have been played before or after not in the middle of a Sinfonie.
Exactly
I suppose that it gave people a chance to go to the bar or to the toilet!
Then do it the way it is done elsewhere: play the new work before a mayor piece.
This is done in the BBC PROMS regularly and opinions may vary but nobody leaves the hall in horror.
They could have inserted the new work at the end of Beethoven’s no. 9. The audience was still there. Or right after intermission.
This is the reason Good created encores
It would have gone down much better if they had played the new work before Beethoven’s 9th, not during it. The worst possible judgement, IMHO, and not a good way to sell a new composer or new composition. Make it the opening act, instead.
Any new composition must stand on its own merit. Attaching it to a renowned historical person’s famous work at that, seems like an effort to have, in this case…Beethoven’s musical creativeness, rub off a part of its fame on the “newcomer’s” attempt at composing.
Like it or not, my previous comment was meant to point out that, by inserting one’s (modern)? composition onto the “masterpiece” of a revered composer of yore, appears presumptuous, and invites ridicule of the “hopeful” lyricist.
I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t appreciate hearing ANY other composer’s work inserted into Betthoven’s 9th (or any other great work). If I’m going to hear Beethoven’s 9th, I don’t want to hear Brahms’ 4th inserted into it, and vice versa.
More importantly it appears to have clearly supported Israel! At this time a very insensitive acf?
That was probably the unstated intent.
Yes. It’s most important to be seen to be doing the right thing these days. We can’t escape politics.
Revising Beethoven is not a good idea.
Mr.Wellber remixed also a Verdi’s opera once ( “Les vêpres siciliennes”) in Munich. With dubious artistic results as well.
Perhaps new composers could be taught to compose tuneful music rather than the noisy tuneless work many compose today.
There is infinite gorgeous new music. One might avail oneself of it before condemning.
I remember long ago, at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, the Halle performed a new work before the 9th. It sounded like a farmyard. There was a ripple off polite applause.
Later on the evening some members of the orchestra were enjoying a drink in the Abercrombie pub. I asked what they thought of the now-forgotten opener. The reply was unprintable!
He did the Milch Sherif to much acclaim in Boston, preceding a rousing account of Leonora 3 ouverture. However, inserting other pieces between mvts of a symphony destroys the structure and architecture of it. Michael Gielen and Eberhard Kloke did similar things in Germany in the 80s and 90s.I´ve played in some of these events, and i never warmed to it.
Yes, Gielen (on occasion) inserted Schoenberg’s “A Survivor from Warsaw” just before the last movement of the 9th… With what is happening right now in Palestine perhaps Mr. Omer Meir Welber could consider this option?
“If musical life does not convey this central experience of our time… then it is not a cultural life, but a cultural lie.” (Michael Gielen)
True, lets consider the essence of art is to stimulate the viewer, listener, to expand his mind. Sometimes it works perhaps sometimes not. I can here the same old same old on an excellent recording. Looking forward to hearing an experiment.
The “new” composition could be a masterpiece on its own, too, but why “attach” it to someone else’s well-known one? And gracious, one of two centuries ago at that???
Mr Gielen was very wrong with his “If musical life does not convey this central experience of our time… then it is not a cultural life, but a cultural lie.” Because the great works which have survived the passing of time, could do so, because they have an intrinstic meaning that is not bound to time and place and are thus contemporary forever. Performing Beethoven (or anything of the great repertoire from the past) is a very contemporary thing to do. If music has something truly meaningful to convey, it is always a central experience of the time in which it is performed. This is the paradox of Western classical music, and explains its popularity in other areas of the globe where there are entirely different local traditions, pasts, social structures, etc. etc.
It is in the West where an exaggerated rationalism appears – for quite some people – block understanding what they are hearing and feeling. It may also be a cultural virus, however.
But not what ‘happened’ in Israel on October 7
I take that as ‘tongue in cheek’. For future reference you ought to know that we support Israel and not Palestine.
Who’s “we?” (Or was that “tongue in cheek?”)
I’m inclined to agree. Why would you put anything extraneous in the middle of a symphony?
Why not a bit of orchestrated Taylor Swift or Bohemian Rhapsody? Who needs to hear a classic work that can’t be improved by inserting another irrelevant piece?
I agree! This stuff has to be spiced-up a bit to keep listeners awake. A couple of weeks ago I had to attend a performance of some Mahler piece which was about dying at the end and indeed the complete audience was almost dead of boredom. I don’t know because I fell alseep much earlier and had to be woken-up when the ushers closed the hall.
