William Strother wrote:

>I love Hanslick.  Don't always agree with him, but he's so refreshing to
>read.

I agree.  I generally quite like Hanslick, the so called Wiener Musikpapst
(Viennese Musical Pope).  I even think the things the says about Wagner are
much more interesting that what George Bernard Shaw (the Perfect Wagnerite)
wrote - and I am someone who really likes Wagner!  He generally takes pains
when he writes to sound as little like Wagner's Beckmesser (who as you will
know is a caricature of Hanslick) as you could imagine - at least when he
is writing about Wagner.  The things he wrote about Bruckner - well that
is what in German would be appropriately called 'Beckmesserei' (lit.
Beckmessery).On the contrary the things he wrote about Brahms are
uninsightful to the extreme, especially when busily lavishing praise
on him.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia
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