Socialism's Impact on Culture

You wouldn't know it from the title of this post, but I'm going to write very favorably about my experiences of enjoying culture in France.

The culture of which I have been availing myself most here is the musical life around Nice. And a rich musical life it is. I have attended student concerts at the Conservatory of Nice, Philharmonic concerts in the city's opera house, chamber music concerts in government buildings and local churches, and orchestra performances outside the city, in nearby towns.

The opportunities to hear a wide range of music are just as plentiful as you would find in an American city of this size (650,000 population). But Nice is not Baltimore, and especially not the Baltimore that just lost its venerable opera company in the wake of the credit crisis. Because Nice is in a well-funded department in France, and the Conseil-Général of the Alpes-Maritimes (06) has resources to provide for the cultural life of the peoples living here. The Conseil-Général provides funding for musical groups and institutions around the city - I don't think I've been to any performance that hasn't had the logo for the government arm somewhere in the program or advertising.

And because of that funding, admission to concerts and events is frequently free, and rarely more than 20 euros. I have even found a movie theater in town that is supported by the Conseil-Général, with 2 euro admission for random, classic movies (enough of them in English with French subtitles to make it a fun find for me). I have paid 7 euros to sit in "paradis" - the highest balcony - in the Opera House (the orchestra tickets are in the 30 euro range); 10 euros for chamber music concerts, and attended a whole weekend of free classical performances (vocal, chamber, orchestral) in the city's performance/conference center. My local church even has had some wonderful chamber music performances (the last I heard was a performance of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" by a young and very talented pianist) for 10 euros. I can't think of a concert that I have attended in the US in the past five years that has cost less than 15 dollars. Even the cheap seats for the Cathedral Choral Society's Christmas Concerts in Washington, DC are 20 dollars.

I have no idea what the politics of being supported by the government so generously means to the musical society here in Nice; in America those involved with music generally wish there was more government support, but those who are not, wish there was less. And, of course, France is a much smaller place than the US. But for the concert-goer here in Nice, I have only good things to say about socialism. It's certainly enriched my musical life here.