As everyone has probably heard, the legendary tenor is dead of pancreatic cancer at age 71. A great artist with a great gift who developed it well and shared it most generously, Pavarotti follows Beverly Sills, the legendary coloratura who died of lung cancer earlier this summer. Both singers did much to not only attain the highest level of their craft but to bring it and its benefits to as many people as possible.
I can't help but wonder, though: as the musical greats, especially ones in the so-called "classical" field, pass on, who will carry on their tradition?
Indeed, will the tradition itself carry on?
Matthew Lee Anderson at Mere Orthodoxy asked this question in a post called Selling Classical Music, to which my good friend Rusty Lopez alerted me. Lee Matt thinks it will, but... He links to an article of the same name by New York drama and music critic Terry Teachout, who in turn links to the blog of classical music critic Greg Sandow, who basically asks the same question.
Both Teachout and Sandow opine upon on the elitism of the classical music world and use terminology of Christian evangelicalism when speaking of the need for classical musicians to be relevant to the modern age and spread the music-appreciation gospel to the masses.
Hmmm.
As a professional classical musician myself (in my spare time), I have a few thoughts and questions about this. I hope to discuss them in the near future.
Meanwhile, I am enjoying the Pavarotti tributes on the radio. Could anyone else make "You'll Never Walk Alone" sound so exquisite and so grand? Bravo, Pavarotti.
