Holy Shmoly!

Critics are usually given a small, out-of-the-way space for their review, often allowing enough room for a paltry 300 words. As we’ve seen time and time again, to make good use of all 300 is terribly difficult. So when I saw that Stephen Smoliar of the San Francisco Concerts Examiner was given room for 1000 words, I was ready at the Meta-Critique Helm®. Delightfully, every word was worth it! Congratulations!

Here is an excerpt:

In the past I have seen [Vladimir] Ashkenazy only as a pianist, and I think his experience as a pianist effectively informed his role as a conductor of this work. He had a particularly sensitive ear for the balance between the piano and the orchestral resources. This turned out to be important because [Yevgeny] Sudbin tended to get pedal-heavy, often when the fingering got more complicated. Ashkenazy was able to engage his "balancing act" techniques to maintain the overall message, so to speak, of the concerto.

Can anyone say: ShamWow? That's as good as being beaten up by a hooker.
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