Orbidden Symphony

Forbidden Symphony

The Western Classical Music Industry in Twenty-First Century China

Weida Wang explores how Western classical music (WCM) has become increasingly popular in China, framing the industry as a complex entity intricately embedded within China’s political landscape, cultural economy, and cultural industries. Wang highlights how authorities and organisers strive to build powerful brands to support the industry’s growth, aiming to tap into the vast domestic market and showcase China’s achievements in WCM on the global stage as part of broader cultural diplomacy efforts. The study delves into the mechanisms and underlying logics driving the rapid expansion of the WCM market in contemporary China. With the rise of China’s economy since its government’s late-1970s economic and political reform, WCM has become a useful tool for showcasing changes to the image of ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ China. At the same time, a new Chinese middle class, following the rapid economic (and cultural) development in China’s coastal cities, has also emerged, becoming a substantial demographic involved in the learning, appreciation, and consumption of WCM. Especially in the past 20 years, a new WCM scene has developed quickly and established as an industry in China; one critically enmeshed in both the business and political worlds. Many ground-breaking cultural events have taken place in the last decades. These have shown themselves to be huge forces behind the development of China’s domestic (and fledgling international) classical music aspirations. The book will be valuable for those interested in arts/music management, music industry studies, China studies, cultural and creative industry studies, and ethnomusicology.

The New York Philharmonic

(Amadeus). The New York Philharmonic, from Bernstein to Maazel continues the story of America's oldest orchestra as told in Howard Shanet's Philharmonic: A History of New York's Orchestra . That volume ended with the 1970-71 season, just before the arrival of Pierre Boulez as music director. Obviously, much has happened since. This book begins, however, with a retrospective account of the controversial last years of the tenure of Dimitri Mitropoulos and the ascendancy of Leonard Bernstein to the music directorship. Having been a Philharmonic assistant conductor during Bernstein's tenure, and an inveterate Philharmonic watcher ever since, the author brings some personal insights to the story as well as moments of humor. A sub-theme of the book concerns the way the Philharmonic and its music directors have been treated by the New York press, the Times in particular. Howard Taubman's attacks on Mitropoulos, Harold Schonberg's on Bernstein, and Donal Henahan's on Zubin Mehta are all covered here, as are the writings of various critics on those and other conductors, and on the orchestra itself. The New York Philharmonic is the only orchestra ever to undertake a foreign tour solely on the initiative of its musicians, without benefit or support from management. How this came about is chronicled, as are the opening of Lincoln Center, the Parks Concerts, Promenades, Prospective Encounters, Rug Concerts, tours, and, of course, the subscription seasons. John Canarina shows how the New York Philharmonic weathered extraordinary ups and downs during this period, while remaining a vital component of New York's cultural life.