Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-11
NEWS OF MUSIC
BY DAY THORPE

these days In addition. to cool
music. Going into the concert
management business and cut
ting down on Bach and Bee
thoven and Paul Creston. Ten
regular concerts next year in
stead of 20, and one Boston
Symphony instead Of three,
four Philadelphia orchestras
instead Of eight. plus the DAN
ish National Ballet and the
Metropolitan Opera. to say
nothing of handling tickets for
the Library of Congress con-
certs. It's called a package"
deal that will be great benefit
to the public, but 1t seems to
me that the real musical pub
lie is going to be the fall guy.
And what about the must
clans? 1t was good news a
week or so ago when Mrs.
Posts flve-week party in
creased the number of con-
certs. Now they will get quite
a cut in their annual pay.
AUCTOR: No. there won't
be fewer concerts nor will the
musicians earn q dollar less.
Every concert will be played
twice. Tuesday night and
Wednesday night both will see
the National Symphony or the
pals from Boston and Phila-
delphia at Constitution Hall.
LEcTOR: Twice! The con-
oerts will be played twice on
successive nights. you say!
Why, it's seldom that the Ma
tionaI or Boston or Philadel-
phia can I'LL Constitution Hall
for q single concert. If every
concert is repeated the audi
ence will rattle around in the
hall like the bean in q police
mans whistle.
The Rehearsal Angle
rAUCTOR: Not so fast. my
friend. The symphony's plan
may not work. but it's got
more logic than you notice
right away. Pay attention a
minute:
At present. the Symphony
gives 20 subscription concerts
a season. These concerts are
divided into two groups-an
odd" series and an even"
series. Each of the 20 concerts
is different, and each requires
an average of three rehearsals.
That is, the 20 concerts re-
quire 80 meetings of the Or
chestra, called services" IN
like solo artists, who get q fee
for a recital. but practice on
their own time, orchestral
musicians are paid for all
services" and are guaranteed
q minimum number of "serv-
ices" a year by the Symphony.
All right. Under the new
plan. the 20 concerts presented
in pairs will require only SO
services, assuming the same
number of rehearsals for each
pair of concerts. DR.. Mitchell
will have 30 more rehearsals
at his disposal. and it is gen.
orally thought that the or
chestra this season is suffering
from lack Of practice. Mitchell
says that he will use as many
rehearsals as he needs, and
that he will add only q few
extra non subscription con-
certs to the season.
(These extra concerts-out-
of-town. chtldren's, tiny tots.
community. and so on. I am
leaving out Of the picture.
They require little or no re-
hearsal, and are. I think. a
constant factor when compar-
ing this years operation with
the proposed new plan. This
season they number 3D.
Double Up on Soloists
LECTOR: All very well, but
why do you think more people
will come to a repeated con-
cert than come to a single
one? You've cut down on
your expense. but
AUCTOR: Hold on, I'm
coming to that. First, let's
consider soloists. The theory
is that there are two kinds OF
soloists-cheap ones and ex-
pensive ones. The latter are
those who attract q big audi
ence, the former are all 9TH
ers. The musical ability Of the
players does little to determine
the category In which they
fall, If anything at all. But
symphony orchestra manage
ment knows that it can pay
$500 or $4,000 to an artist.
make certain that he play
nothing off the beaten track,
and make expenses and a bit
over on the concert in which
he appears. The orchestra
can't make much. even on a
sold-out house. but 1t can hope
to make a little.
These expensive artists will
stay over for a second per-
Torrance for very little extra
money-perhaps $3.50 or $500.
In a pair Of concerts their fee
per concert is considerably re-
duced.
Few Attend Both Series
Now to come to the nub Of
the whole proposition. Do you
know how many season ticket
holders the Symphony has?
A group that accounts for
about two thirds of the entire
audience? The figure is about
1000 for the odd" series and
1000 for the "even". The two
series are Identical in character
one Is not popular" and the
other "highbrow." OF these
1000 subscribers. do you know
how many buy tickets for both
series? Just 300. It Is reason
able to assume that the indi-