Sally
And what, pray tell, would you think of having one of YOUR compositions performed with insertions here or there or everywhere? Beethoven’ compositions do NOT need to be “spiced-up a bit”. As for your compositions, Mr. Borstlap, I would be more than just surprised if they were even being performed 200 years from now – spiced-up or not! Your obvious disrespect for composer of the stature of Beethoven is a disgraceful reflection of your own incapability! Shame!!!!
I think Mr. Borstlap is being
ironic.
You may now laugh. It’s quite alright.
Irony rarely works here. Best not to bother.
..errhh… Irony failure? Sense of humor failure..?
Sally forth and pique humorless bores!
Sally is the little mouse that roared in the house.
Well your post made me laugh so much thanks , I suspect tired listeners often give way to the call of nature.
You need to sleep prior to your concert-going experience, and not blame the music for your lack of energy to remain awake. If music bores you so much, stay at home and sleep with impunity.
If you find Mahler boring, why did you go in the first place? Was someone holding a baton to your head?
I had to go, as part of my contract, ‘to get some more musical education’. Next time I will watch my cellphone videos with the sound turned-off.
Sally
Would that be conforming to the request that ALL electronic devices to turned off (not merely silenced) and, in addition, respectful of those around you in terms of the distraction your lighted device inflicts on others. That’s what they made lobbies for!
If you find Mahler or any other composer boring, why did you attend the concert ?was someone holding a baton to your head?
Literally always a pleasure to read one of your sh*tposts, JB/Sally.
And a “I can’t be bothered comment” referencing an unnamed Mahler dirgefest is on point.
Bohemian Rhapsody may be irrelevant for you, for me it surely isn’t. Definitely not the same place and time for playing it as during a Beethoven symphony, but a respectable work of art nonetheless.
If you need to make a point, I’m sure there are many examples which are indeed irrelevant. Bohemian Rhapsody was just as much of a cornerstone in rock history as Beethoven 9th was for classical music BTW. The irony…
Irony indeed. Your comment makes about as much sense as the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody. “Relevance” is entirely context dependent. It has nothing to do with a “respectability”. You’re conflating the two. Bohemian Rhapsody is respectable in its own right. It’s a fine example of progressive rock. In the right context, it would be highly relevant, but if you stick it in the middle of a performance of Beethoven’s ninth symphony it’s an irrelevant distraction.
Or: bring out some of those retro-Las Vegas, topless showgirls doing a Beethoven burlesque? Serve cocktails and Viennese pastries? Maybe famous composer-themed slot machines in the lobby?
hahaha!
Why oh why did you murder your wife Madeline?
Ha! Good one.
Originally Sheriff’s piece was created to an invitation of Welber and intended to precede a Beethoven piece, thus the composer wrote several endings to match the key of the chosen Beethoven in the program. They did it with sevral orchestras, in Israel they matched the 4th symphony, but not in between movements.
A far better idea.
Wellber should have more respect for his audience and Beethoven.
Enough is enough. It’s time that these people will be kicked out of their jobs. This is the reason classical music is not popular, snobbish people like Omer and Ella think they are more interesting than Beethoven.
Ella is just an ignorant who did her career over her former husband.
Omer has no talent so he is busy pretending that he is an intellectual who writes books with zero artistic value.
At least I’m sure that when they will be gone nobody will remember their names
Ella Milch
Omer Welber
Orit Fogel
…….
This is why people hate Israel
Viennese hate Israel for the same reason they have not heard Sostakovichs 13th symphony; they hate the Jewish people
I imagine there is lot of Shostakovich they have not heard. The VP did record Sym. 5 — twice I believe.
Good way to spell Shostakovich
What??????
Nobody is more interesting than Beethoven. The present time of the verb is intentional. In spite (!) of all the hollaballoo and hoopla of the snobs around that altar and the filthy smoke of their incense, and in spite of his works being programmed too often, and the lazy performances that are just under tempo and with too many strings, that music is the ever refreshing source of defining what music can and should do, no matter what.
What I love most about this website is the entrenched and polarised comments. This story seems to have a unanimous agreement that this was a stupid innovation. I agree. I really wish there was a comment with which I could disagree and post a downvote.
Talk about pro or anti Israel sentiment, at a time of chaos and oppression, if you think it applies here.
