The teenager taking on the classical music establishment--and winning

 

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