Pop "Concerts" and Classical Music

After musing over differences I noticed when comparing pop audiences and classical music concerts today, here are a few of my observations:

With pop music, fans attend concerts to be entertained by the creators themselves (or at least, those who recorded the songs); this is why, when the "original band lineup" isn't coming to perform, many fans complain or don't bother to buy tickets.

Whereas, …

... in the case of classical music, a concert is like a visit to a musical "art gallery"; fans show up to hear and contemplate the creations themselves, that is, the music. After all, the original composer/creator of the symphony, concerto, ballet, or opera, is very likely deceased - and the orchestra functions essentially like a "cover band."

Which incidentally seems to indicate something about the enduring artistic value of the music itself. Face it folks, popular music, because of its trendy nature, simply does not remain “popular” for very long.

On the other hand, some folks simply enjoy being entertained by Elvis impersonators and the like – they do not care that the real Elvis has left the building. Permanently.

Interestingly, the latter attitude is paralleled by those modern opera fans who come to see a specific opera star herself, or himself (though the opera singer did not compose a single note of the music of the opera). Actually, the fan motivation – the word fan being the diminutive form of fanatic – does in fact reflect opera's roots in what we call pop culture today, which is, essentially musical entertainment for the masses.

FYI – The first public opera house was built about 400-years ago, in Florence, Italy. Notice that adjective: public.

I also notice that, a few decades after they're gone, hardly anyone remembers the names of celebrity opera singers; but we do remember the names of Beethoven. He became deaf and as a result could no longer perform on the piano, so he switched to composing, writing.

Classical music buffs may also recall the name of Anton Bruckner, who at one point deliberately realigned is life from performer to composer, so as 'to be better remembered' by posterity.

We also are familiar with the names and music of Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, et al. Many classical composers were accomplished performers, but we usually do not remember them as performing artists. It is their original, written music that gives them near immortality, not their ephemeral antics on stage.

We may remember whether or not the performance by artist what's-her-name does it justice. If not, we may excuse the performer due to circumstances beyond her control, or if the piano was out of tune or poorly maintained. In the case of, say, a Beethoven piano sonata, we do not blame a poor performance on the composer.

The above-mentioned composers have all been dead a long time, but the passing centuries have not diminished the value of their art.

By contrast, how many pop musicians of the past century can you name? Is their music still respected and performed regularly today?

IMAGE CREDITS, in order of appearance -
Audience at Rock Concert, by marfis75 (commercial use & mods allowed): https://flic.kr/p/5Z9g8a
king-is-dead2, by Leigh Blackall (download 18_01_22; commercial use & mods allowed): https://flic.kr/p/hEX5p
Beethoven, by Boston Public Library (download 18_01_22; commercial use & mods allowed): https://flic.kr/p/88J2Jp

Composer's score for Don Giovanni, by Liza (download 18_01_22; commercial use and mods allowed): https://flic.kr/p/7EssSJ

Piano, by t.spang (download 18_01_22; commercial use & mods allowed): https://flic.kr/p/64ozFt

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

My Music Theory Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/fundamentalstofugue