There aren't many good pubs left in London. The smoking ban was the killer stroke, driving good paying customers into the rain to smoke a cigarette, but they've been dying for years. Those that are left a too clean, ordered, and civilized. Alcohol has been associated with Dionysus since 1500 BC: the God of chaos, extreme pleasure, danger, the life of the senses not of the mind. It's crazy to serve the stuff in pubs that look like they've been entered for the Ideal Home Exhibition!
But if you emerge from the main entrance to Waterloo Station, look slightly to your right, you'll find a proper pub – the Hole in the Wall. Every few minutes the building shakes as a train passes overhead. Yesterday was live music night with the wonderful What the Folk!?
The Red Hedgehog, situated diagonally across Archway Road from Highgate tube station in north London, is a modest venue. It does not shout “look at me!” from its frontage, nor does it play host to showboating ‘rock-star’ performers like Chinese Poster-Boy Lang Lang. Instead, inside this bright, cosy, friendly venue, one can enjoy music equal in quality to anything one might hear at the Wigmore, Cadogan or Queen Elizabeth Halls on any night of the week, played by serious, committed musicians, both well-known and up-and-coming.
Now just over four years old, the Red Hedgehog opened, without fanfare, in the summer of 2006. Named after a coffee house in Vienna, Zum Roten Igel, a favourite watering hole of Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn et al, in its first season it welcomed through its unobtrusive doorway the likes of grand old man of piano, Peter Katin, as well as Piers Lane, James Lisney, the late Yonty Solomon, soprano Emma Kirkby, ‘cellists Alexander Baillie and Steven Isserlis, and actor Simon Callow, among many others. It has enjoyed lively and varied subsequent seasons, combining solo recitals with chamber music, song, jazz and folk. Alongside the salon concerts are masterclasses, activities for children, drama events and art exhibitions. It continues to host concerts by some of the “big names” in classical music as well as offering an opportunity for newcomers to make their mark.
I first visited the Red Hedgehog in December 2006. It was, as I recall, rather a long haul up the Northern Line from my home in the leafy suburbs of south-west London, even with a stopover at Green Park to pick up a friend en route. Admittedly, we missed it the first time, mistaking it for a kebab shop; but once inside, we were intrigued and delighted by this unusual recital space. The music, Schubert’s complete Impromptus (with generous encores by Mozart, Chopin and Schumann), seemed just about perfect for this intimate venue. Schubert’s music as he intended it: played for friends and among friends. Afterwards, glass of wine in hand, we were in no hurry to leave: the atmosphere was convivial and friendly, as the soloist mingled with his audience. Warmed by a second glass of red wine, we trudged back to the station in the cold winter air, and began the long journey south.
I am sorry to confess I have not yet returned to the Red Hedgehog, though I have followed its fortunes closely. I have always enjoyed music in small or unusual venues. As a child, a “treat” for me was to sit behind the CBSO (when they were still based at Birmingham old town hall), so that I could watch the percussionists at work. On holiday in Venezuela once, I enjoyed chamber music amongst the tree ferns in the courtyard of a beautiful Spanish colonial house; in Zadar (Croatia) Bach played in a tiny Byzantine church. While I enjoy concerts in more traditional venues, the Wigmore, Queen Elizabeth and Cadogan Halls being my favourites in London, I do think that music in small venues offers a truly unique concert experience. It connects us to the music in a very special way, and reminds us that much of the music that was written before about 1850 was intended for the salon, something that can be forgotten when hearing music in a larger concert venue.
Pianist James Lisney, someone who positively embraces performing in small, intimate venues, has been a loyal and active supporter of The Red Hedgehog (he suggested its name), and a regular performer there since its inception. He regards the venue as an “investment in London’s pianistic life”, and is concerned that the venue is not getting the attention it should, especially with an important Beethoven cycle coming up next month, when acclaimed British pianist Peter Donohoe will perform the complete Piano Sonatas of Beethoven in a series of eight recitals over four consecutive weekends.
