BAM Cultural District: Alive If Not Exactly Kicking

I've got a better idea. Why doesn't BAM renovate their space so it doesn't feel (or sound) like you're in a public school? How about an orchestra pit? Maybe they can insulate the doors to the street so that if you are sitting on the side of the hall you won't hear fire trucks blaring down Flatbush?

Most major universities have a better performance space than BAM.

BAM is a nice building on the outside, but educational types with an eye for 3rd graders have gutted this building so that it is hardly a respectable place to enjoy high art.

Even the lowly Metropolitan Opera House with its kitschy 1960's decore is a far better night on the town than BAM.

The area needs to be revitalized, but that will come when the Atlantic Yards are built. Instead, BAM should focus on their own property instead of trying to spread themselves too thin.

Posted by: Eryximachus at June 14, 2007 11:50 AM

G-man thanks for the tip. I stand corrected.

As for you Anon 3:03 - BAM may be one of the best venues, but that isn't saying much. It is one of few. The acoustics are acceptable, but street noise is a major problem. Serious musicians certainly don't consider it a major venue on a national level, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic performs there out of default.

As for "modern" operas, if you mean its great to listen to an opera without live music... you might be right. Some people (myself included) don't think it should be live music OR a performance.

As a Juilliard graduate with a music degree, performing arts people typically just don't care much about music. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that a stage tech would think it's a fine space.

I've played in venues all over the country, and considering BAM is the best the nation's 4th largest city has - it is a joke. If you think BAM is sufficient, and that anyone seriously involved with the arts would think it's sufficient, tells me your intimate involvement in the arts is irrelevent. Perhaps you should go back to changing those lightbulbs.

As well - a tip on arguing - perhaps you can point out why the space is so fabulous and why my criticisms are either unfounded or irrelevant. Just because you and some unammed people consider it one of the best venues is not an argument. It's just BS.

Posted by: Eryximachus at June 14, 2007 3:38 PM

Again, we see how the average Brownstoner reader thinks. We have nothing but conjecture, anecdotal evidence, and of course the ever popular ad hominem attacks. I'm misinformed, I'm a fool, a liar, untalented. I'm even a pipsqueak ass!

Is it possible to have a rational discussion here? I'm still undecided.

Anon 4:01: I may have a humble BA, but my desire has always been to be a musician, not an academic.

The reality is the people who make the music have little respect for anyone who has a doctorate. You either can play, or you can't. People like you are the reason fine art in this country are in major decline, and the fact you delude yourself about the quality of BAM is evidence of this. As I originally stated, BAM has been ruined by educational types and you are one of them. Yes, it's true. People who waste their entire youth pursuing worthless degrees simply lack real vision. Just look at your intolerance to reasonable criticisms. Classical music and even opera are rapidly declining in cultural relevance, and survey after survey indicates you and those like you have failed to make the arts important to the current generation. Attendance and revenue is in decline. By any reasonable measure, the class to which you belong has failed. A true leader accepts criticism and new insight, realizes their failures, and works to overcome them. A musician should know this - I've spent most of my life constantly returning to the great works like Bach's Partitas and Sonatas always striving to make them a bit better.

Art by its very nature is an ephemeral ideal, and one that can never truly be attained. How do you not know this? I have no idea.

I am thrilled however that my name has achieved legendary status on this site. Funny how the truth hurts.

In a very general sense, the inability of the managerial class of the city to adapt city regulations to meet housing demand is rooted in the same failure of the managerial class of the arts world to make their craft relevant to the people.

Both are thoroughly conservative in their views and unable to alter them. Worse, they personally attack any and all dissent.

And thus we are left with the constant, ever present social dichotomy - the artist versus the bureaucrat. One strives to forever improve the world and achieve the ideal, the other follows a rulebook, the law, and seeks to preserve the status quo.

Posted by: Eryximachus at June 15, 2007 11:29 AM

Oh also - I too have played with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. It's not a regular, full-time orchestra. You're paid (a low rate)per gig and they do relatively few performances per year. It's a nice orchestra, but it walks that fine line between professional and amateur. Certainly, no one can work their full time. It is not the real Phil.

They have always played at BAM and the organization does support them. When I say they play there by default, I mean just that. That is their venue, and it has always been their venue. Not only that, there is really no alternative in Brooklyn. So let's not overstate things here - it's not like there are concert halls all over Brooklyn begging the Brooklyn Philharmonic to relocate.

Posted by: Eryximachus at June 15, 2007 11:43 AM

Arts Supported: I didn't make the comment about the paint, but I share the opinion that the place needs a major renovation. Pretty much all art venues in the city need a major renovation, but that isn't the point.

My only point is that rather than expanding the cultural offerings, we should work to make the existing facility better than it is. A total gut renovation that allows for an orchestra pit is to me, of utmost important. BAM will never spectacular as long as operas are performed to recordings.

As for my personal support, I do what I can. I teach lessons for free to kids from disadvantaged homes, and refuse to accept the meager payments from organizations like the Brooklyn Philharmonic. I am but one man, but I try to bring the gift of music to a few. I only perform if it music that interests me, or if requested by a friend or colleague.

Anon 11:58 AM: I'm not a failure of a musician. I'm quite happy with my involvement in the world of classical music performance, and my decision to focus on the real estate business and make some real money. As for being an academic - I've never had the desire. Tis hard to fail at something you have never attempted.

Do not confuse polemics with bitterness. One is a rhetorical approach, the other is a state of mind. In any event, the many insults here have no effect on me. If anything, they private cheap entertainment. Kepp 'em coming...

Posted by: Eryximachus at June 15, 2007 1:01 PM