Bernard Chasan wrote:

>It is a source of wonderment to me that Mozart is bashed so much more
>frequently than any other master.  It is as if the old eighteenth century
>drawing room cliches are being reinstated, and I have to wonder if the
>bashers know the operas, or the viola quintets, or the piano concerti.
>If you don't know these parts of Mozart's output (among many others) you
>don't know Mozart.

Just wanted to point out that it is possible to know well and love
these works, and yet rate them no higher than other great works like
the Beethoven piano concerti and the (best of the) Haydn string quartets,
and also rate them below even greater works such as the late Beethoven
quartets.  Also, "Mozart basher" should be reserved for people who dismiss
his entire output out-of-hand; those listeners for whom Mozart is not in
the top three or top five greatest (like he is for most people) are not
Mozart bashers, they just have a different (and possibly minority) opinion.

Ulvi
[log in to unmask]