This concert series will provide listeners with a rare opportunity to experience Beethoven’s extraordinary music in the kind of setting he would instantly recognise himself: the salon. In a bigger concert venue, one does not have the chance to get “up close and personal” with the music – and the performer – and sometimes the immediacy of the music can be lost. At The Red Hedgehog, one can enjoy a very close rapport, true eye-to-eye contact, with performer, and music.
A trawl through the very favourable reviews of past performances at The Red Hedgehog proves that music critics have really embraced the “small is beautiful” ethos of the place, describing it variously as “cosy enough to be ideal for the purpose of listening to chamber music”, “bohemian”, “….the next best thing to having musicians perform in one’s home” and “delightful, unexpected and welcoming”
This wonderful “small miracle” (Simon Callow) receives no funding; instead, it relies on its indefatigable artistic director, Clare Fischer, and a loyal group of supporters, volunteers and friends, as well as its artists, who are prepared to shrink, or even waive their fees to help keep the place alive, and lively. And its audience, crucially, mainly local people (and Highgate is famous for its intelligentsia and culturally aware), is interested and committed. But in these straitened economic times, when the arts seemed to receive the first swipe of the coalition Government’s vicious scythe, perfect little gems like The Red Hedgehog are under threat – a great shame when there was an upsurge of interest in classical music just before the credit crunch.
Right now, no one can predict what the future will bring, but while venues like The Red Hedgehog remain open, there is still hope – and the chance for “any true music-lover…….. to hear top-flight artists in an intimate setting” (Douglas Cooksey, classicalsource.com)
Links:
www.theredhedgehog.co.uk
www.jameslisney.com
www.crosseyedpianist.wordpress.com
FRANCES WILSON is a pianist and piano teacher and, as The Cross-Eyed Pianist, a blogger on music and pianism.
People love to chatter on the internet. They used to lean over the garden fence, prop up the bar in the pub, or stand outside church on Sundays gossiping in low voices so the vicar didn't hear.
In the US there's the lovely tradition of 'visiting' with the neighbours: sitting on the porch with a beer, hearing how the kids are doing in college, spreading malicious gossip about the Mayor, putting the world to rights.
All that still happens. But people now do it online too. They 'visit' with 'friends' they've never 'met' who may live thousands of miles away.
They gossip, flirt, exchange information, brag, tell fibs and funny stories, reminisce, get red-faced with anger at political enemies, confirm their political prejudices with friends, evangelise, attempt to recruit people to causes, engage in deliberate wind-ups (trolling) and generally enjoy themselves.
With some well documented exceptions, e.g. murders or stalking episodes arising from online interaction, it's innocent and harmless. It's what humans do.
Authoritarian politicians detest it of course. Wikileaks is, basically, internet gossip writ large. But there's little they can do about it outside of China and a few other paranoid states. Even China leaks like sieve. It must drive the geriatric torturers nuts!
Social media or Web 2.0 – the framework within which the chatter occurs – is fast-moving. A few years ago there were only really forums and, before that, Usenet.
Blogs, Twitter and Facebook broke that monopoly so people now have the freedom to move between the platforms, choosing what best suits them at different times.
The decline of MySpace after Rupert Murdoch bought it – ha! – shows how fickle users are. Facebook, currently riding high, could suffer a similar fate. You can't tell people where to gossip on the internet. Long may that blessed freedom last. It's worth fighting for.
One constant tension is between community and solipsism, engagement and individualism, interaction and ego.
A blog, essentially, is a vehicle for projecting an ego into cyberspace. The writer says what he or she thinks and readers either like it or lump it.
Sure, they can post a comment but few bloggers allow sustained, well-argued, fundamental, criticism to occur on their bandwidth. That's not what the medium is for. Few people will even try – if they feel strongly about an issue they start their own blog.
Twitter and Facebook are more communitarian. People engage with each other on a broadly level playing field, from a position of equality. There are 'big beasts' on Twitter, e.g. Stephen Fry – a Twitter class system exists – but most people Tweet as equals.
