Missing Members

[Spotted Horses]

And the guest's name is staxomega.

Can't understand the whys and hows of such a move.

If I recall correctly, if you change your username the new username appears on your posts but the original username is still your underlying username. I suspect staxomega changed his/her username to hvbias and when the account was deleted the post labels revert to the original username, by some quirk of the site coding.

Of course, it is always to be regretted when a knowledgeable and congenial member leaves the site.

[Karl Henning]

Verily.

[Florestan]

If I recall correctly, if you change you username the new username appears on your posts but the original username is still your underlying username. I suspect staxomega changed his/her username to hvbias and when the account was deleted the post labels revert to the original username, by some quirk of the site coding.

I thought so, indeeed.

Of course, it is always to be regretted when a knowledgeable and congenial member leaves the site.

Especially when they leave abruptly and without any apparent reason.

[vandermolen]

Especially when they leave abruptly and without any apparent reason.

I agree.

[Mandryka]

So De Profundis, or was it Carlo Gesualdo, has disappeared without trace. I feel a bit bad about this -- he sent me long private messages, to which I may have responded in a laconic manner. If he sees this, it wasn't because I didn't appreciate him, on the contrary. It just was that I was busy.

Ne nous quittez pas, Carlo Gesualdo. Vous nous manquez - et pas que moi. On vous kif

[Traverso]

So De Profundis, or was it Carlo Gesualdo, has disappeared without trace. I feel a bit bad about this -- he sent me long private messages, to which I may have responded in a laconic manner. If he sees this, it wasn't because I didn't appreciate him, on the contrary. It just was that I was busy.

Ne nous quittez pas, Carlo Gesualdo. Vous nous manquez - et pas que moi. On vous kif

If there was anyone who shared his enthusiasm on this forum, it was him.
Plagued by setbacks, he was constantly guided by his love for early music.
I would applaud if he realizes there is a welcome for him on this forum.
It would be a shame if he felt ignored.....

[Traverso]

It is Carlo Gesualdo and it looks like he has canceled his account.His past posts are now as a guest.so there is no way to contact him anymore. He has also left silently on another forum in the past. Maybe he has found another way to share his enthusiasm with others, let's hope so.

[Spotted Horses]

It is Carlo Gesualdo and it looks like he has canceled his account.His past posts are now as a guest.so there is no way to contact him anymore. He has also left silently on another forum in the past. Maybe he has found another way to share his enthusiasm with others, let's hope so.

Unfortunate that he has left. I'm not a member at "another forum" anymore. Has De Profundis deleted his account there, or just stopped participating?

[Traverso]

He suddenly left with no message on the other forum leaving some with a sense of alienation.
He showed up here and seemed to feel more accepted here.
Also on the other forum he told things that others keep hidden, such as his difficulty with medication. A forum member felt compelled to advise him to stop taking medication. I reacted fiercely and had a permanent enemy in this attention-seeking simpleton.

[Brian]

A forum member felt compelled to advise him to stop taking medication. I reacted fiercely and had a permanent enemy in this attention-seeking simpleton.

Of course we can never know other people's struggles, but at least from his comments here, he seemed like someone who needed medication. I hope he is well and healthy, wherever he is and whoever he is chatting with.

[Traverso]

Of course we can never know other people's struggles, but at least from his comments here, he seemed like someone who needed medication. I hope he is well and healthy, wherever he is and whoever he is chatting with.

No doubt about that,it's almost criminal to advice otherwise.Let us go no further in too much detail in this.

[Spotted Horses]

A pity.

I resigned from "another site" because I didn't want to participate in two sites (one is a bad enough draw on my time) and "another site" seemed more bland. Also the ban on political comments on "another site" was enforced in a haphazard and clumsy way that seemed to cause more trouble than political discussion themselves. Each site has it's share of nasty disputes, and at various times I've thought one or the other of the sites was worse.

[Traverso]

A pity.

I resigned from "another site" because I didn't want to participate in two sites (one is a bad enough draw on my time) and "another site" seemed more bland. Also the ban on political comments on "another site" was enforced in a haphazard and clumsy way that seemed to cause more trouble than political discussion themselves. Each site has it's share of nasty disputes, and at various times I've thought one or the other of the sites was worse.

I am present on both forums but my participation is mainly limited to "what are you listening now" and that is time consuming enough. Discussions are a waste of time and rarely enlightening. Information is of course more than welcome and there is this forum very helpful although I usually find my own way.

[Spotted Horses]

I am present on both forums but my participation is mainly limited to "what are you listening now" and that is time consuming enough. Discussions are a waste of time and rarely enlightening. Information is of course more than welcome and there is this forum very helpful although I usually find my own way.

I find reviews of music are rarely helpful, but a brief discussion about a recording with a congenial member whose taste I trust can be quite illuminating. But the most useful information is often is just the existence of a recording I wasn't aware of.

[Mandryka]

I find reviews of music are rarely helpful, but a brief discussion about a recording with a congenial member whose taste I trust can be quite illuminating. But the most useful information is often is just the existence of a recording I wasn't aware of.