Possibly for some people but not at all necessarily so. As much as there is an appalling amount of antisemitism rearing its ugly head in the world at present, the criticism is essentially artistic, purely and simply. To do this to Beethoven’s 9th, or any Beethoven for that matter, let alone myriad other great composers, is an utterly desecration and the height of ignorant disrespect and tastelessness!
I am an Israeli, a Zionist, and I am as outraged as anyone else here that this occurred and that a fellow Israeli played any part in it. The reality is that there were plenty of people, hundreds at least, who knew about this before it happened and they didn’t STOP IT. Keep raising hell with the orchestra management or it will not just happen again…it will become the new norm.
What I love about this website is the comments by John Borstlap. And Sally.
I fired her several times, but she keeps coming back.
Look further down.
All downvotes are by me and I stress the fact that I entirely agree with the insertion of a bloop piece in that old piece of furniture!
Sally
Doesn’t the conductor understand how frustrating it is to be interrupted after the first two movements, just before the climax of the third ecstatic movement. I would have thrown my bourgeoisie bottle of beer at him. Also, do not interrupt Bolero with a talk about climate change.
I was there, and I left. I might even have attentively listened to the symphony being grafted, but unfortunately it was also a performance. The thespian declaiming how he loves all the creatures, and his love is bigger than your hate, was too much for me to stomach. A prior description of the show was nowhere to be found.
Changing anything about the 9th is like adding to the Sistine Chapel….in crayon.
Times change, Jason.
Stupidity does not.
Then warn the audience so they have the choice to avoid a jarring performance.
No one likes a bait and switch.
Don’t give anyone ideas.
If my field, finance, I am an innovator… I use 2 rules: test the new idea with others that are qualified and objective. Whose circumstances do not depend on you.. And, respect respect the element or item that you are trying to improve or innovate upon. This conductor did neither clearly. Maybe he just wanted to be talked about, and to be on the spotlight. But it clearly backfired!
I wonder, how do you know whether those others are qualified and objective? And not clever poseurs, even in finance? In music life, the qualified and unqualified are mixed in ever different combinations.
I recently attended a dance performance interpreting Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in a South Indian tradition. There was an interpolation of dance in the middle that worked rather well. A key difference was that the (excellent) musical performance was a recording. It was more about the dance.
Given that the Rite of Spring is a ballet it makes sense.
Classical music audiences are very conservative (small c), anything out of the ordinary is met with approbation. Historically audiences and programs were much more liberal (small l) often with choice extracts from longer works, improvisations and variations on the score and freely clapping and jeering during performances. Sad that the only time current audiences abandon protocol is when they don’t get served up their standard fare.
I don’t think you understand what the word “approbation” means, Steve.
Probably meant disapprobation
That would be lower case (small). “Classic” typographical term from hand set type.
Please look up the meaning of the word “approbation.” You’re in for an embarrassing surprise.
Yes, but Beethoven’s 9th is a load of humanist nonsense, “Ode to goddess Joy”, so spoil away. If it had been his 6th symphony, that would’ve been a different story! Discuss…
Yes.. ‘humanist nonsense’ indeed….I particularly object to that line in Schiller’s poem, ‘all men will brothers be’.
Well, finally it created some attention – probably more than most of these inevitable New Years Eve Beethoven 9 performances.
I am going to say that even if this was the worst experiment in the entire history of experiments in the performance of notated music, I am still completely on favour of it.
Was this a complete suprise, foisted upon an unaware audience? Or did they attend in the full knowledge of the intended program?
Beethoven isn’t a sacred cow.
People don’t like a Bait and Switch tactic. It sounds like this was a surprise for the audience.
Once you are in the hall, you ate a “captive audience “.
I was there. It was a surprise. I’ve never heard booing at a classical concert before. I want my money back.
I was there too and I felt so relieved to hear such booing. What an insult to the music.
…”you ate a captive audience…” -obviously music leaving one hungry for more!
(Just to Milch it for all it’s not worth).
What kind of composer is this lady?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-0cBNlsbeY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Nhlizz-Zs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0e0ayR6r3w
An able one, with a quasi-Russian bent, probably to make the music sound folkoristic.
It seems not a good idea to squeeze her between Beethoven’s symphonic movements.
Yes, but the mezzo soloist (video 1), has wonderful Hair.
The principal flutist’s hair is even better!
