Remembering when classical music was mainstream...

The other evening, I was in the car doing some errands, and as I often do in the evening, I tune in to Classical 96.3FM for musical companionship while I am out and about. I heard the finale to the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto recorded in the 50s with Jascha Heifetz and Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is a classic, big sound from RCA Victor, and the disc, paired with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, is still available as an import item through my website, www.finemusic.ca.

I got to thinking as I was listening to this wonderful-sounding recording - still sounding wonderful over fifty years after it was recorded, even - will we ever see the days when benchmark recordings such as this one are made again; and, will classical music ever be as mainstream as it was at that time? The answer to both questions, sadly, is likely never. But think about it: over fifty years later, the recording still sounds as fresh and vital today as it did half a century ago; it has not aged much at all. I can't think of many recordings made today that could stand that test of time.

Back in the 1950s, RCA Victor was a powerhouse classical label, with most of the greatest artists of the last century recording for them at one time or another: Eugene Ormandy, Arturo Toscanini, Van Cliburn, Fritz Reiner, Charles Munch, as well as Heifetz. Orchestras included the Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia Orchestras, to name just three, and not even touching on the great European artists and orchestras signed to the label in those days. Nowadays, RCA, along with most other major labels, have relegated their classical divisions to rump status, only occasionally recording new CDs now, and endlessly mining their back catalogues for timeless material that likely will never be equalled.

Of course, back in those days, classical music was very much a part of many more lives than it is now: you could turn on the television and see Arthur Fielder lead the Boston Pops from Symphony Hall in Boston, for example. You could catch Leonard Bernstein explaining classical music to everyone, for heaven's sake. You could even watch live opera broadcasts on television! When was the last time you saw that on network television? Oh sure, we occasionally get a bunch of opera has-beens in a concert performance, but a full-scale opera staged for television? Not likely. Think back to Christmas, 1951, and imagine the magical experience of watching the world premiere performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl & The Night Visitors, which premiered on television. The recording, also on RCA Victor, is now, sadly, out of print. You don't get that opportunity any more, and we're all the poorer for it.

There was a time, not that long ago in fact, when a conductor could be so larger-than-life, known to so many people, he could be parodied in a cartoon and everyone got the joke. It was, of course, Leopold Stokowski, hilariously sent up by Bugs Bunny in a classic Loony Tunes short where he was simply referred to as "Leopold". Everyone knew who was being parodied, and I imagine the real "Leopold" enjoyed the joke along with the rest of us. And speaking of cartoons, let's not forget Bugs and Elmer Fudd in their classic send up of Wagnerian Opera, which in fact, won an Oscar so many years ago. Now, most people who even bother to watch cartoons have no grasp of classical music at all, let alone opera.

The same people who bought these classic recordings and enjoyed the music on television and radio back then also took time to attend live classical concerts, either in stately concert halls or in summertime open-air venues like Tanglewood, for example. But they went, enjoyed, and would often buy the music on record afterwards. Now, we might catch a performance of Andre Rieu or someone on PBS, and find a way to download the music for free, if we bother at all. No wonder the industry is in such a state of flux these days.

A musical genre only survives if you feed it and nurture it. Sadly, today, most don't. And the end result is little or no new classical recording taking place, sparsely-attended classical concerts made up largely of seniors, and few people actually wanting to buy the music they hear at the concert. That is why, dear reader, record stores are a thing of the past in most cities, and my own online music business, A Web of Fine Music, may not last into the next year unless business picks up.

Funny what springs to mind while listening to one old, classic recording, eh? Let's not let the business die. It would be a shame ot lose such a rich part of our musical heritage.

June 13th, 2009.