“Can Concerts in Bars and Cafés Save Classical Music?”

Julia Lurie’s article on this subject appeared in Mother Jones (3 November 2014; http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/11/classical-revolution-music.  Although I did not like the overall tone – the piece centered around Classical Revolution, a group that has organized a series of performances in precisely those venues, but which does not pay its performer! – I cheerfully concede that it may perhaps point in a promising new direction.

For decades I have fantasized about recitals and chamber concerts performed not in sterile concert halls, but rather in private homes.  The famous Schubertiade depicted by Mortiz von Schwind comes readily to mind, and I visualized precisely that sort of setting.  I am sure that bars and cafes might also work, although I feel very strongly that the performers must be paid!