Can’t wait for Berg’s Wozzeck to be combined with the Danube waltz. Ultimately it’s all about the water.
That would be an improvement.
I spent 7 hours travelling to Vienna to experience an arrogant composer and conductor butcher Beethoven. And no encore!!!
Your comment reminded me of the old joke about a restaurant patron. He complains that the food is terrible, but also that the portions are too small.
touché!
Playing something instead of the 4th movement… that would be fine for me. (Choral Fantasy?)
I always found the last movement of LvB’s Ninth a pretentious bore. Play it like the unfinished Bruckner Ninth.
There are speculations that Beethoven considered replacing the 4th movement with an Allegro (wich became later a movement in one of his string quartets, just now I do not remember which, I can’t access my reference literature just now).
The last movement has always been contested. Somewhere in the period 1900-1910 there was a renewed discussion about it in France (i.e. Paris), and many erudite musicians and critics agreed that movement was a flop. And lo and behold, the famous composer who had as no other lambasted the entire classical tradition and especially the German bit of it: Debussy, climbed in his pen and wrote an article strongly defending the whole work and especially the finale, describing how well it was structured and how effective its expressive theroric. Now THAT says something.
Who the hell does this woman think she is? This is such a perverse idea and should not be allowed. She deserved to be booed! I recall hearing that Marin Alsop did something similar with a performance of Beethoven 9 in America some time ago. Some things are sacred, so hands off Beethoven!
I was SO disappointed by Marin Alsop’s efforts too, did she do something to Messiah this year too?
To me it is as bad as someone altering a painting by an old master, or rewriting someone’s book!
Wellber demonstrated hubris and incompetence. Learn how to do the job,or find another line of work.
Im a pianist, and studied in Conservatory of music, trained in classical music. I wasn’t even allowed at that time to practice pop music or jazz style. And there are many reasons for that.
If Beethoven was alive today, he could sue that director, I’m sure.
No, it’s not appropriate, it’s disrespectful not just for the composer of the piece originally intended, but for the audience.
I disagree, Pavlova. If Beethoven were alive today he would not have sued the director; he would have emptied his chamber pot over the director’s head. A job well done – so to speak.
I think it’s great orchestras and conductors are trying something new. Especially in today’s classical world where audience numbers have dropped considerably after COVID and arts is slowly being defunded. It’s good to try programmes that might interest new concert goers which subsequently means a new interest and audience in arts and culture. Yes this programme might not have worked, but kudos to them for trying something different and pushing the boat out. How many times is Beethoven 9 played yearly in concert halls, its nice for a change sometimes.
Write some new music, do not plagerise beloved compositions written by someone else. At least tell the audience in advance why you feel the need for your revisions.
Please stop this dumbing down of all things artistic!‼️
What nonsense given the context! You may have heard Beethoven 9s dozens of times but many in the audience may have been hearing it for the first time. Why the management permitted such butchery is one of the questions not so far asked here.
The problem is that inserting other works into Beethoven’s 9th is NOT new. I’ve been at such concerts since the late 1960s. It’s a tired, old way for conductors to draw attention to themselves.
In the early 19th century – Beethoven’s time – it was quite customary to insert other pieces between symphony or concert movements (Beethoven’s own violin concerto was premiered with a short virtuoso bit inserted to give the soloist FINALLY a chance to show-off his virtuosity). In the course of that century people began to understand that multi-movement works had an architecture of themselves and that players had to respect the whole of a composition. That was an improvement, like the idea that listeners would listen in silence, as not to disrupt the sound world of the music.
Kudos to all the dismayed responders. This tone deaf move diminished her efforts and discredited the conductor. Happy New Year.
I attend concerts to hear and enjoy music, not to be preached at by some arrogant revisionist nitwit.
It reminded me of an anecdote told by Rozhdestvensky. Back in Soviet times, he was to perform Beethoven’s (what a coincidence) Missa Solemnis in Sofia, Bulgaria. But the authorities made it obligatory to perform a piece of new Soviet music during foreign tours, so a lady phoned the conductor. After quite a lengthy process of listening to the list of alphabetically arranged composers and pieces, he said he’d choose to perform Rakhmadiev’s ‘Festive Kui’, a short Kazakh dance. He was then asked where he’d perform the Kui, before or after Missa. ‘Doesn’t matter to me, I may even stop Missa, let’s say after Gloria, stick in the Kui and than continue the Beethoven’, Rozhdestvensky said. The offer to make an operation of inserting the Kui into Missa was send to Bulgaria, to which they responded, ‘Haven’t you gone mad?’ It had its effect, only Missa Solemnis was performed.
