Private Recitals

I have a vision for the creation of a musical outlet that revives the age-old tradition of private house recitals. Envision it: a quiet, hushed summer evening, with family and friends near, the fragrances of the garden drifting in through the window, while the melodies of Brahms drift out. You could be sitting next to a friend on your favorite sofa, or relaxing in a recliner with a refreshing beverage and an after-dinner desert, all the while being entertained and entranced by the mysterious melodies of Ravel or joyous exuberance of Mozart. In this relaxed atmosphere you could enjoy the music much more, perhaps read your favorite book while letting the music soothe you. Before and afterwards you would have the opportunity to personally meet the artists. You would be able to relate to the musicians and partake in the creative experience in a way very rarely experienced.

There was a time when most musical performance took place in the home. Indeed, the term "chamber music" used to describe small instrumental ensembles, gets its meaning from this tradition. Unfortunately, this practice fell out of disuse primarily because of the rise of the concert hall as the primary location for performance. While the advantages of a public concert hall are undeniable (you can't fit a symphony orchestra into your living room), the disadvantages remain oddly unexamined and thereby the concert hall, for better or worse has completely usurped the home as a context for performance. I feel that "private recitals" offer a viable alternative to the conventional public concert, and there are advantages for both the audience and the performers. Let's consider the audience first.

The Audience's Dilemma

Consider for a moment what you are subjected to when you go to a concert (and here I'll use a big city for my example, say Chicago or Boston). You park the car and go out to eat: $10 for parking, $125 for a nice dinner. Then, you must repark your car, $15, and buy your tickets, $150 for two. Once you get to your seat, it's likely that one or more of the following things will be observable: 1. the seats are uncomfortable, too narrow, with not enough legroom; 2. you're in the middle of the row, and to get up, you have to crowd around fifteen other people (hope you used the bathroom before you sat down); 3. the A/C or heat may be too high or low and the room may be drafty; 4. you're sitting next to someone who is a complete stranger and around whom you feel strangely apprehensive; 5. you are 150 feet from the stage and Mr. Basketball is sitting in front of you. Not a great return on your investment of time or money, I'd say.

I know it sounds like I don't want anybody to go to a public symphony concert, but this isn't true. The event of going to dinner and experiencing a live concert in a big hall can be a truly exhilarating experience. All I'm saying is that the audience and the performers alike deserve another opportunity in which to enjoy live music besides the conventional concert hall experience because the things I mentioned turn the majority of people off from going to classical music concerts. What's the solution?

A Solution for the Audience: Private Recitals

Now let's contrast that with a private recital: 1. Parking is not an issue because there is ample free parking; 2. Dinner may or may not be part of the occasion. If it is, it is either free (if you are going to a friend's house) or inexpensive by comparison to eating out. During the concert, you'll probably observe that: 1. the "seats" consist of easy chairs, couches and cushioned chairs; 2. you may get up any time you'd like to stretch your legs or use the restroom; 3. you may easily request the temperature to be moved up or down because 4. you are at a friend's house and you are 5. surrounded by friends and family; 6. based on the performer's broad-ranging current repertoire, you can build a concert to suit your specific listening tastes! Finally, 7. you may eat a desert, drink some coffee, or even read a book while listening!

The Performer's Dilemma

The problem that arises when musicians enter the music world is that we aren't given the chance to do what we were trained to do in school. Ostensibly, we're all trained to be soloists. However, putting aside the fact that less than one percent ever live that "dream", even the "lucky" ones aren't adequately prepared to live that life. While we learn the repertoire, we aren't told that 1. you live out of a hotel for eight months out of the year, causing untold personal problems; 2. you play a very limited number of works (ones that "fill the hall"), which tends to stifle artistic creativity; 3. you're under pressure that if you make a mistake, not only will the thousand people in the audience know it, but the entire orchestra (or at least the violin section) will too. That aside, you might not be asked back, which means you won't be able to pay rent! One bad review can ruin a soloist's career.

Those who don't make it as soloists teach and freelance. The strange thing is that we're not trained adequately to do either; we're trained, as I said above, to perform! Freelancing means that a musician is given music to an orchestral concert a week or two before the concert. Given the time constraints of teaching and other freelance obligations, there is little time to prepare the music to a specific engagement. Due to budgetary concerns, there are usually only three or four rehearsals before a concert. The result is often a half-baked performance.

Add to this that all these obligations leave little to no time for personal practice. As a consequence, the technique that we spent decades developing is lost. There is a conflict here! What's the solution? Private recitals offer a viable and positive alternative that, while not supplanting the teaching and freelancing, can enrich a musician's life tremendously.

A Solution for the Performer: Private Recitals

The private recital offers the performer the opportunity to perform that he otherwise may not have, thus keeping his technique fresh and growing. He can perform the same program multiple times, thus allowing the interpretation time to mature. Also, he has the flexibility to play repertoire you wouldn't normally hear in a conventional concert setting because it may not sell the house out. Finally, this intimate, non-threatening environment encourages real music-making because of the lack of the critical public. That's not to say that preparation doesn't matter; a concert is a concert, whether for five or five hundred people. However, the performer is not frozen with fear that a mistake could kill his career and thus allows himself to open up creatively.

Brass Tacks: What it means to "contribute"

Perhaps the most important reason for private recitals is to develop, to borrow a term used in politics, a constituency. This means that a performer needs to develop a supportive group of people who will care about taking part in his career; we're talking contributing. Of course, financial assistance is one way, but there are other, equally important ways to contribute. These consist of 1. attending the performer's public solo concerts; 2. receiving monthly newsletters via email to keep you connected to his career; 3. perhaps most importantly, hosting a private recital yourself, where the performer can meet new people.

I don't want to pull the wool over anybody's eyes: contributing can also involve financial commitment of some sort. This usually occurs in response to some legitimate professional need, such as a tour or a recording. But consider for a moment that politicians have to raise literally millions of dollars to support their campaign. Where do they come up with the money? Their constituency, most of whom give contributions ranging from small to moderate sums. For instance, if my pianist and I want to go to Europe to participate in a festival and a competition and one hundred people gave $50 each, we would easily be able to meet our financial obligations. That's not a huge financial burden, but imagine the return on investment for you: you have helped an individual you know personally to achieve goals which will help him professionally in a tangible way. This means a lot more than, for example, giving that money to an orchestra, for which $50 doesn't even pay for a rehearsal for one musician. Financial matters are an uncomfortable fact of life to the creative artist, but one is naïve to think that money doesn't matter. I understand, as I hope you do as well, that it is only a part of what it means to "give."

An Exciting Opportunity