Remember, way back in June, when music critic Ramiro Burr of the San Antonio Express-News was caught, er, accused of using a ghost writer for about one-hundred stories and columns? Well yeah, he was literally phoning it in. Yet, out of the blue, apparently, for no reason, like a rising fog over yesterday’s battlefield, or a translucent typist suddenly appearing from underneath a rotting oak desk, there’s an “urban myth” that says critics write reviews they don’t actually attend. Go figure. This perception exists, sort of, maybe, sometimes, perhaps in urban settings, where there are more people to potentially disagree with their critic.
This negative perception is so prevalent that Portland’s Christopher Hyde feels compelled to dispel the myth.
Letters that disagree with the evaluation of a performance, or detect errors in its description, almost invariably ask the question: Was the reviewer actually there?
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Well, yes, I was there, even when I earnestly wished to be somewhere else.
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(What? The gag was obligatory, right?)
Okay. Now, while I’ve previously accused critics of phoning it in, I hope I’ve never been taken literally. Usually, I’m just highlighting overused phrases or words which are completely devoid of meaning. Let's make that clear.
However, to say that you sometimes don’t want to be reviewing something you aren’t particularly pleased with is absurd. How can you truly appreciate a fine Brunello di Montalcino without first gagging on some two-buck Chuck? Or Chernowin without Esa-Pekka? I would say there is always something valuable and interesting to be learned from bad performances. A sort of Yin and Yang thing, if not Karma. Besides, it's Portland not Bayreuth, after all.
Anyway, I’m glad you stayed, Chris, otherwise you’d be literally phoning it in, lending credence to the myth you’re trying to dispel. Hooray for ethics!
Oh, and be careful with the concealed weapons thing.
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8/6/08
Phoning It In, But Not Literally
Posted by Empiricus at 12:58 PM
Labels: Christopher Hyde, concealed weapons, literally phoning it in, phoning it in, Portland Press Herald, Ramiro Burr
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2 comments:
One added benefit: I have found—and have found more than a couple other composers who agree—that sitting through a bad performance/piece of music does wonders for the creative faculties. You spend the whole time thinking about what you would have done differently, and by the end of the concert, you've got a piece mapped out.
And besides, bad reviews are far and away the most fun to write. I admit that I'm pretty easy to please, but on those rare occasions I'm subjected to outright lousiness, I jump on it like a walrus on a fish. I either have a good time at the show, or I have an exceptionally good time writing about it.
Would a walrus actually jump on a fish? Hmmmm.
Certainly seems like a win-win, productive, mentally healthy attitude.
More pressing, how exactly do Walruses catch fish? Maybe fish jump into walruses.
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