Point of View
October 31, 2011
This site is not turning into a Z. Woolfe fan-page, but for a second post in a row, I feel bound to call your attention to an article of his. This because he has done something I have long yearned to see in reviews. He actually reports on the perspective from the humblest of seats (or, in this case, standing-room), as well as from the Daddy and Mammy Warbucks sector.
The hopes one nurtures for daily criticism may be faint, but they are real so long as such intelligence has a platform.
She Ruled. Still Does.
October 31, 2011
Do I need a special reason to pass on to you this fine interview by the perceptive and articulate Zachary Woolfe with the ever-incomparable Marilyn Horne? No.
On the Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty
October 30, 2011
There are works of art that it sometimes seems impossible to evaluate dispassionately because they are too close to us. Such, for me, is this majestic utterance of Emma Lazarus:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Fingernails on the Blackboard
October 29, 2011
What makes unpleasant sounds unpleasant? These guys have an explanation — and they’re musicologists!
The Myth of the “Average Consumer” of Classical Music
October 27, 2011
A study says that going for the exceptions is far more profitable.
In the Grand Tradition of Ear-Training Mnemonics
October 27, 2011
It may be the best thing since Ut queant laxis:
(Tip of the hat to Judith Malafronte)
If you’ve ever suspected that some jargon-enriched musicology papers were mindlessly generated, you may have been right. (Simply click here, and keep reloading the page for delightful new subjects.)
Translate or Paraphrase?
October 19, 2011
RogerEvansOnline.com 