I once conducted a concert which started with Dvorak’s great orchestral triptych- Nature, Life and Love. It reminded me of what is wrong with classical music. Dvorak wrote the 3 parts of this work as a carefully interconnected whole- together, they form a sort of manifesto of his philosophical outlook. Readers may recognize the 3 parts of this work as the overtures “In Nature’s Realm,” “Carnival’ and “Othello.” Or you may not. That is kind of the point.

So…. How does this piece illustrate what is “wrong” with classical music? Well, I’m a music guy. I have played and conducted in a fair number of concerts, and been to a fair number of concerts. As a cellist, I have probably played Carnival 50 times. Conducted it just twice. In concert, I’ve probably heard it another 50 times. I’ve probably heard “Nature’s Realm” in concert twice. Othello……

And how many times have I played/conducted/heard this piece as Dvorak meant it to be heard? 20? 4? 2?

ZERO.

Not only that- of the 90 or so musicians playing that Saturday, not a single person could remember ever hearing or playing a complete Nature, Life and Love.  Everyone there had played/heard/seen Carnival more times than they cared to count.

The Decca recording of the great, great Istvan Kertesz recording of these three great overtures is close to definitive, but for one flaw….

The 3 overtures are spread across 2 discs. None are next to each other. People who love Dvorak enough to buy a double disc of his symphonic poems and overtyres  (performed by one of the greatest Dvorak interpreters in history) deserve to better than to  hear this important work chopped up into feeble, pointless bleeding chunks.

Really, people- this is what is wrong with the music world!?!?!?!

We treat people who love music with all their heart like clueless idiots. We turn thoughtful masterpieces into trite 9 minute tambourine concertos. The three overtures together are infinitely more interesting, compelling, challenging and rewarding than hacking through Carnival for the 9 millionth time while not getting the tambourine to play softly enough that anyone else can be heard. Nobody I talked to last week had EVER played Othello. Everyone had played Carnival. Carnival is a hoot (if you tame the tambourine- he was good on Saturday), but Othello is better, and Carnival is a scherzo, a mid-point in a larger story. It isn’t meant to stand on its own.

So, once again, I plead with conductors and programmers – don’t slice and dice poor Dvorak! Your listeners love Dvorak, so give them a full portion, not a meagre taste, nor the sauce with no steak.