Oh, I’m not surprised by this at all. A lot of people just don’t have much interest in contemporary classical music. Sciarrino could compose forty operas, but this doesn’t mean I’m going to have an interest in what he does or anyone else for that matter. The bottomline is if the interest in the composer is there, then there will be mentions of him and since there’s not, you’ll have to formulate your own conclusions. To be even more honest, I really find your's and Alien’s attitude about contemporary classical interesting because it seems to me you guys somehow expect others to know who you listen to and, most of all, actually listen to these composers. Not everyone is as bold and adventuresome as you guys.
Well, I think everyone is adventurous in their own way. I probably wouldn't have listened to much 19th century music if it were not for other people's enthusiasms and explorations of that repertoire, just to give one example. I find it interesting to see the names of composers that pop up on GMG are often different to names that pop up on other forums and different again to names that pop up in the media. For example, I have read lots of news recently about Du Yun (opera related news, too!), but I haven't yet noticed conversations about Yun on
this forum.
My 'underrated' exclamation was really more of a sardonic joke, though, but with an element of honesty as well. Sciarrino is a composer whose opera
Luci mie Traditrici has had an unusually large number of performances and recordings for an opera from the late 90s. When repertoire is being performed lots then I suppose people are just more exposed to it and it there are more reviews to read and articles that appear in the news.......
My own assumptions get the better of me; not everyone necessarily follows what's happening in music around the world!
In the end, I can only be thankful for the plethora of recommendations I have received from you, Alien and others; it really is because of each individual's unique enthusiasms does this forum have such a wealth of information anyway. It is really because of everyone else that I listen to what I listen to and advocate the music I wouldn't have come across otherwise.
