Classical - the need for glamour

[tones]

There was an interesting article in the "Basler Zeitung" this morning, on how new classical stars have to be young, glamorous and female - and preferably interesting. Naturally Anne-Sophie Mutter in trademark strapless gown was there (local girl after all - Rheinfelden (the German one) just a few Km up the Rhine from Basel), as was Hélène "dances with wolves" Grimaud. Others mentioned I didn't know (but I'm sure GrahamN would - Anna Netrebko (Russian soprano), Vesselina Kasarova (Bulgarian mezzo), Sharon Isbin (guitar)). As the BaZ put it:

"Es ist fast ein naturgesetz: für die Titelblätter der Werbeträger für Klassik-CDs muss weibliches Frischfleisch her"

(It's nearly a law of nature: fresh female flesh is a must for the title pages of classical music advertising )

In its usual careful, non-committal tone (this is Switzerland, world's most boring country, after all), the BaZ says that the classical industry is taking a leaf out of the pop music industry book (I hope not; I've just seen the "glam" act that won handsomely at the Brit Awards, The Darkness or something like that - omigosh!).

It reminds me of the time when one of the companies signed up Vanessa Mae while simultaneously cancelling the contract of John Eliot Gardiner. It had, said "The Guardian" at the time, a lot to do with Gardiner's notoriously sharp tongue, but also a lot with the fact that, with the best will in the world, John Eliot Gardiner simply does not look as good in a wet T-shirt as does Vanessa Mae.

The BaZ regrettably didn't go particularly deeply into the business, but clearly the classical end of the business is hurting, so as the strippers sing in "Gipsy", "you gotta get a gimmick".

 

[GrahamN]

Originally posted by tones
and preferably interesting. Naturally Anne-Sophie Mutter

Sorry - does not compute (although I guess her private life has been so recently). Netrebko is pretty smashing, but don't know of the others.

One of the current big stars....got the designer stubble...but somehow doesn't quite get the glamour

John Eliot Gardiner simply does not look as good in a wet T-shirt as does Vanessa Mae

True, but he seems to be adopting all sorts of trendy poses on the covers of his Haydn mass series.

A possible counter to this though is that Sarah Chang has been pretty much derided within the musical community due to the glamour-based hype, but does now seem to be struggling to re-establish a chamber music reputation based on her playing

Universal/DG do actually seem to be re-hiring serious musicians, but Sony are a complete distaster area. Interesting to see which way Warner/Erato will do now they've been bought out.

 

[sideshowbob]

Graham - you play, don't you? What about you, Tony? Maybe you could set up a swimsuit duo.

-- Ian

 

[tones]

Ian, don't you have any idea how expensive camera lenses are?

 

[tones]

Re: Re: Classical - the need for glamour

Originally posted by GrahamN
Sorry - does not compute

Like I said, local girl, Graham, so big interest in Basel (plus, I think she's playing here at the moment).

P.S. Who's hidden under the designer stubble?

 

[lordsummit]

This is sadly the way it's going. When I left college very few of my peers gained meaningful employment in an orchestra as the orchestras are all too skint.

Recently the Manchester Evening News had a big feature on two Royal Northern College of Music graduates who had been signed up by Pete Waterman having been spotted busking. They are being set up to be a sort of boy band equivalent to Vanessa Mae

Then what about singers, are Andreas Bocelli and Russell Watson really the best to be had or just a marketeers dream. Thank heavens for magazines like Gramophone I say

 

[GrahamN]

Re: Re: Re: Classical - the need for glamour

Originally posted by tones
P.S. Who's hidden under the designer stubble?

Valery Gergiev....big-name conductor....single handed defender of musical life in St Petersburg....saviour of the world...
(he actually looks much worse on the concert platform)

Ian - me...play? you should know I'm purely a theoretician nowadays. And the touch-up artist's ( ) fees would be outrageous.

The truly sad thing is the number of people who thank that Bocelli IS a good singer. (It's also a shame that another RNCM alumna, Ms Eaglen, hasn't taken a bit more care of her voice)

It's also a bit worrying that the Philharmonia has announced it's to go in for a style makeover with "complete repositioning in terms of sound" and other BS about relevance/trendiness. Sounds scary...but I guess we should not prejudge and wait to see what actually happens.