Then there are forums. These are self-governing internet spaces. Often the owners/managers are well known to members. Many have systems of self-government in place with users having a say in forum rules and the choice of bureaucrats.
A good social media operation melds each element – blogs, Facebook/Twitter and forums. It allows – encourages – people to move between the three areas as they please, satisfying their gossip-needs, getting their information-fix, interracting with others, projecting their egos into cyberspace.
No one knows where social media will go next. That's exciting and is one reason it's so popular.
Some good blogs and forums:*
Hemiola07's Blog – informative and touching learning odyssey of a young musician
IMSLP Journal – the 'Journal wing' of probably the best classical music resource on the internet
PoliticsWorldwide Forums – political debate from around the world: from Marxists to Tea Party Libertarians to those who enjoy a spot of political gossip
The Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, and U.S. Senator Carl Levin are trying to jump-start talks between Detroit Symphony Orchestra management and striking musicians as the all-out strike enters its tenth week.
In a statement issued on 16th December they present a framework to get the two sides bargaining again. Basically, they propose a $36M contract, as opposed to the $33M to $34M settlement demanded by the management.
The musicians welcomed the framework:
We accept the proposal, and are prepared to return to the bargaining table immediately to seek a settlement under the framework it outlines. Source
According to press reports the management continue to play hard-ball:
DSO Board Chair Stanley Frankel said the $36 million package "is beyond what every consultant and our board have said is feasible."
"In order to fund our current proposal, we have already cut our staff and operations severely and pushed our revenue expectations beyond every adviser's recommendations," Frankel said in a statement. "Even with these dramatic cuts and ambitious goals, the DSO will continue to operate in a deficit position." Source
Let's hope the Governor, the Senator, and local business and labour leaders can persuade the management to show a little more enthusiasm. It is Christmas after all.
The people who run Britain's great orchestras aren't stupid. Not only that but they include individuals who are not state-hating free-market ideologues. They sucked a commitment to publicly funded high art provision with their mother's milk.
Plus they have musicians, composers and patrons breathing down their necks, some of whom are very big noises indeed, and occupy strategic positions in the British state. These people – wealthy, connected, self-confident – won't go quietly.
As reported by the BBC on 16th November 2010 a second round of cuts is now hitting British classical music, with provincial orchestras in the frame:
The Halle, based in Manchester, received £821,300 from the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (Agma) this year – almost 10% of its total budget.
Like all recipients of Arts Council England money, the Halle's grant is being cut by 6.9% next year and the orchestra must reapply for support beyond that.
Halle chief executive John Summers warned the orchestra was in danger of slipping back into the "life-threatening" financial crisis it experienced a decade ago. Source
That's a lot of public money to defend. Of course, some have diversified funding. The LSO, for example, does lucrative Hollywood film work. Many orchestral players are freelancers, moving from job to job.
But others are contractual. Effectively they're salaried civil servants. A top international orchestra can't exist on temporary staff. The players must work together over many years as an intimate, homogeneous group to produce high quality music.
Arguments to defend British orchestras, BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Proms, the great cornerstones of British musical high art, will hot up as the public expenditure cuts – deeper than anything ever attempted in Britain before – begin to bite.
It becomes increasingly difficult to defend tax-money spent on, say, a third oboe parping away at a Mahler symphony while old ladies on inadequate state pensions, shivering in poorly maintained public housing stock, have just had their meals-on-wheels cut. But the arguments have to be made.
Users are deciding where to go. R3OK is welcoming refugees and Friends of Radio 3 have revved up their forums. Both are excellent.
With the BBC facing cuts, the Murdoch brood wailing about BBC competition and licking their lips, the BBC orchestras under threat, and the Proms (funded by the BBC) always at risk in times of recession, the destruction of the Radio 3 online community sounds a warning bell.
Hopefully people won't just disappear, or get lost on Twitter and Facebook. BBC classical music needs all the friends it can get.
Another superb early music festival and exhibition at Greenwich. Slightly fewer exhibitors than last year, but both halls were packed. Given the length and depth of the recession that's a pretty good showing.
