Well, I must say that I admire Svedja tremendously as a commentator
on music. As one who has been himself on the receiving end of e-mail
in which the word "idiot" is used several times, I admit one of my
buttons was pushed. Svedja has opinions. He expresses them clearly, and,
most important, he tells the careful reader why he holds them. I don't
agree with Svedja all that often, but I always find him interesting and
thought-provoking. I can also credit him for introducing me to giants of
the past, including Mitch Miller, Mengelberg, Cortot, and Koussevitzky. He
also put me on to Radu Lupu and to a revelatory Gershwin recording (Mitch
Miller on Arabesque) which added immeasurably to my appreciation of that
composer. I have no complaints about his value to me.
I also admire Swedja for his unwillingness to dumb down and for his
perserverance in following complicated threads. I remember in particular
a program on the Faust legend in music. I happened to do my dissertation
on Goethe's Faust. I think I can say I'm familiar with the work as well
as with its reception. I found Swedja's commentary exemplary and free of
pedanticism.
I've noticed that people are awfully thin-skinned about music they like.
If you dislike it, you're unfit for civilized company because you're an
insensitive ignoramus. I've never met anybody who liked everything, I
don't believe "objective" criticism exists, and I've never encountered
absolutely faultless taste (except my own). The only thing I really
want to know about an opinion is the reason why the person holds it and
whether the reason makes some sort of sense - that is, has some basis
in the reality of the work. If you read a critic solely to confirm your
prejudices, save your time. With a good critic, as opposed to the usual
newspaper reviewer, you're missing way too much. I've tended to learn more
from critics I've disagreed with than those whose judgments tallied with
mine to the bottom of the page.
The only thing that tends to get on my nerves about Swedja is his radio
voice, but that's overly picky.
Steve Schwartz
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