Today’s diversion – three New York Philharmonic promotional videos – comes from Greg Sandow, classical music professional (critic, consultant, composer, specialist in the future of classical music), who says:
I’m wild – really, truly, happily wild – about three videos he [Music Director Alan Gilbert] and the New York Philharmonic made, to publicize his performances (starting tonight) of Ligeti's Le grand macabre. He hangs out with Death. They eat ice cream. They talk about the Rite of Spring (Death wearily puts up with a story he’s heard a thousand times). They play Guitar Hero. Death – shrouded in black, speaking some scabrous language I wouldn’t dare identify – is unforgettable. Alan is game, cheerful, and lots of fun as Death’s straight man.
If everyone in classical music put out material like this, the field might be reborn tomorrow. And the Philharmonic is selling lots of single tickets to Le grand macabre, so they’re clearly doing something right. What role the videos play in that would be fascinating to know … .
Marketing brilliance.