Is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra a stable entity? (Carnegie: school, university)

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by eccotecc

Copanut,

I suggest a pay toilet tax on all bars, restaurants, and other public facilities the city sees fit to mandate. Think of it as a parking meter with benefits. Geesh... I have too much time on my hands, I need to get back to work.

Makes sense, like Archie Bunker said, You can't buy beer, you can only rent it!

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Copanut

How 'bout a drink tax?

What Squarian said, but if the public dictated what to spend money on, it would probably be pro rasslin'.

It would be sad day if the WWF got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

[squarian]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

It would be sad day if the WWF got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Completely unfair - WWF is just as much a part of high culture as Beethoven - just ask the A&E people.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Makes sense, like Archie Bunker said, You can't buy beer, you can only rent it!

LOL Hey, by the way, I see you just got a star! Congrats!

[Evergrey]

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra forecasts two more years of deficits | TribLIVE

[MathmanMathman]

Well, this is what ya gotta do...

Olivia Newton-John to perform with Pittsburgh Symphony - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

So the PSO will play the music of Michael Jackson November 27, and then Olivia Newton-John will perform with the PSO December 8. If I was in Pittsburgh, I'd definitely see Olivia Newton-John! It should sell out...just on account of her.

[MathmanMathman]

*** bump ***

Just a reminder that Olivia Newton-John is performing with the PSO tomorrow night.

[ex-burgher]

Why anyone would pick Olivia Newton John over tonight's Saint-Saëns Organ symphony No 3 is beyond me.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by squarian

Maybe not what you mean, but to take the long view, the weak link is that orchestras, museums and other cultural institutions were status symbols for the American elite in the Gilded Age, and paying for them was a way to convert fortunes founded in dubious ways into social respectability by aping the style of the European ruling class (though the absurd aspect wasn't lost on everyone, so, for example, Edith Wharton's brilliant line that "it seems stupid to have discovered America only to make it into a copy of another country.").

In its early days, the PSO provided Pittsburgh's new-minted elite with a suitable backdrop against which to display a superior taste and manner, which the source of their wealth might otherwise have called into question.

Unfortunately for so many cultural institutions, whether in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, the modern-day successors of the captains of industry and and barons of finance have taken Wharton's witticism to heart, and have either chosen more genuinely nativist plebeian amusements such as water-skiing, or else have been unwilling to provide their patronage on the scale of their predecessors. Into that breach left by the decline of pseudo-aristocratic patronage has stepped the state, but with certain inevitable consequences.

So, the weak link is that the mass of the population never were much interested in European high culture, while the plutocratic elite is now less so than formerly.

This was the best defense of bad taste I've ever read.

So appreciating fine music is only for the European aristocracy and those who seek to emulate them?

[MathmanMathman]

Another good idea by the PSO

Music preview: 'The Wizard of Oz' at Heinz Hall, powered by the Pittsburgh Symphony - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Would be fun to see it with a live orchestra. Kind of a weird throwback to the days of silent films although I believe the dialog is still there but the PSO fills in the music.

I saw a big screen showing of TWoO years ago in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre which is also a restored old movie palace theater. It was preceded by a wine and cheese tasting which added to one's positive attitude for the show.

Another good idea for a PSO concert, but I bit esoteric for Americans, is to perform the Murray Gold's soundtrack for Doctor Who. Pretty good stuff in isolation as you don't really get the full effect from the TV show.

For a sampler, some Doctor Who fans got together and recreated some of Murray Gold's stuff. Keep in mind they are amateurs but do a sensational job.


DWFO #3: "Rose's Theme / Doomsday" - YouTube

They do some other Doctor Who themes if you care to view them.

I see a PSO version as showing clips of the show and likewise using a choir. But like I said, not really well known in the US although the show does air regularly on BBC America.