Recently the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra thought of a brave idea to get a big audience to a work they expected to be rather cold-shouldered, on account of the reputation of its composer. The orchestra had programmed Schoenberg’s huge Gurrelieder, which Wellingtonians will recall in a wonderful performance at a festival ten years or so ago. They offered a money-back guarantee. Sceptics wondered whether there wouldn’t be a lot of people who would claim a refund, regardless, to get a freebie. But the promoters asserted that their audiences were not like that. A commentator in a British music magazine wrote that his...  Read More »