For those who may have missed it, I paid a visit yesterday to WQXR, where I engaged in a thoughtful, lively roundtable discussion on classical music criticism in the digital age, with Anne Midgette of the Washington Post and the violinist Lara St. John, whose FB post last month in defense of British violinist Charlie Siem (against the piling on of colleagues and friends) kicked off our discussion. Classical music coverage is of course only part of what we do here, but I was grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on music criticism. The fact of the matter is: good writing is good writing, whether it's online, in print, or written in the sky. And good music writing has played an essential role in the evolution of music for at least three centuries now: from the critics of 19th century Vienna, to the hype machine of Pitchfork (not classical, I know.)
Sometimes we like what we hear, sometimes we don't, but at the very least, we try to tell it like it is. And, of course, the comments are always open if you disagree.
You can listen to the whole discussion below, or on WQXR.com.
