Posted on 02/19/2018 11:33:38 AM PST by bkopto
Over the week, there have been waves of backlash at The Metropolitan Opera’s newest season announcement. A recent Washington Post made the rounds, taking to task the institution’s insistence on an entirely white and male composer list, as well as a completely male roster of conductors taking the podium.
As a white man, there have been and continue to be countless times in which I have needed to recognize that privilege, white supremacy, homophobia, toxic masculinity, and gender normativity are layered issues. It’s easy to call a Nazi a racist because they are so obviously a racist. Not all racists are willing to take up that mantle.
Recognizing that Classical Music has implied White Supremacy for centuries is hard for those that study the art form. In fact, that correlating The Met’s continued programming of dead white men to the rise of White Supremacist tendencies in America is not a far stretch is starting to become apparent to those that follow and review the company’s season announcements.
Of course Italian Opera traditions are rich and are the backbone for many composers, but when an American institution, founded on the grounds of Natives and whose nation’s economy was fueled by the labor of slavery continues in 2018 to program exclusively white men, there’s a message being sent to those who don’t fall into that category.
“You need to prove yourself extraordinary, so work harder and watch your step.”
(Excerpt) Read more at scapimag.com ...
I would venture to guess that ghetto rap music is highly under represented by Caucasian “stars”.
Same for southern blues/soul music.
But I am probably just racist and insensitive.
Off Topic; My favorite Beethoven concerto for when I need a burst of energy is “The Emperor, Piano Concerto #5.” 1805, His last completed concerto.
Buckle up your seat belt, and take a listen.
Well, at least a lot of women got to play and sing classical music! Celebrate that!
And don’t forget, in modern times, ladies like Enya, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Carole King — many of the female persuasion — have been able to achieve fame and fortune making stuff up.
It’s the fault of those deplorable Eye-Tal-e-nnnnsss...
If they had only written Operas in Arabic and Swahili ....
I search for a word meaning “irrational fear of the rational”. This guy’s got it.
I am with you on the Emperor Concerto — majestic, and at the same time, sublime, almost other-worldly.
Ping.
SMH!
And an amazing number of them, like pretty much all weren’t even American.
The solution? Hip Hop Opera.
Who sez jazz is near civilized? Make you own chaos with sound and call it music.
____Fill In The Blank_____ White Male Supremacy is Overt, Pervasive, and a Problem....................
That was a kind of blue answer.
Hip Hopera?.......................
We had been long term subscribers to our local community orchestra.
As one season wound down, the next season’s performance list was announced.
The conductor said, with a bit of a chuckle, “We will try some new music next season. No more dead, white European males!”
This was about 12 years ago.
That was our last season.
The NBA should hire me to improve their diversity. Talent is so over-rated!
Classical music is practiced around the world. There are numerous examples of Asians, women, blacks, homosexuals, etc. being involved in it at various levels. The real issue is that one is either with the medium or not. It is highly demanding to the extent that if one’s compositional, performance or technical efforts are not up to the task, then that’s just too damned bad for that person who is then welcome to try their hand at something else.
If that is not sufficient for its detractors then they can go to hell.
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