I went to just one concert: Rachel Brown playing Telemann's Twelve Fantasias for Solo Flute in the chapel.
I sat at the front in case the small sound of the baroque flute was lost further back. But it wasn't necessary. The implied harmony of these solo pieces, aided by the chapel's acoustics, may even have been more pronounced in the centre or rear of the hall.
Hall management should do something about their blow heaters! The audience mustn't freeze, but the flute shouldn't be made to compete with electric motors.
Rachel Brown is at the top of her game (she gave a festival master class the previous morning). These pieces, along with JS Bach's solo Partita and CPE Bach's solo sonata, are tremendously exposing, with the smallest error immediately visible.
She uses a sweet, bell-like tone, similar to that employed by Stephen Preston and Lisa Beznosiuk. Very different from the louder, breathier, more aggressive continental style of, say, Jed Wentz.
There were no errors of any importance. Ms Brown maintained a poise and a stamina to the end. That's a full hour of completely solo performance – a tremendous feat.
In some ways her performances are conservative. Not much extemporising, no showy cadenzas, little finger vibrato. But that means that when she does 'let rip' the palate's unjaded and it comes as a delightful shock.
For example, she deploys a wonderful technique whereby the final note of a phrase or section is given a gentle 'push' before she terminates it, sending it out into the hall to shimmer in the acoustics, like an exotic bird.
Worth keeping an eye on the concert schedules and hearing Rachel Brown play these pieces. She's recorded them recently.
This festival, and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance who host it, are gems. Long may they survive.
The following photos includes a few of the trip down-river from central London. High res copies are available. The image of Rachel Brown (shown above) is by C Christodoulou.
Striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians are doing what they do best: playing concerts. They're performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Brahms Symphony No. 2 tomorrow evening. Further concerts are planned.
While the musicians do what they've always done – bring music to the Detroit community – their "management" sit in their bunker paying themselves large sums of money, issuing press statements attacking the musicians, attempting, and failing, to organise a strike-breaking concert. Sarah Chang wisely withdrew from a performance planned for 11 October.
Is there a lesson here? Is DSO "management" a luxury which DSO musicians, and the wider classical music world, can no longer afford?
The London Symphony Orchestra, my local orchestra and, arguably, the most extrovert of the great London orchestras, is an independent, self-governing organisation. It was the first British orchestra to play in the States (due to sail on the Titanic, the booking was changed at the last moment). It sacked Elgar twice.
All LSO players are shareholders in London Symphony Orchestra Limited. Nine of the Board of Directors and Orchestra Committee of the Board are playing members.
Why shouldn't DSO musicians employ their own management? Why waste time with hostile bureaucrats?
Music's too important. The cultural life of Detroit is too important. DSO musicians are too important.
The LSO model is there, ready and waiting, to be investigated by DSO musicians and their union lawyers, accountants and strategic planners.
People need classical music in hard times. During WW2 in London the public emerged from the air-raid shelters and flocked to the free concerts at the National Gallery. During the Great Depression in the States, the Federal Art Project put thousands of artists to work.
Now is the time to expand classical music in Detroit and, perhaps, for the players to take control of their future. They have a lot on their hands at present – good luck to them – but this may be one more thing worth considering.
Starved of entertainment, crowds flocked to the Gallery for the lunchtime concerts. These performances were an opportunity to hear the foremost musicians of the day. Many were given by Myra Hess herself. Favourites in her repertoire were Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. The aim was to make classical music accessible to all. The entrance price was set low at one shilling.
The concerts were a huge success. Even in the darkest days of the Blitz, they were nearly always full. An adjoining canteen serving delicious tea, coffee and sandwiches, concocted by a cohort of formidable ladies, added to their popularity.Source
Now-on-strike musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have received an early Christmas present.
They will be joined for their Sunday, 3 pm October 24 concert at Christ Church Cranbrook (470 Church Rd., Bloomfield Hills) by at least a dozen (and still counting) musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra.