I don’t know how it worked in practice – not well, apparently – but this outrage that Beethoven’s 9th would be subject to such a sacrilege seems a little rich. Was it not a regular practice in Vienna – among other places – back in Mozart’s day (and perhaps also in Beethoven’s?) for concerts to feature a movement or two of a symphony, then some other works, then the conclusion?
Beethoven was known to improvise on the piano between pieces, but not within a piece to my knowledge.
There’s a difference between performing a movement or two of something, and then some other works, and what happened here, which was the insertion of a completely different piece between movements of a full symphony. The first is normal, and the movements of the symphony probably got played consecutively. The second is a stupid trend that really needs to go the way of other stupid trends – into the dustbin of history.
I am reminded of a Duke Ellington quote …..”The constant need to say something new each day is the height of immaturity”
I saw this musical experiment in Stockholm, but the new tune was played as a prelude to Beethoven’s 5th, not in between movements. It was fine.
I can see where performing it between movements could be disruptive, but it doesn’t warrant such vitriol.
Isn’t Beethoven’s 9th woke enough with all that brother-here-and-brother-there?
Marin Alsop replaced Schiller’s text with a poem recited by a rapper and added jazz and rap music as well to the symphony. How well did that go over?
Shocking
Hopefully badly.
It was indeed “completely unecessary”…
I don’t like the idea of buying a ticket for a performance and getting something different. Bait and Switch is not appreciated, especially when you’re in the concert all.
A few years ago, I bought a ticket for an online performance of Handel’s Messiah. The singers assigned whatever pronouns they liked to God. He/She/They–that’s not the way Handel’s wrote it; it was kind of tacky.
Had I known ahead of time, I would have looked for another performance.
Play the new piece before the main event–or warn the audience ahead of time.
The Chicago Symphony once performed the Brahms Requiem under Kent Nagano, who ornamented it with short interludes by Wolfgang Rihm between the movements. It most decidedly did not constitute an improvement.
Yes! There is a reason why a piece of music is as it is, and it will always benefit from being left alone as the composer intended! Meddling with great works shows a level of arrogance that is not needed.
Nagano butchering Brahms Requiem is no surprise. I’ve played often under him. He cares only about making an impression, a pathetic narcissistic.
Is this the same Omer Meir Wellber who recently in Vienna rushed through Lohengrin and subsequently justified his insane tempi with his desire to “denazify” the piece, adding “those who want to hear Nazi-tempi should go to Thielemann.”
Oh dear, those who abuse art as propaganda vehicles and to flatter their narcissism are the grave diggers of Music and art.
https://klassik-begeistert.de/pathys-stehplatz-30-saison-2023-24-in-wien-mit-christian-thielemann-kickt-man-den-lohengrin-aus-der-stube/
Yes, it’s the same Welber, with the same ignorance, arrogance, stupidity, egoism, illiteracy, power hunger and criminality.
Same goes to Ella, who uses dead composers names to do a “career”…. One day all will come to light.
I hope many will agree with you, Rose. Well said.
I live in South Africa. The issue at hand seems to be a first-world problem, sadly.
I am impatiently waiting to read the answers to your post. My command of the language is insufficient but I am sure several well-written individuals will delight in answering…
I’m waiting…
I agree! While WE are drowning in the storm of a tea cup, the real problems play themselves out in Africa! Have you seen the sheer size of that bit of the earth on a map?? And here we worry about stuff that was written 200 years ago. I rest my case. (Also literally so, just put a new Boulez box of wonderful CDs on the shelves)
Sally
My philosophy has always been to listen to anything once, but reserve the right to never hear it again. The worst example I can recall was also with Beethoven, when Gidon Kremer inserted a cadenza by Alfred Schnittke in the Violin Concerto — interesting, but Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!!!
Didn’t Joachim provide a cadenza for that concerto, must have been 50 years after the fact. He was a buddy of Brahms.
Why not Schnittke?
Because Schnittke belongs to a fundamentally different aesthetic and musical language, while Joachim was deeply rooted in the classical tradition, like Brahms (for whom he wrote the wonderful cadenza of B’s violin concerto).