 

[Rodrigo de Sá]

Physical appearance has always been important, chiefly in Opera. Remember E. Schwartzkopff - she was a beauty. Also Karajan was extremely cautious about his appearance. Gustav Leonhardt is a very impressive figure; Kenneth Gilbert is a very average looking person, and he totally lacks glamour. I really think that counts against him; Kempff was impressively looking. Also many of the Romantics were good looking: Chopin, Liszt, Wagner. Beethoven had some trouble because he was very ugly.

So, visual aspect does count. Besides, it has been shown it is really important in everyday life and leads to success. As does your accent or your choice in clothing - just think of Bruckner: incredibly intense music but a very bad appearance (bad accent, very common manners, bad dressing, couldn't shine in society as he was so shy).

It has been established that, up to a point, psychological (and hence musical) qualities are inferred from physical traits.

But I do agree that some classical stars major on their appearance. For instance, Sophy Yates (harpsichordist, and a rather good one) has one particular record that is almost pornographic (it is called La Sophie, and must be understood in the context of her other records), and Ophra Arnoy (cellist) has only looks. Also, Glenn Gould was a specialist on how to make oneself interesting to others.

Hélène Grimaud is a little different. She is one of the most beautiful women I have seen, but that is not all. She exposes herself (I don't mean her body, I mean her soul) in an almost obscene way, but she has something to say. Also, the wolves' thing is understandable once you know her. And she plays in the most intense way - the same way she speaks about the word and writes about herself. She seems a wild and introverted girl, centered in her emotions, and that is exactly what one feels when listening to her Brahms.

 

[tones]

RdS, while I agree with you that physical appearance has always been important in human affairs, I think the present situation has really no precedent and breaks new ground. The classical music recording industry has a major problem with dwindling sales, so it is resorting in the first instance to musicians with more, shall we say, sex appeal, as well as some degree of musical talent.

I think it fair to say that, although Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was an attractive woman (ditto ladies such as Kathleen Ferrier and Janet Baker), this was incidental to their prodigious talent. The old perception seems to have been that the talent came first, and if the package in which the talent came was attractive, so much the better. And of course attractiveness counted particularly among ladies who graced the opera stage, where all heroines are supposed to be beautiful as well as notoriously prone to consumption and/or coming to sticky ends. Good-lookin' dolls weren't so important on the concert platform playing instruments - but now they are, and it seems to me that that's where the change has come. And of course Herbie von K. was a relentless self-publicist and careerist as well as a great conductor, quite willing to sell his soul purely for career advancement (e.g, by joining the Nazi Party, when many of his peers refused).

In addition, a traditionally conservative industry is applying the techniques of the mass market for the first time. The same approach can be seen in the release by the major labels of more and more cross-over and "bleeding chunks" recordings. I am constantly surprised to see how much of this stuff is released, when I look at the "newly arrived" section of Musik Hug Basel on my normal Saturday afternoon excursion.

It appears that the classical industry has finally got the message that the rest of the commercial world has known for years; sex sells. So, if a young lady is so endowed physically that she can be draped in a suitably alluring pose across a CD label, she has an advantage not previously utilised (any labels with Schwarzkopf and Baker that I have ever seen have been modest in the extreme). This is not to say they're bad musicians, of course - of all the versions of the Bach violin concertos I own, the young Mutter's remains my favourite - but that the trend is to push good looks at the expense of musical talent, and that can never be a good thing.

 

[Rodrigo de Sá]

Hi Tones:

I agree with you. But classic CDs being almost solely purchased through the Internet and rock and pop dominating sale places, this is a natural thing to happen.

But I don't think classical is in such a bad state. There are lots and lots of records being issued. Pop sells more, of course. But that is only because the musically unsophisticaded masses have acquired purchasing power. I believe that there will remain a core of classic oriented people that will go on buying.

Of course, this also means that capitalism has given the masses economic and decision power but not education. But that is a hot topic that would get me into trouble with other members (on second thoughts, I don't think it would: my popularity level outside the classical room seems to be zero or even way below that, so why bother? And, anyway, I've already said it...)
:JOEL: