"Why I hate ****" rant, or The Death of Art.

Death of art. Textbook correctness. Utter lack of creativity-personality-subjectivity, in other words Artistry as I define it. She is a good example of the dullest, most uninteresting playing that a human being is capable of producing; she takes music and erases from it all colour and inflection except for one: a confident, smoothly unobtrusive inoffensiveness – that most offensive quality in art making. There is no reflection of the human condition/range of expressiveness/weakness (flaw being an archetypal human personality trait) in her playing, which is the fundamental role of art. If I had to choose one characteristic that is most essential for performing European classical music well but too often absent today, it would be vulnerability. Music and art often are not about the rock solid unambivalent success of humanity; they explore our dilemmas and neuroses more readily, and without this vulnerability being brought out, the most human, enlightening, moving and profound dimension is missing. (Granted, it is difficult to have a modern career if one is acquainted with the concept of self-doubt; it seems that more often a supreme, almost arrogant and thoughtless confidence is encouraged and successful. But in such cases artistry too often becomes a casualty of single mindedness/limited life experience, since I believe that the artist can easily and correctly be intuited through their art). And finally the number one reason perhaps for my justified hatred? People idolize her without reservation. Due to the sheer number of accolades and fans she has become for me the poster child for a certain type of performer in the modern day classical music scene: the pure athlete, where the athletic feat is an end unto itself rather than a tool to be used in the creation of something greater. Her greatest attribute is in fact that her technique is absolutely “perfect”, machine-like. But rather than being put to a good use, it exists for its own sake. (I would go as far as to claim that this aseptic technical cleanliness by its very nature actually precludes individuality of interpretation/performance). In any case, I find it depressing that that’s all some people look for in classical music performances! I suppose it is easier to judge simplistic empirical criteria such as correct intonation (something we mistakenly believe is a set thing), unrelenting uniform vibrato and sustained monotonous phrasing and to label them as desirable or GOOD, than it is to see if these things actually MEAN anything (beyond the simple act of someone being able to produce them, thus proving themselves to be “good” artists), or if they are a smoke screen for vapidness. Technical "imperfection" is also not always categorically undesirable or BAD: an extremely high note that is not sharp and is without a wildly flailing about, uncontrolled vibrato is simply not particularly expressive. Though to be fair, I think she is simply a classic example, by no means an isolated one, of the mainstream academic American violin school of playing, as well as being reminiscent of the beloved nice simple girl/boy “next door” (perhaps the key to understanding why her “interpretations” have such MASS appeal), and not the devil incarnate. However the damage to people’s perception of what art is capable of amounts nonetheless to evil.

7 Things I Like

0. Garlic.
1. Opera, at number 1.
2. Being nowhere: between places, travelling on a bus, train, airplane, momentarily free and with a bird’s eye view of daily life concerns; reflecting on the life left behind and the one ahead.
2A. Driving late at night on an empty road or highway, flipping through favourite radio stations.
3. The profound peace at bedtime, after having had spent the entire day working. A rather elusive endeavor.
4. Trying to see out into the drizzling, prematurely dark fall evening through the window of a Viennese streetcar (the older model), preferably on the way to an opera, naturally.
5. Walking city streets, Viennese suburbs, forest and meadow, Niagara Escarpment’s Bruce Trail, simply being out in nature.
6. Honesty, truth, kindness, considerateness, thoughtfulness, integrity, generosity of spirit, commitment to living the best life one is capable of, not compromising quality, whether the effort will go unnoticed or not.
7. Preparing buckwheat crêpes and coffee in the morning in anticipation of a close friend.
7. “Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure.”