Kremer seemed to be on a mission to insert Schnittke into every concerto. I heard the Brahms ruined with the Schnittke cadenza instead of that for which the work was written by Joachim.
Dear Crusader Rabbit – I heard it also. I agree with you.
I heard it c. 1980. In those years, we were all under pressure to pretend it was, somehow, “cool.”
The idea does rather make a hash of Beethoven’s interesting and innovative idea to quote/muse about the preceding movement’s music in the opening of the 4th movement. Perhaps for the first time ever some in the audience were tempted to burst out laughing (or at least nod in agreement) when they heard “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!”?
I suppose we should be thankful the opening of the fourth movement was not modified to include a quote of the extraneous piece. That would be the logical next step.
The choice of what to program WITH the 9th Symphony is itself a challenge with some risk. The late Lukas Foss during his time in Milwaukee took to programming Wellington’s Victory with the 9th, with the explanation that any other work by any composer is going to be trivialized just by being on the same program, and in particular Foss felt that the common practice of preceding the 9th with Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 1 or No. 8 was a disservice to those masterworks.
The idea of inter-meshing different works can sometimes work but more often does not. Conductor Andreas Delfs when he was in charge in Milwaukee tried it a few times. Alternating movements of Debussy’s La Mer and Britten’s Peter Grimes Sea Interludes most particularly did NOT work. Both great works were downgraded by the mash-up. But what DID work spectacularly well (in my opinion and in that of the audience that evening) was to sandwich Barber’s Adagio in between two performances of Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw, the first being done as typical concert performance, the second done with theatrical lighting and the narrator in costume so to speak as a death camp survivor in ragged coat, Star of David sewn on and the men’s chorus dressed in a more anonymous black, with the orchestra in the dark and a far more dramatic, nearly hysterically emotional presentation by the narrator and singers. Schoenberg rarely gets so many loud cheers in Milwaukee.
Interesting you should mention Andreas Delfs. Last season, he commissioned Derrick Skye to write a pendant piece to be performed before Brahms’ Requiem for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. This year, he has commissioned the same composer for a work to precede Beethoven’s 9th. The work for the Brahms, A Rage of Peace, was spectacular and worked beautifully with the Requiem. In both cases, Maestro Delfs did not and will not interrupt the perfect architecture of those masterworks. I am appalled by what happened in Vienna.
This almost made me laugh out loud! Goofy as heck!
It’s like painting over a masterpiece. Shame. It may be a good piece of music but I doubt we’ll ever know .
Two important points:
1. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, it was not uncommon to break up a symphony by playing other works in between movements.
2. Beethoven’s 9th presents a unique logistic challenge of when to bring on and seat the chorus. Do the come on at the beginning and sit for 40-50 minutes without a break, do they enter prior to the fourth movement—resulting in an unacceptable break between 3 and 4, or do they enter between 2 and 3, allowing the connection between 3 and 4 to be intact? Placing an alternate work between 2 and 3 is a way to solve the problem.
Remember “boarding” a chorus on stage can take 10 or more minutes on its own.
I wouldn’t be so hard on them for at least the logistics.
David Bernard – There is no problem for the chorus to sit during the entire piece. I have played over a hundred performances of the 9th and attended dozens more around the world, and that is the only way I have ever seen it done.
But, should the chorus walk onstage en masse during any concert for other pieces, it takes a little over one minute. I’ve been onstage for this hundreds of times.
In some performances of the 9th, the soloists enter the stage after the second movement. Takes 30 seconds.
You’re inventing problems that don’t exist. Try going to some concerts and see what actually happens. “Boarding” a chorus? What an imaginative expression.
It is lunacy. Shall we add lipstick on Mona Lisa?
Too late. Someone else has already added a mustache, and is named in art history books.
Marcel Duchamp, and adding some dirty scribbling on her as well.
It sounds like a very bad idea. Ella Milch Sheriff is a very good composer. I would like to listen to her music, but not in this manner. I would certainly not wish my Beethoven interupted like that.
Well, you’d think inserting a work in between movements of a symphony is atrocious. But but but, these days, Jessie Montgomery’s they/them-pandering “Hymn for Everyone” (I don’t like the pandering, but ultimately the real problem is that the music is bad) replaces a smashing Carnival/Figaro/Consecration of the House overture and so these amazing overtures are fast disappearing from concert programming. What’s worse? You pick.
Why not just play the new work on its own at some point in the program? Sounds highly illogical to put it in the middle of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
I’ll bet Beethoven woulda dug it. It’s all folk music. Music is to be played with.
