Metcalf on Roth

After I read Exit Ghost, I considered posting, but I had trouble wrestling to the ground what I really thought. There is much to celebrate in it, but there is also much of the dross that has crept into late Roth--the often flat writing, the unnaturalistic dialogue in which characters give speeches that go on for paragraphs. Worse in Exit Ghost is a female character to whom Nathan Zuckerman is drawn, and who seems to possess absolutely no attractive qualities whatsoever, aside from youthful good looks (which we have only on Zucerkman's say-so). But there is also the Rothian honesty, of looking at life squarely and unflinchingly, of testifying to emotions that we may not have rights to but that still need to be expressed. Few writers have that kind of courage.

Anyway, Stephen Metcalf (a friend), in his usual adept fashion, has reviewed the book and has done a much better job than I could have in getting a handle on Roth and his contradictions.

Off-Topic Update

After extensive video review, the NHL has determined that the winning goal in Monday night's Rangers-Lightning game should be credited to Brendan Shanahan, whose skate deflected Jagr's slap shot. Not as good a story, but it still attests to Jagr's toughness.

(Related post is here.)

Shock of the New

There's a wonderful French music blog called Le Journal de Papageno, very much worth a look if you can read the language. Currently there's an interesting post about a live recording of the first Parisian performance of Edgard Varese's Deserts. Apparently one can hear quite distinctly the cries and whistles of the audience, including one person who waggishly shouted, "It's too slow!" Maybe not the kerfuffle that the first performance of The Rite of Spring was, but still an interesting document.

There's another post that reviews a book (Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale by William Sethares) on the organization of pitches into scales; the book's argument is that an instrument's timbre should best determine the scale it uses. Voice, violin, piano are well suited to the well-tempered scale, but, goes the argument, certain percussion instruments do better with the scale of the gamelan. Apparently there is some science to back this up. It's an interesting argument--can one expect to hear a piece scored for Harry Partch-type percussion instruments and traditionally pitched string instruments?

Mendelsohn on "Lucia"

I'm not sure if Daniel Mendelsohn, who happens to be a friend, has ever written about opera before. But in the current issue of The New York Review of Books, he has an absolutely brilliant article/review of the Met's "Lucia." It has tons of insights into bel canto opera, Donizetti, and "Lucia," and his take on Dessay's performance resonates with what another connoisseur expressed to me, that her interpretation was somehow underwhelming despite her vocal endowment.

To the editors of the New York Review: Please have Daniel review more opera! His voice is much needed. And I'd say that even if he weren't a friend!

This Stinks

I never much liked it when the otherwise great Andrew Porter reviewed performances that either used his translations or, in the case of John Eaton's lousy Tempest, featured his own libretto. (And surprise! He gave it a favorable review!) But he was Andrew Porter, and I suppose that was part of the price one paid for the benefit of his wisdom.

Jay Nordlinger, music critic for The New Criterion, is no Andrew Porter, and his shameless report on Salzburg makes for disturbing reading. Nordlinger not only attended the summer festival as a member of the press. He also conducted public interviews, sponsored by the Festival, of the performers. So, unless I've missed something, he was on the Festival's payroll. That should disqualify him from reporting on it, no?

You will not be surprised to find that all his interviewees were wonderful. Tenor Michael Schade, we learn, is "Wunderlichian." Ferrucio Furlanetto "is one of the great King Philips in history." Who knew? Perhaps most risible is Nordlinger's characterization of a response from Valery Gergiev:

"Valery Gergiev, the Russian conductor, was in Salzburg, conducting Benvenuto Cellini, the Berlioz opera. He was an interviewee, too, and I questioned him about Cellini: 'Is it a great opera, a good opera, an okay opera?' Gergiev’s answer demonstrated his integrity, certainly his honesty."

I'm stopping here, because I want you to fully appreciate the "integrity" and "honesty" of Gergiev's response. Ready? Here it is: "It is an interesting opera, an unusual opera, an imaginative opera." Wow! What a bold thing to say! Well, I suppose someone who reports on a festival that pays him would know all about "integrity."

It doesn't help that Nordlinger bathes his reactions and pronouncements in an orotund style. Try to figure out the vocal qualities of Anna Samuil, the soprano who sang Tatiana in Eugene Onegin:

"She has a most interesting voice, Samuil: It is darkish, as you can expect from the East, but it is also changeable, adaptable, and beautiful. Even more than beautiful, it is interesting (as I’ve said). And it is alive, always alive. As for technique, that was 100 percent secure, on the night I attended. And Samuil’s musical and dramatic instincts were faultless—faultless. This is a mightily intelligent singer. You can go five, ten, fifteen seasons without hearing a Tatiana so right."

OK, but what made it so right? Can you give us any details? This is the kind of writing that C. S. Lewis warned his pupil, Kenneth Tynan, about when he told Tynan that a critique should "distinguish (and not merely praise)." Throwing a bunch of words at Anna Samuil tells us nothing about her voice ("darkish"?--is that even a word? And what "East" are we talking about here?).

Such is what passes for music criticism these days.

Off-Topic: Why I Love Hockey

In the second period of Monday night's game against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning, something knocked out two front teeth of the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr. (It wasn't clear if it was a puck, a stick, or an elbow.) That came after his skate broke in the first period, and his glove broke earlier in the second.

Jagr didn't miss a shift, and wound up shooting the winning goal in the third period. You can't beat the work ethic of a hockey player.

Self-Promotion

My review of Jonah Lehrer's remarkable book, Proust Was A Neuroscientist, is up at the Los Angeles Times. Lehrer writes with authority and real sparkle, and his command of subjects is terrifying. And he's only 25.

Sandow on Berio

Greg Sandow writes in his usual perspicacious way about music by Luciano Berio--how he enjoyed a piece, and how two composer friends of his hated it. Worth reading: the fault lines in "modern music" are still strong. Personally, I endorse Sandow's implicit pluralism.

Literary Real Estate

For Sale: Guy de Maupassant's home. Asking 1.3 million Euros. In case you were interested.