Submitted by sh, Dec 7, 2006 10:22

Perhaps we were at different concerts.

I've found that Nordlinger believes that he'll appear more intellectual if he trashes a concert. His reviews tend to focus on stupid, mundane details of a piece, and he uses the same phrases to bash every performer (is it coincidence that EVERY SINGLE SOLOIST of EVERY CONCERT that Nordlinger attends tends to play "sharp" or just has "intonation problems"?) And don't get me started on how many "thin tones" Nordlinger hears on a nightly basis.

As for prefacing a new work, Davis' comments weren't terribly useful, but energetic and eloquent conductors like David Robertson deliver tremendously useful commentary. We don't live in a world anymore that appreciates or accepts new music - and until we do, having pre-performance discussions is actually quite useful and helpful for much of the audience.

Hate to say it, but people like Nordlinger and Kirshnit are what is WRONG with Classical music today, with their snide, pedantic writing, their seeming hatred of any concert they attend, and their unwillingness to accept any outreach on the part of conductors or orchestras.

If they hate this music so much, why do they bother showing up?

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