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On Classical Music And Music Generally. With A Take On Groupies

October 26, 2009

On Classical Music And Music Generally. Includes Confession Of Pop Star And A Take On Groupies I have been entertaining my good friends some time ago, two world famous opera singers from Russia, husband and wife, at my home in London. They came to the British capital to perform in Covent Garden. They have sung on the best opera stages in the world and are booked solid for the next several years by leading opera houses.

During the evening I asked them, jokingly, how classical music was faring nowadays. Not good, they said, rather gloomily. Classical music, they said, was being undermined by commercialism and deprived of audiences by pop music.

How is that, I asked. They explained that money considerations now prevailed in opera and some artists with ‘weak’ voices were propelled to stardom by cunning marketing and promotion. Several big names in opera came up but I would not want to disappoint their fans who might be devastated by hearing that their idols are not really considered to be all that great by professionals. Not to mention that all those groupies, who follow these stars, would probably feel cheated. (I will deal with the subject of groupies later.)

But how can it be possible, I asked my friends, if people with ‘weak’ vocals, as you say, manage to become stars of opera? It just does not make sense.

They looked at me and smiled, rather sadly I thought. Then they explained to me that many people nowadays did not really appreciate opera properly and could not distinguish good singers from the not so good. If in the past, they said, parents would introduce their children to the world of classical music and take them to classical concerts and operas now it would be considered weird if children liked opera. It is all about pop now, from the earliest age, my friends said: most of it is very simple to understand, is based on three or four notes and does not really need any effort to appreciate it. Unlike opera, where you have to concentrate and make an effort to connect with the music and the performers.

In plainer terms it goes like this: the dumbing down of musical tastes has hit opera hard. With the majority of people losing touch with classical traditions and opting for the simple tunes they would be easily fooled into thinking that thirds rate opera singers were actually superstars with unique vocals. That is why many of the newcomers on the classical scene look and behave and sound like pop stars rather than opera singers. And many of the pop stars are sounding and playing like total amateurs.

This is a sad state of things. And let me tell you something else: this rot in pop music had started ages ago. I remember interviewing one of the biggest names in the music industry in 1990 and spending the whole day with him at his huge house in Surrey. He probably still earns more in royalties from his hits than many of the modern superstars taken together. He told me then, off the record, that a lot of pop music was never good in the first place and was just cleverly packaged and marketed. ‘The sheer arrogance of some of the top acts is just astonishing,’ he said. ‘They can’t sing, they can’t play properly, they don’t write their stuff themselves and they’re hopeless when it comes to live gigs. Yet they move millions of records and fill stadiums. It’s just crazy.’

I was quite astonished to hear that from one of the biggest name in the music industry. Believe me, he was huge, absolutely huge throughout the 1970s and 1980s, both with his band and by himself. I can’t mention his name because it was a private conversation and because he is still touring. But the fact of the matter remains: pop music has been infested by second and even third rate artists right from the very start. It was all about marketing and advertising and notoriety and scandal. And conveniently, it had a lot to do with sex, of course.

Which brings me back to the subject of groupies, those young and not so young women who follow pop stars and try and get into bed with them at any opportunity. In the past it was accepted as the trappings of success, although not really discussed widely. But now you would hear about former groupies coming up with their autobiographies and being treated as celebs themselves. How weird is that?

But I personally find it even stranger that groupies have always existed and still exists in the world of classical music. There are women – often married, with children, from respectable backgrounds – who chase opera stars and make themselves readily available to them, if you pardon the expression. I have met them myself on countless occasions when I was interviewing opera stars and I would see those women in the background after performances. I knew quite a lot of famous opera singers personally and naturally was let on some of their secrets. I could not believe the things I saw and heard. Some of the ‘classical groupies’, as I called them, actually considered themselves sophisticated because they would be going to bed with opera singers. I kid you not. It was as weird as that.

But where is it all leading, you may ask. Well, I just wanted to point out that many people are distracted from hearing really great music by developing a taste for all that simplistic rubbish. Which is a shame.

As for the groupies, well, the groupies will always be there, I suppose.

– End –

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