That’s very ballsy and I don’t think taking risks is a bad thing but wrong crowd, wrong place, wrong piece to be inserting anything. People went for Beethoven. This could have been an encore.
I think it’s in bad taste to interrupt an established work of art with another. Each should shine on it’s own worth. To me it sounds like those ads on YouTube that garishly pop up while you’re enjoying a recording. Ella Sheriff’s and Omer Welber’s decision is wrong and vulgarly commercialized. I wonder if she’d approve of another piece imposing itself on her opus…
I’m glad they didn’t put up with it.
If the only way to prove you are relevant is to be sandwiched between something that is relevant – you’re probably not.
Almost as bad is playing the 9th in a concert where management decided to break it up between mvts 2 & 3 with an intermission because “people can’t sit that long”. I don’t know what the audience thought, but we musicians hated it. Years later we did not repeat that mistake.
Was the audience aware that there was an experimental approach was to be applied to the concert that performance?
People pay very hard earned money to hear new pieces and old pieces. If the audience was fully aware of the hybrid approach, then perhaps it needs time be appreciated. However, if the audience was ambushed, then there is a legitimate conversation to be had with the program director.
The conductor explained the meaning and the reasons for this integration before the begining. It worked well for me.
They should just program it with something that is completely unrelated, after a short intermission. There’s really no need to comment on Beethoven’s 9th, in my opinion.
I, personally, would be delighted to hear several of Queen’s greatest hits after the intermission. Okay, yes, I’m joking. But something completely unrelated would be fine with me.
They should instead inserted Shalom Hanoch’s “Waiting for the Messiah”
It’s not about bourgeois ideal. It’s about artistic theft of a great master’s thunder. An obvious talentless art thief’s attempt in trying to mooch off success of others. For shame, for shame …
Well, look at the publicity such a stunt has garnered. Call me a cynic but clearly this undesirable interruption has worked. Even I know about it now!
I’ve written a little ditty. Could I get that inserted too?
Headline: “Boos for Beethoven’s 9th”
They weren’t booing Beethoven 9, they were booing the garbage that was sandwiched into it.
I think the question here is whether the addition had been advertised in in advance in the programme. Other than that this looks like a truly Warholian publicity stunt.
Just another scam by the Chosen Ones.
A progressive that didn’t know when to stop. Shock, horror!
Now, to start with the title, the boos were not for Beethoven’s Ninth symphony.
Beethoven is God. You don’t mess with God.
Exactly! Beethoven is the god of music: tampering with the 9yj is tantamount to sacrilege. Beethoven surpassed everyone who came before him and set standards which no-one has reached since.
Above a certain level of excellence of music, there are no distinctions.
Plus, it is high time to replace Schiller’s Ode with Claudine Gay’s “It depends on the context”.
Interesting debate here. On one hand, respecting the composer’s intention is paramount. Playing another work as a preamble is one thing, but to insert it in the middle of a piece is another.
However, in many ways, we already do not respect the composers’ intentions when we perform: different instruments, different types of halls/audience, mixing programs with composers that disliked each other, etc. Many composers and artists have also been known to be open to innovations, collaborations, and improvisations.
Another point to consider is, was the inserted work pre-planned and printed on the program before the purchase of the tickets? If so, they should have been aware that this is an experimental approach to performing a classic, and perhaps should’ve been more prepared and open to it. If not, (which is perfectly fine), then perhaps they should not have purchased the tickets and should have let those who are more willing to listen to this kind of program buy the tickets.
However, performing the 9th at the end of the year is a tradition in many countries, and can be argued to be a poor opportunity to experiment and innovate. That being said, the 9th is rarely performed outside of this period, and if there really is a valid musicological and artistic link between the works, perhaps it can be justified.
I think all these points (and many more) should be considered carefully before jumping to emotional conclusions on either side.
As always, there is a general lack of understanding here of why was this piece inserted in the symphony and what it means. Most of criticism stated here is a direct result of that. At the Konzerthaus there were about 1800 people, about 10-15 people expressed discontent, others applauded. Was there, liked “the experiment”. Sheriff music was very well done.
Sounds like a “classic” bait and switch tactic that only served to sabotage a great piece of music that the audience paid for and came to hear, but had to endure some unexpected social commentary, disguised as art, that they didn’t want to consume, at least in that way, shape, or format!
