Munich - is a new classical concert hall really necessary

Baustelle

Munich is discussing at the moment if there is a need for a new concert hall. The new hall shall enable Munich to stay among the worldwide leading classical cities. It is seen as a “must have” to be able to compete with cities like London, New York or Hamburg.
Everybody knows that it is necessary to have high quality concert halls. But also everybody knows that cultural richness depends on manifold events in a city.
There is a range of classical concert halls in Munich but hardly any smaller halls for an audience of 50 – 150 visitors.
If I want to organize a concert hall today I have to pay around 250 Euro for the rent of one of the few concert halls and if I need in addition a piano there is another 250 Euro more. For flyers and posters I need around 150 Euro. In case that I invite a colleague to join my concert I have to pay him minimum 250 Euro. If I count 100 Euro for miscellaneous expenses I need a total amount of 1000 Euro. As entrance fee I can not ask for more than 15 Euro. This means that I need aroung 67 visitors to cover my expenses.
A new concert hall will cost around 100 Mio Euro. Let us assume that we build 5 smaller concert halls for 30 Mio Euro I would have the difference of 70 Mio Euro to support the smaller concerts. If there would be a support of 500 Euro per concert it would be possible to support 140 000 concerts.
The question is now what makes more sense for the city: Building a concert hall for the stars or support the manifold musicians in the city with an additional offer of concert halls and subsidization of their concerts.
At least when it comes to questions of regional development nobody would decide to invest in one big player and probably all decision makers would decide to support a flourishing environment of young small and fast growing companies.

Country:Germany

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me 1

Of humble background I can’t imagine what introduced me to good music. Certainly there was little to be cheerful about in post-war Britain. In our 1950s humble home, with its primitive radio that broadcast only four programmes, we kids were told to be very quiet when tenors John McCormack, Joseph Locke, the love duet from Madame Butterfly or prelude from La Traviata was playing.
As a youngster I could see merit in classical music. However, I was seduced by Country Music and Liverpool’s 1960s Mersey Sound until my late teens. I afterwards lost my appetite for music. I focused on other interests but had some inclination towards light waltz, military and brass band marches.
In the 1990s Britain’s BBC 3 Radio was pompous, discordant and heavy. It treated we plebeians with contempt. BBC 2 Radio did condescend to provide a few hours of light classical music mostly on a Sunday evening such as Your Sunday Half Hour and Your 100 Best Tunes.
How do I define good music? By our knowing what is genuinely popular, not just for a year but over hundreds of years. Pop(ular) music is not what the public is told is fashionable by the music industry. By a happy coincidence this just happens to be what the music industry find most profitable.
It was about this time I pulled into a car repair garage my car for was to be annually tested. That day was a beautiful summer’s day and the car windows were down. The radio left on I seem to recall the Love Duet from La Boheme was playing.
What a conversation stopper. It was like one of those classical music flash mobs now so popular. Staff and waiting customers were enchanted. Their reaction to the aria was a sheer joy to experience. The sheeple had simply never explored what alternatives were available on radio.
Then, in the early 1990s I jumped for joy when I heard that a radio station dedicated to popular classical was to go on the air from September 1992. Classic FM was to return to the people the peoples music. After all, classical music, composed by mostly lower-class musicians, is the art form of the working classes. I looked forward to recovering our soul music from the snobbish bien-pensant set.
That morning when Classic FM was to first broadcast I was like a kid at Christmas. At 6 am the first track was played by the station’s Nick Bailey. I am no great fan of Handel’s Zadok the Priest but it was certainly music to my ears that golden dawn.
Classic FM hoped that 2.8 million listeners would eventually be attracted to its broadcasts. By Christmas 4.3 million were tuning in every week and Classic FM was Britain’s fourth most popular radio station. I felt vindicated.
The popular British radio station has since collected more silverware (almost) than has Liverpool Football Club. The radio station is now listened to by 5.6 million people each week. In 2013, Classic FM was named UK Radio Brand of the Year at the Sony Awards.
I live in the Costa Blanca. Mediterranean Spain’s broadcasters ignore demand for good music. Is this an own goal? The Costa communities attract people of all nationalities who have a distinctly sophisticated middle-brow taste in music. Karaoke just doesn’t do it as well as Beethoven, Mahler or Mozart do.

Country:Spain

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