THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
Who is served when a critic's expectation is so at odds with that of an audience that surged to its feet and applauded a recent performance of Beethoven's 9th for 3 1/2 minutes?
In Henri Temianka's chapter on the music critic in his book Facing the Music, he writes ``Although critics usually have the last word because of the strategic position they hold, there are instances in which they come off second best; Max Reger achieved the ultimate in German delicacy when he wrote the following letter famous among musicians. `I am sitting in the smallest room of my house with your criticism before me. Soon I shall have it behind me.'
In 1899, Philip Hale, one of America's most influential critics, called Beethoven's 9th ``stupid and hopelessly vulgar music'' (in the chapter cited above).
So much for music critics!
HYMAN GUTHWIN
Virginia Beach, Sept. 11, 1994 by CNB