You may cough between movements and discreetly fart . . .

OK, reading Norman Lebrecht discussing the Anne Midgette WaPo (Washington Post) article I referred to in my most recent post, I think I understand that Hilary Hahn’s album was selling 1000 copies per week when it was the top Billboard classical album, not 1000 total.  That makes more sense. Still, it’s diddly-squat compared to what rock, pop, etc., sells, and it’s a wonder there are still major classical labels doing anything.

I hadn’t realized Lebrecht had an Arts Journal blog.  (So does Joe Horowitz.)  Paragraphs like this make it a worthwhile subscription:

Most concert halls, the moment you enter, do not let you forget who’s boss. Go here, do that, switch off, please don’t, be considerate. You may cough between movements and discreetly fart, but do not applaud until signalled to do so and above all do not signify your response on an electronic device until you have departed the premises, preferably until you have read the authoritative review next morning in a respectable newspaper and have been told what you are supposed to think.

Small wonder that the coming generation refuses to accept classical music as part of its cultural spectrum. This is an art form that must urgently change its language, its top-down mode of address, if it is to have any kind of audience in the future.