When Alma Deutscher was 12, she gave a widely reported
interview in which she went after the classical music establishment in the most
direct way possible, accusing it of abandoning what is most important in music: beauty. With that,
she triggered a civil war within that estabishment. One might not expect anyone to
care what a 12-year-old girl has to say, but a lot of serious people in
classical music seem to be terrified of her.
And no wonder.
At the age of seven, she completed a short opera. At nine, she wrote a violin concerto. Both have since been performed multiple times
in major venues. At the age of ten, she completed her first full-length opera, “Cinderella”, which premiered in Vienna in
2016 under the auspices of Zubin Mehta, and had its U.S. premiere a year
later. Deutscher premiered her first piano
concerto when she was 12. She made her
Carnegie Hall debut when she was 14, in a concert dedicated to her own
compositions.
On the occasion of her Carnegie Hall debut, she doubled
down: “It has often been suggested to me . . . that as a modern
composer I need to integrate more harshness, experimental noises, and
unresolved dissonance into my compositions, in order to reflect the modern
world. [But] there is enough ugliness in the world as it is, and I’ve never
understood why I should add more ugliness to it with ugly music.” The New York
critics boycotted the performance, and by all accounts, deprived themselves of
a rapturous experience. Some of them continue to try and take her down.
She continues to advocate for melody and beauty at every
opportunity, not least through her music itself. So far it is working: Her concerts are
selling out around the world, top conductors and performers are lining up to
work with her, and the Salzburg State Theatre has commissioned her to write an
opera. Many of the critics and academics
are fuming, but long-time classical audiences as well as new, young fans, love
what they are hearing.
“Trio Movement for Violin, Viola and Piano”, 2014
Alma writes music that sounds fresh and new and yet makes you
feel you have heard it all your life. This
is adapted from her then work-in-progress, “Cinderella”, which would premiere
in 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBnJT4W9cQ
“Waltz of the Sirens” (2019)
I posted this a year ago, in a piece about prodigies, but honestly,
Alma is beyond that. This is the work of a mature composer, and one of the most ingenious things I’ve ever heard. It is
also a playful dig at postmodern classical music. Her spoken introduction is
delightful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xMpLXQNvM
What’s an
original melody? Alma shows her chops as a lecturer, and dispels some
misconceptions about writing music (July, 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VUooLGLnJY