I wrote Re: Handel arias being my personal torture:

>>the same 10 words of text be used for one 15 minute aria?

Don Satz replies:

>Sure.  10 words or 5 words - makes little difference to me, because
>I don't pay attention to the words.

Really?  In Handel or in General?  Do you like opera at all?  Or Lieder?

>Which Handel arias last 15 minutes?  I can't remember any that go over
>10 minutes, and most are 3 to 5 minutes.

I was of course hyperbolizing.  Anthing that bores someone is bound to seem
longer, and probably of less merit, than it really is.  And I'll readily
admit that my Handel exposure has been (deliberately) less than it could
have [been].  That is just a matter of personal preference.  I personally
can't see how (i.e.) Hindemith could ever be torturing or boring.

At this point (in history; not in my training) I feel I have more to learn
from an un- or little-known modern weirdo (even if I end up hating it) than
trying to catch every baroque oratorio or concerto grosso I've missed.
What is it that 'they' say? "Vivaldi wrote one violin concerto; and he
wrote it 400 times?" Or something like that.

I fear I'm giving the wrong impression of myself.  Even greater is my fear
of the wrath of the Baroque-o-philes.  I also feel (again) that I'm being
overly defensive.  Oh well.  Overpunctuating my posts always makes me feel
better--but I'm still not hip [HIP?] to the little smileyfaces.  In time,
in time...

Last thought:  To me baroque music, while very cool indeed, is much like
early early 50's rock and proto-rock.  Every early Elvis (or whomsoever)
song has (basically) similar chords, similar ideas, similar words/themes.
They led to better things, and are most interesting 'cause you can see how
important they were later.  And the lastingly interesting artists make
little (or big) advances that get the art gradually to the 'next stage' so
to speak.

Bob K, alas, born too late to love Handel

--P.S.  I am absolutely not saying anything remotely derogatory about
JSB at all ever.  His is a whole 'nother case.  (AND I promise not to
write anything more on this thread [unless attacked]).