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re: Back when the met was young ...

Posted by: Chromolume 11:24 pm EDT 08/07/14
In reply to: re: Back when the met was young ... - LegitOnce 09:10 pm EDT 08/07/14

Yeah, but you know what? A composer just can't win anymore. Either the music is deemed "unhummable/unmemorable/unmelodic" etc, or the music is automatically compared to recognizable styles of past composers. It's getting harder and harder to not be condemned for either being too melodic, or not melodic enough.


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re: Back when the met was young ...

Posted by: LegitOnce 01:18 am EDT 08/08/14
In reply to: re: Back when the met was young ... - Chromolume 11:24 pm EDT 08/07/14

I don't know that I agree with you. I review around eight or 10 new works a year, and looking back at my reviews, I find I'm pretty positive about the music half the time or maybe a little more. Alex Ross of the New Yorker I think does a really heroic job of seeking out and understanding new music, and the writers at the New York Times, even if their tastes are pretty diverse, do try to meet the composers halfway.

I was blown away, for example, by Gregory Spears' opera Paul's Case last winter: it was original and just radiantly beautiful, and I hope I was able to express that in my review. Some other new pieces I heard that week I was not quite so enthusiastic about, but I don't think it's fair to say that a composer "can't win."

Link New York Observer

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re: Back when the met was young ...

Posted by: Chromolume 09:02 am EDT 08/08/14
In reply to: re: Back when the met was young ... - LegitOnce 01:18 am EDT 08/08/14

Maybe it's just that you try to do a better, more objective (and enthusiastic) job than many. And I applaud you for that. ;-)


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re: Back when the met was young ...

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:22 am EDT 08/10/14
In reply to: re: Back when the met was young ... - Chromolume 09:02 am EDT 08/08/14

"Maybe it's just that you try to do a better, more objective (and enthusiastic) job than many."

I don't think someone's general reviewing style can be "objective" and "enthusiastic" at the same time, but at any rate, many people would say that objectivity in reviewing art is both unattainable and undesirable.


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