Why, on earth, this urge to keep “innovating”, “rejuvenating”, reinvigorating”, etc. majestic masterpieces that have absolutely no need for such nonsense ? These are just vile ego trip efforts by mediocre “creators”. There should be jail time for them.
because “masterpieces” have never existed in a vacuum. Many works that we consider “masterpieces” now were denigrated and unappreciated by people who believed they understood what “masterpieces” meant, without considering innovation and context. In other words, someone like you. People like you who pretend to understand greatness have historically hindered progress in art, and therefore, if any jail time is to be given, I’d say it would be more appropriate for people like you 🙂
Ludwig will be turning in his grave. Dire, virtue signalling with Gaza in ashes, appalling.
Booing is a tough and regrettable response, but in this case, I sympathize with those so inclined to boo, because in recent years we have been witnessing increasingly aggressive and intrusive external social agendas imposed on the concert hall. Respect the classics. Play them with great joy, and take up social and political agendas in a separate forum. The concert hall is one place we can be free of this and just enjoy great art that rises far beyond a given time and place.
Just to add yet another comment: For years, it was believed that Franz Clement inserted a little ditty of his own after playing the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at its premiere in Vienna – a solo caprice with the violin held upside down. He then proceeded with the next two linked movements. Now, it’s thought this stunt took place as an encore. But apparently, playing an interlude after an opening movement was not such a shocking concept in 1806, since the Concerto’s Allegro was very long and maybe the audience in the Theatre an der Wien needed an amusing break.
anyway
wellber is a shame for vienna
thank god he is leaving!
but it won’t be any better at the volksoper
this new conductors there, don’t know how to conduct operette
Omer Wellber’s appointment at the BBCPO was yet another example of Simon Webb’s questionable decisions. It would seem he falls out with every orchestra he works with. Apparently at the Bavarian State Opera he had such a row with the orchestra, that they refused to stay for their curtain call.
Why “Vienna bourgeoisie?” The music should be uninterrupted without political experiments.All sorts of people go to hear this marvellous work and the word ” bourgeoisie” is very old fashioned nowadays.Many will be annoyed- in fact ALL music lovers.
We should always be accepting of new works, but the issue was that it was callously interrupting the Symphony. I would have been plenty happy to hear the piece as many concerts start: at the beginning as part of a showcase of different works.
I would categorize this “musical vandalism”, and not only due to the reverence we associate with Beethoven’s 9th symphony. It would be just as whacky as inserting the finale of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture between the 3rd and 4th movements of Brahms 4th symphony! Conductors have been known to “tinker” with orchestral works, but this is usually restricted to changes in tempi, or increasing the number of instruments called for by the score within a section (3 flutes instead of 2, 5 trumpets instead of 3), as Mahler had been known to do, and usuallyin the form of notes on the conductor’s score. But what was done on this occasion to Beethoven’s 9th was both arrogant and flat-out stupid!
Just don’t ever mess around and p.ss around with my favourite composer!
I was there New Year’s Eve. There was no inserted music at the 7pm performance. However the conductors interpretation of the 9th was atrocious
Wellber seems to have had the opposite of the Midas touch.
Simon Webb had yet another lack of judgement moments when he appointed him at the BBCPO. Things don’t seem to have gone too well for him in Vienna too.
Apparently at the Bavarian State Opera he succeeded in winding the orchestra so much, that they refused to remain in the pit for their curtain call. How long will he be allowed to stay at the opera in Hamburg?
It’s not about the new piece, it’s about its placement. Bisecting another work is arrogant vandalism of the highest order. Placing in the overall programme is fine.
The audacity of the woman and the disrespect for genius is contemptible. What can we expect next, an insertion into Shakespeare’s Hamlet, or an addition to da Vinci’s Last Supper or Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. This is sacrilegious and speaks volumes of the would be composer. Surely if she was talented there would be no need to do such a demeaning act. She will not be remembered for her work, but for her ignoble act.
So it wasn’t the Beethoven work itself that was being booed as the headline implied it was the insertion of another work into it. I wonder how long before the anti-EU right start quoting that misleading headline as proof that the EU is immensely unpopular?
“Viennese bourgeoisie” aka season ticket holders, most likely. What an odd an inappropriate way to make a political statement. Perform the new piece by itself and let it fly or fail on its own merits. This is just… odd.
Never should happen
Can someone link the Kurier article? I can’t seem to find it.