How much music can one listen to? And under what circumstances? When you work in the world of music, whatever your role, you certainly experience a lot of music, often even music you wouldn’t want to hear but ‘have’ to (yes, there are obligations in this life…). Nevertheless, I’ve never been able to listen to music while reading, solving a crossword puzzle, talking, or generally being focused on something other than listening to music. One might call it a certain inadequacy on my part, but what can I do? I believe music demands dedication and focus.
Many also believe that ‘experts’ (bless our hearts…) listen to music using state-of-the-art equipment, that we don’t settle for anything less than perfect, that we’re not satisfied unless we hear every tiny detail. Most people involved in this world whom I know listen to music through some miserable AirPods or even wired earbuds, usually from a mobile phone or their computer. It’s not a kind of snobbery but rather the need to hear what you need to hear for your job. However, I also know serious listeners who invest in the ritual of sonic pleasure, who strive for the best sound result in the given time, and for whom this is ultimately their hobby! How lucky they are!
What certainly happens is that I am fortunate enough to hear plenty of live music, from ensembles, orchestras, soloists, and I can say that this is ultimately the essence of the whole matter. No listening to a record by Aldo Ciccolini (one of my favorite pianists) can compare to the concert he gave many years ago at the Megaron Concert Hall, where he missed about two hundred notes… but what does it matter if he missed notes? Live listening involves a risk I’m always willing to take: something that seemed good to me on a CD/recording or even on paper (a small privilege to read music and be able to imagine it) might disappoint you in a live performance because… just because! Many reasons can contribute to a concert not being good, but none of them can deter me from going back to the concert hall the day after tomorrow to hear live music.
We live in a city where there are plenty of opportunities to hear music, and this should not go unnoticed or be considered negligible. The abundance of opportunities signifies immense talent, but I will return to this in next week’s ‘letter.’ Until then, listen to music, and if you can, listen to it live!
