Back to HOMEPAGE Ear plugs should not be necessary when
listening to a chamber orchestra
Kovacevich with Scottish Chamber Orchestra,
Queens Hall Thursday 24th April 08
James Irvine
Editor: www.land-care.org.uk
Filed 26 Apr 08
©www.land-care.org.uk
On the evening of Thursday 24th April, in a series of concerts referred to as "Director's Notes" given by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, it was Stephen Kovacevich's turn to play and direct a classic piano concerto, and also conduct the orchestra for the rest of the programme. The piano concerto on this occasion was Mozart's in C major K503: the biggest and grandest of all his piano concertos. Mozart's Haffner symphony and Beethoven's fourth symphony completed the evening's entertainment.
But maestro Stephen Kovacevich (previously known as Stephen Bishop) didn't care for the order in which the programme had been arranged. So he chose to play the piano concerto first, announcing to the audience that if he conducted the Haffner symphony first he would have to put his hands in cold water for 20 minutes before he could do justice to the concerto: such is the effort involved in conducting. That is certainly a new one to me. It raised the suspicion that he might be better sticking to the piano part and leaving the conducting to someone else. And so it transpired.
Stephen Kovacevich: soloist/director with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
(Photo: David Thomson, EMI Classics)
Another first for me was the need to protect my ears by sticking my fingers in them while a Mozart piano concerto - or in fact any classical concerto - was being performed by professionals in a concert hall. Not only was Kovacevich's playing uncomfortably loud and brash, but the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) has acquired a penchant for playing at full pelt in a hall of modest dimensions and good acoustic. The result is an insult to the auditory system and loss of finesse in the music making. Too often the SCO play like an over enthusiastic school team. The major benefits that can come from restraint are forgone. Balance is a looser.
It was much the same throughout the whole concert, with only occasional glimpses of just how sensitively the SCO can play when they choose, or are directed, to do so.
I stayed to the end because I wanted to try to find out why it is that so many contemporary pianists want to despatch classical concertos with loud bravado: apparently the louder the better. I also wanted to try to find out if the orchestra thought they were achieving a good performance with their ear damaging decibels.
Excess noise, at times amounting to din, is not an idle worry in relation to the performance of classical (as well as pop) music. Indeed, I was beginning to wonder whether the SCO, and some of the soloists that it chooses, were aiming at moving towards pop-like performances, rather than keeping to what the composer intended, with all the intellectual and emotive benefits that follow. Perhaps they are doing this in an effort to get more bums on seats. But that surely would be a short-term policy. The classics would become hackneyed.
Sound levels are measured in decibels (dB) on an exponential scale. Too much noise can damage the sensory ("hair") cells in the cochlea and the attached nerve fibres, resulting in what is referred to as nerve deafness.
20 dB us a quiet room at night
40 db is a quiet sitting room
60 dB is ordinary conversation
80 dB is shouting
110 dB is a pneumatic drill nearby
130 dB is an aeroplane taking off 100m away
140 dB is the threshold at which noise is painful for most people, although some people may find lower levels painful too.
The law states that noise levels above 80 decibels damages health. Exposure to sounds at 100-110 dB can cause damage after approximately 15 minutes. At 110-120 dB damage can occur with exposure of less than 30 seconds. Many musicians can be exposed to average levels of 90 dB and peak levels of 110-120 during performance, or indeed during rehearsal. The situation will be worse if the orchestra in question, coupled with its soloist, choose to play louder than most.
Under these circumstances even the audience is put at risk of damage to their hearing, quite apart from the experience being distinctly unpleasant for some.
There are filters available that claim to reduce the quantity of the sound without interfering with its range or quality. I have no idea whether members of the SCO wear such earplugs, but few of the audience would have them available.
I was told that the SCO rehearses for nine hours for a concert programme, with an additional three hours before each performance. The programme played on the evening of the 24th April was also given on consecutive nights in Glasgow and Inverness. Potentially, that is a lot of exposure to too much noise, especially when the orchestra in question seems to like playing in a manner that is generally far too loud.
On gentle, tactful inquiry of a member of the orchestra as to why they play so loud, she replied:
"We simply do what we are told".
When putting the same question to the Managing Director of the SCO, Roy McEwan, he claimed not to be aware of the problem. Rather than getting the orchestra to tone down the volume, he claimed that there was a need for a bigger concert hall. He dismissed my concern as being of no substance, saying that ticket sales are increasing and that I am the only one who has complained. May be I am, but I am conscious of the fact that others share my concern although they may not be forward enough to articulate it. Economics are important, and so is the availability of classical music to as wide a range of people as possible. But so is quality of performance.
If it is a bigger concert hall Roy McEwan wants for this chamber orchestra, perhaps the best way of going about it is for the orchestra to play consistently well in the facilities that are currently available. The demand for tickets is then likely to outstrip the current seating capacity. A new hall may then be justifiable.
If popularisation of classical music is his main aim, then why does he not look for a slot at T in the Park? It is just along the M90 near Kinross and takes place in a farmer's field.
©www.land-care.org.uk
Recommended recordings
Mozart: Symphony no 35 'Haffner'
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner
CD EMI Encore 5856962
Mozart: Piano Concerto in C K503
Alfred Brendel (piano)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
CD Philips 4702872
Beethoven: Symphony no 4
Complete Collection Symphonies 1-9
Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Nikolaus Harnoncourt
CD Teldec Classics 0927 49768-2
Technical Recommendations
To appreciate the merits of good CF recordings its necessary to use a good CD player and good listening equipment A system that can provide very much enjoyment without excessive cost is
Roberts MP-Sound 23 CD player coupled with digital radio
Stennheisser HD515 headphones
The total cost would be about £400-£500 .
Be sure that the equalizer on the Roberts is set to "Classical".
Finis
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