Swed: Tindall’s Tales Miss The Point

Blair Tindall’s now-infamous stories of sexual favors traded for career advancement in New York’s freelance scene are less troubling than her characterization of the music business as a whole, writes Mark Swed. “Classical music doesn’t mean much to the average American’s life, and she condemns the major orchestras, opera companies and performing arts centers for acting as if it does. They can’t sustain their high budgets, and they get by, in part, by taking advantage of the little guy, the musician… There are serious inequities in the system and a lot of jerks who manipulate musicians and the public for their own profit. But there are musicians who engage in the world in a meaningful way — and not just the Rattles, Tilson Thomases and Salonens — who get out and make music that matters, who change lives.”