Mozart would have loved this...

In my last post, I mentioned that I sometimes find the classical music business to be somewhat long on somber reverence and awfully short on fun. These can be fightin' words in an industry that has pretty much hung its hat on the trumpeting of its own monumental importance and seriousness. But while there remains no shortage of classical musicians (and audience members) who disdain any approach to the music that could be deemed irreverent, the last couple of decades have produced a startling number of musicians who devote their careers to pushing the envelope. From Nigel Kennedy to the Kronos Quartet to Yo-Yo Ma (who put out an album and accompanying film of music "inspired" by the Bach cello suites a few years back, and has been touring the world with his innovative Silk Road Project) musicians are discovering that there is an audience for a new, less tradition-bound approach to serious concert music. This isn't the mind-numbing pap that record labels market as "crossover," understand - it's serious music, played by serious musicians, only without all the damned seriousness, if that makes any sense.

My personal favorite example of what I call the New Irreverence is the video clip below. The violinist is Gilles Apap, a remarkably talented player who could certainly have thrived as a traditional soloist, playing the same concertos the same way night after night with orchestras around the world. But instead, Apap has cultivated his own distinct style and sound, informed not only by classical traditions, but by jazz, blues, gypsy music, bluegrass, and countless other genres. And as you'll see here, he doesn't see anything wrong with mashing all his influences up together in the name of entertaining the crowd, even if it might offend some Mozart purists...



My favorite part of the video comes at the 4:23 mark, when the camera cuts to a mustachioed member of the orchestra who is quite clearly not down with Apap's take on what is usually an understated 30-second cadenza. I've played this clip for a lot of people since I discovered it a couple of years back, and while most musicians I know love it, I've found that some diehard classical fans are put off to the point of being offended by what they perceive as Apap's lack of respect.

Leaving aside my personal feelings on the matter, I love the fact that something as simple as a genre-busting cadenza at the end of a violin concerto can cause such a strong reaction in people. After all, isn't provocation supposed to be part of what art and culture are about? Somehow, in our corner of the music business, it's become our primary mission to be certain that whatever we do doesn't offend anyone, ever. It seems to me that that approach leads us down a path to never particularly inspiring or challenging anyone, either, which is why I'm awfully glad there are guys like Gilles Apap out there in the world.