It sounds as if Terry Teachout thinks my career should end sooner than I’d like. I appreciate some of what he has to say, but if concerts of the sort I do are done for, then so am I.
I’m hoping this change that so many are predicting and, it seems, dreaming of, won’t take place until I’ve decided it’s time to hang up the old oboe. And I’m only nearing fifty. I just don’t think I’m ready yet, and I know I can’t afford it. We classical musicians don’t exactly have decent retirement plans.
Maybe it’s time to start thinking about what I’ll be when I grow up? Sigh.
If what Teachout says is true, recordings should have supplanted large
live concerts decades ago. But they haven’t. Even in the CD
era (and as we enter the IPOD era, with degraded sound quality, this
will become ever more true), the live concert is a sound experience no
recording can match. And a recording – you know how it
goes. A live concert has the potential for an exciting new
revelation.
Sure, the noisy, inattentive audiences are annoying. But they’ve
always been annoying. If Teachout thinks things are worse, it’s
because he’s a cranky old coot. Like me.
Hah! You made me laugh with your last line there! Thanks, David.
I do understand that problem with audiences … sometimes I go nuts sitting by some folks. And yet there really is nothing like that live music experience; you never know what you’re going to get, and that can be bad … but can also be absolutely wonderful!
And yes, I worry about one person’s opinion. Far too much, I’m sure! Maybe it’s my oboe nature?