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John Boyer   21/6/2002	Subject: Getting professionals interested in Raff Message: We could all do Raff a favor by trying to get professionals interested in Raff's music. I tried getting three local conductors (two college orchestras and one professional) interested in his 9th Symphony by sending them copies of a recording. The conductors of the college orchestras were very impressed, but both declined to perform the work. One cited the need to appease the orchestra members by giving them established repertory, while the other declined on the grounds that the music department might disapprove his performing an unknown work while still on the first year of his job. The conductor of the professional orchestra never replied to my letter. I'd be interested to read what experiences others have encountered in trying to raise awareness of Raff's music among professionals.
Mark   21/6/2002	RE: Getting professionals interested in Raff IP: Logged Message: My limited experience here in the UK pretty much mirrors John's. Amateurs and solists seem on the whole to be quite open minded, are genuinely interested and will sometimes programme Raff if they like the piece. Professional orchestras are generally commercially driven and have a very conservative approach to repertoire - even when they play "modern" music it is from a small repetitive sub-set of what's out there, or has been commissioned for them to play by some third party (who is also presumably picking up the tab for the performance). Because Raff is "unknown" they fear that the concert going public will be put off and so they'll programme yet another Grieg Piano Concerto run-through instead. This affects not only Raff - it is a dreadful and self perpetuating restriction on the live repertoire. There have been quite a few professional concerts featuring large scale Raff works in Germany and Switzerland - the review pages have details. Of course, Raff has more historical connections there - but these concerts are heavily subsidised. In Switzerland (where he ranks as a Swiss composer) there is generous funding of the Swiss Raff Society which mounts at least one orchestral concert a year. In Germany, Bavarian Radio has a deal with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Tudor - hence the wonderful performance of the 2nd. Symphony 18 months ago. I doubt whether Raff would have had an airing otherwise. Even then, the big draw was Tchaikovsky's 1st. Piano Concerto and how the Bamberg burghers loved that plodding performance! But I digress. We must strive to get more live performances, but I think that the concert situation will be driven by growth in popularity amongst the CD buying public and then via plays on "classical" radio. Look at what has happened to the popularity of several of Bruch's other works in the UK, since his Violin Concerto No.1 became Classic FM's "top of the pops" three years running.
Jamie   28/6/2002	RE: Getting professionals interested in Raff IP: Logged Message: Unfortunately, I don't have any influence with amateur or professional msuicians, but l would like to relate my only experience with a professionally performed work of Raff. On 3/11/94 in Alice Tully Hall in NYC took place a concert of the American Symphony Orchestra led by the wonderful Leon Botstein. The common theme of the works played was music descriptive of Italy written by German composers. The program consisted of Reger's composition about Arnold Böcklin's paintings (I forget the actual title), Beethoven's and Mendelssohn's versions of "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage", and finally, what brought me to the concert in the first place, Raff's Italian Suite. l'll always remember the electrifying performance of this beautiful and melodious work, and left the concert thinking that a resurgence of interest in Raff's music must surely be on the horizon considering the rapturous applause of the audience. I eagerly awaited the review in the New York TImes, but alas, it never appeared. For all intents and purposes, the concert might never have taken place. The next NYC Raff performance that l'm aware of took place about 1 year ago when the late Jens Nygaard conducted his Jupiter Symphony in a performance of the "Lenore" symphony, which l was unable to attend. l searched in vain for reviews in all of the NYC newspapers, but again, none appeared. l wish l were able to exert some musical influence, but l'm afraid that's impossible. As John and Mark have already mentioned, it's been very frustrating trying to interest people whose ears seem to be closed to anything other than the "3 B's".
Mark   29/6/2002	RE: Getting professionals interested in Raff IP: Logged Message: Following on from what Jamie has written - there were no pubished reviews of this Turesday's Chelsea concert (see Forum message elsewhere) in which "Lenore" was played - despite the "human interest" stories beforehand. In this case it seems to be because Mahler #3 was being played the same night at the Barbican. As Jamie says, all very frustrating.
John Boyer   03/7/2002	RE: Getting professionals interested in Raff IP: Logged Message: The newspaper critics, who specialize in concert performances, seem very much like the performers; they're not very interested in anything outside the standard repertory. Indeed, they seem afraid of it, since it lies outside their knowledge base. The recording critics for the magazines are better, being more open to something new. Some have argued that Raff doesn't sell (true enough), so he can't be programmed, but neither does Boulez or Webern, who are both trotted out from time to time, to the horror of the conservative audiences. (Don't get me wrong. I like Webern.) But no one is arguing for all-Raff evenings. One could easily program a Raff symphony on the same night as a Brahms concerto, then "sell" the concert on the Brahms and the over-paid soloist thereof. That will bring in your audience, who will then get a pleasant surprise with the Raff. It seems simple enough to me...
Luis de Orueta   08/7/2002	RE: Getting professionals interested in Raff IP: Logged Message: In 1951 it was almost impossible to get any local orchestra interested in playing Mahler in Spain. I suffered intensely because at that time the critics were merciless and I presumed that without the critics permission nothing could be gained. Now his music is cult music. Which goes to say that professional critics are the last persons to admit any real change in musical taste. Raff´s music may take some time to be appreciated. Much depends on good recordings (like Bernard Hermann´s or the recent set by Trio Opus 8) But I have no doubt in my mind that Raff´s second time will come. So we can relax and enjoy the exclusivity of appreciation, while it lasts.