The musicians are coming to play and express their support after a posting on the Cleveland Orchestra Musicians’ website:
The future of the venerable Detroit Symphony Orchestra, one of the country’s great cultural institutions, is being threatened. The DSO musicians are on strike, protesting cuts that would severely jeopardize their standing among America’s top orchestras… Advances in the quality and integrity of an institution that take decades to achieve can be done away with overnight…Please help us support the future of the DSO.
DSO cellist Haden McKay, speaking for the musicians, said, “Musicians and their supporters throughout the country are looking at the situation in Detroit as an effort by managements to open the door for downsizing all orchestras, nationally, as well as all cultural institutions.”
The concert will feature Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 8, Nos. 1-4, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73.
Violin soloists will be DSO Associate Concertmaster Kimberly Ann Kaloyanides Kennedy; Elayna Duitman, formerly with the DSO, now with the Cleveland Orchestra; Sarah Crocker, formerly with the DSO, now with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York; and Maestro Silverstein.
Maestro Silverstein, the soloists, the musicians, the stage crews, and the volunteers are all donating their services to support the musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in their fight to save it as a world-class symphony orchestra.
Tickets, $20 standard seating and $50 for premium seating, will be available at the door or in advance online from the Upcoming Events page.
Top rank classical musicians are odd beasts. Often child prodigies, intensely focussed, workaholics, wealthy, leading a jet-set lifestyle, and attracting sycophants who may tell them what they want to hear as opposed to the truth.
In recent days Sarah Chang has done herself no favours. A good agent would have seen the storm clouds gathering, at fifty miles, and got their client under cover.
Sarah Chang was due to perform last week with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, the DSO's on strike at the moment, facing a huge assault on their salaries, benefits and work practices, so the concert was cancelled.
Mistake number one: Ms Chang agreed to perform in a replacement recital with pianist Robert Koenig, organised by DSO management. Which would have involved her crossing a picket line, transforming the fragrant Ms Chang into a scab. The musicians appealed to Ms Chang not to undermine their strike.
Mistake number two: Ms Chang refused to cancel and attempted a compromise, asking that proceeds from ticket sales go to the DSO's Musicians' Pension Fund. She would still have collected her fee.
But that pension fund is frozen and, besides, why should DSO management – in need of every penny they can lay their hands on – voluntarily give up their profit? There's no mention of them having agreed to Ms Chang's request. So it was a meaningless gesture designed to cover union-busting activity.
Mistake number three: Ms Chang tried to justify her behaviour with guff about her "commitment to the audience."
Not good enough. Striking DSO musicians are also committed to their audience, more so than Ms Chang.
They live and work in the Detroit community, a city hit badly by the recession. Their strike, in part, is to defend the Detroit audience from having a second-rate orchestra imposed upon it. But Ms Chang just flies in, does a concert, collects her fee, and flies out again.
Mistake number four: Ms Chang, rather than accepting she was wrong to attempt to undermine the strike (and wrong not to be a member of a trade union) blamed "intimidation" when she finally cancelled the concert a few hours ago. People, not unnaturally, have been writting critical things about her on the internet.
If Ms Chang received threatening emails or Facebook comments these are to be condemned and should be passed to the police. But she really can't expect to scab on fellow musicians, moralise about her "commitment to the audience" and not receive some flack.
Ms Chang might like to read up on musicians who are also politically engaged. She's a fabulous violinist but it's possible to do both. Indeed, I'd argue it's impossible to be a truly great musician unless you do.
Daniel Barenboim, for example, has been involved for years in the Palestinian crisis. Pablo Casals, the great Catalan cellist, refused to set foot in Spain while Franco remained in power.
There's more to being a musician than "commitment to the audience."
Why did Ms Chang make these mistakes? Perhaps her agent pleaded with her privately to wind her neck in but Ms Chang felt she knew better. If so, the agent should keep their job.
But if the agent advised Ms Chang to undermine DSO musicians, thereby failing to protect their client from an avoidable controversy, the agent should go.
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