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In Reply to: RE: Well, not all composers feel as Boulez did about musical "progress" posted by Chris from Lafayette on January 20, 2016 at 18:53:24
Yes, composers and other professional musicians can be extremely insightful as critics, but also extremely biased and cynical, often for personal and other non-musical reasons. A great example is Virgil Thomson, maybe the most perceptive American music critic writing for the general public ever, but with a greatly inflated opinion of himself as a composer (imo) that colored much of what he wrote.
He could also be very harsh on people he didn't happen to like personally or who wouldn't do favors for him, etc. Many musicians feared and despised him.
OTH, your comment notwithstanding, Milton Cross was hugely successful in expanding the American audience for opera, despite on-air and in-print styles that neither you nor I find compelling. He was able to draw in ordinary people who lacked sophisticated training and education in music by conveying the drama and excitement while keeping it simple. As a hard boiled long time pro musician, I'm not surprised you don't appreciate his homey style, but don't underestimate him. A lack of cynicism and an ample supply of enthusiasm can carry a critic far.
Follow Ups:
. . . during that mid-twentieth-century era, when the masses eagerly sought high culcha prior to the general decline that led to the more or less complete triumph of its pop equivalent. IOW, was he just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time? And perhaps it just took time for audiences to turn away from the pretentious delivery and conceits of folks such as MC? Just speculating. . . ;-)
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