My review of the Ecstatic Music Festival opening night is on Bachtrack. For the sake of journalistic objectivity, and their mission to attract more listeners to classical music, I kept it pretty neutral. But here’s more on how I really felt.
Before I offer criticisms, let me say that I did not think the music was bad. I was head bopping along with everyone else. I wanted to sit more comfortably with a drink in my hand.
But what I missed, is what I ordinarily seek in the concert hall: complexity. All the songs were about 3-5 minutes long, and followed the standard pop format of verse-chorus-bridge. The concert paired Jherek Bischoff with the Wordless Music Orchestra, and they soldiered on enthusiastically, but because they were amplified, the same could have been accomplished by a decent Casio. In fact, putting pop stars in front of an orchestra reminded me of old-fashioned pops concerts of show-tunes and gaffs. (Here’s the Boston Pops playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”) This is the new classical music?
