Greg Stepanich

'Times' right on classical's golden age

In the New York Times this morning, Allan Kozinn weighs in with what has been quite clear to those of us interested in classical music, though it goes against the conventional wisdom: Classical music is flourishing, and flourishing like it never has before.

As I've said several times in this blog, there is now more classical music available out there than there ever was when I was younger, and there seems to be an incredible amount added every day. Look through the pages of Gramophone, for example, and be astounded at the outpouring of performances, and most importantly, not performances of the basic repertoire, either.

It's off-the-wall stuff that was completely ignored when I was a tyke, but that you can now get in several versions. (About the only thing I hadn't seen when I sat down to write this was a major Joachim Raff retrospective — not that we need one, especially, but as it turns out all 11 of the once-famous Swiss composer's symphonies are available on Naxos.)

Most of this is because the old distribution networks for records and performances have broken down, primarily for the simple reason that the technology that made the old labels and concert organizers omnipotent is now in the hands of Everyman. A person sitting at a modest computer can bring to his or her ears music from every corner of the classical apartment in an instant, and that has given that consumer an amazingly wide choice of material.

And besides that, as Kozinn points out, the old way of doing things, of going to concerts and hearing live music in the way that our forefathers did isn't dead, either. Since launching onto the Sea of Blog in late November 2004, I've made it a point to attend at least one concert each weekend since then, and most of them have been quite well-attended. Some smaller recitals in out-of-the-way venues with unfamiliar repertoire have not drawn all that many people, but most have had healthy houses that seemed to appreciate the music and gave the artists plenty of attention.

Indeed, at certain times of the high season, it's impossible for a classical music critic in South Florida to make it to all the things worth seeing that day. We could use a few more regular series in the off-season; as the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival and the first series of organ recitals last summer at Bethesda-by-the-Sea showed, there's a large, eager audience out there waiting to hear it.

But at its best, the mainstream classical listener who wants to hear the really big names, up-and-coming young stars, and perhaps for something more daring, an afternoon of brand-new music, can find all those things in an average year. We don't have quite the volume or variety of the major cities, and the major touring groups and artists tend to choose sure-fire repertoire, but that's typical of most places outside the leading music centers.

(Coming up in October, too, is the opening of the Miami Performing Arts Center, which is about 95 percent complete, according to its Web site. That will add some much-needed centrality to the local arts layout.)

And that's just by way of pointing to the tried-and-true byways of classical down here. Kozinn's larger point, and mine, is that if any time in history has been a golden age for classical, it's probably this one. Our technological advances have made available most of the music that's been recorded since the advent of Edison, and that music sounds better and better. At the same time, the expiration of the Cold War unleashed another treasure trove of recorded music, as well as relaunched the careers of many splendid writers and performers.

Now, the miracle of digital archiving has given the interested listener to hear all of that, and everything new, too. Among other things, it's an opportunity to research, in splendid depth, the music of whatever composer or performer he or she wishes, and to conduct a never-ending, enriching educational seminar into the marvelous variety of human creativity.

Not too many years ago, I interviewed the violist and radio personality Miles Hoffman about the state of all things classical, and before I'd finished my question, he jumped: "You mean the so-called death of classical music?" Not on your life, he said, and there's no question that he was right. Classical music is alive as never before; I'd even say that this might be the first time in all of history that the true scope of classical music can be properly appreciated by people at large.

It's a pleasure to see the Times address this topic today; those of us who have been giggling with delight at being able to find cheap recordings of obscure masterworks, and looking forward with glee to an afternoon of fresh music in an intimate setting, are happy to welcome fellow lovers of this great art form to the banquet.