IMO

I am present on both forums but my participation is mainly limited to "what are you listening now" and that is time consuming enough. Discussions are a waste of time and rarely enlightening. Information is of course more than welcome and there is this forum very helpful although I usually find my own way.

I think good discussions about music or even performance are pretty rare in English language public forums. For the things which interest me, I don't think this one is better or worse than Talk Classical or rmcr: just different people, different style, different perceptions. For some reason the format of this one is congenial -- I can jot down ideas and then find them again. That's very valuable to me.

Talk Classical seems to me the most agreeable, in terms of troll control, not that these people are a real problem to deal with.  If you let the public in you're bound to get people who you wouldn't normally spend time with in the real world, unless they're rapidly weeded out through vigorous moderation. 

[Florestan]

For the things which interest me, I don't think this one is better or worse than Talk Classical or rmcr: just different people, different style, different perceptions. 

I've been browsing Talk Classical a lot and it seems to me that many, if not most, posters there are novices to classical music, enthusiastic (and enthusing) about Beethoven and Mahler first and foremost, little appreciative of anything  outside the Austro-German canon and rarely venturing beyond (Late) Romanticism. (I've read pages after pages of disparaging comments about Haydn and Mozart, for instance). The GMG membership is far more sophisticated, their taste far more catholic and their historical horizon far wider. To sum it up, TC is to GMG what reckoning is to calculus. 

My two cents, of course, your (plural) mileage might vary.

[Mandryka]

I've been browsing Talk Classical a lot and it seems to me that many, if not most, posters there are novices to classical music, enthusiastic (and enthusing) about Beethoven and Mahler first and foremost, little appreciative of anything  outside the Austro-German canon and rarely venturing beyond (Late) Romanticism. (I've read pages after pages of disparaging comments about Haydn and Mozart, for instance). The GMG membership is far more sophisticated, their taste far more catholic and their historical horizon far wider. To sum it up, TC is to GMG what reckoning is to calculus. 

My two cents, of course, your (plural) mileage might vary.

There are a handful of people who are knowledgeable about opera and song, including some professionals. There are three academics, serious academics with real university careers in music, whose thoughts interest me - one of them them seems to have a very extensive grasp of 18th century music. And there are many people who are curious about contemporary music, as I am. 

[Florestan]

There are a handful of people who are knowledgeable about opera and song, including some professionals. There are three academics, serious academics with real university careers in music, whose thoughts interest me - one of them them seems to have a very extensive grasp of 18th century music. And there are many people who are curious about contemporary music, as I am. 

Well, I admit my browsing was as a guest, not as a member. Perhaps as a member one can spot, and get in touch with, like-minded people easier.

That being said, I stand by what I wrote above: my impression is that the average GMGer is more sophisticated and more catholic in taste than the average TCer.

And now that I think of it, there are a few, but very vocal, TCers whose mission in life seems to be the disparaging of a particular composer. There is this guy, I don't remember his username otomh, who, no matter the topic at hand, always ended up by "proving", in lengthy posts with lots of YT videos, what a bad composer Schubert was; another who did the same with Mozart and yet another whose Nemesis was Rachmaninoff.

TC is definitely not my thing.

[Traverso]

IMO
I think good discussions about music or even performance are pretty rare in English language public forums. For the things which interest me, I don't think this one is better or worse than Talk Classical or rmcr: just different people, different style, different perceptions. For some reason the format of this one is congenial -- I can jot down ideas and then find them again. That's very valuable to me.

Talk Classical seems to me the most agreeable, in terms of troll control, not that these people are a real problem to deal with.  If you let the public in you're bound to get people who you wouldn't normally spend time with in the real world, unless they're rapidly weeded out through vigorous moderation. 

Precisely, centrally is that there is a database at your disposal where personal opinions are or should be subordinated, although they can give a kind of liveliness. A forum like this can be a stimulus. 

Information is the most important whether or not spiced up with explanations and opinions of a personal touch. I spend most of my time looking for recordings that I want in my collection. My attitude can be clear, I prefer listening to music rather than talking about it .Of course valuable recordings are discovered on this forum.
Still, I prefer the old situation, the vanished record stores where I could browse the record shelves, and exchange information with others I met there.
What remains of course is that this forum has a valuable database that I like to use (though not too often). Personal taste is subject to change and therefore not essential for me on this forum.
It has become clear to me many times that with the passage of time,that a once beloved recording was no longer enjoyable to listen to.

I see life as a journey and music is for me an essential part of that.
It is remarkable that sometimes you don't know what to listen to and put on a CD without much enthusiasm. Remarkable because it has happened on several occasions that I completely coincided with the music. Merged with, an ultimate experience, so unexpected. That's where you as a musician experienced your most beautiful moments

[Florestan]

I prefer listening to music rather than talking about it

This reminds me of Hermann Scherchen's dictum: Music should not be understood, music should be listened to.

Also, of Ole Bull's philosophy, that music should be composed in order to be enjoyed by the listener here and now, not in order to be analyzed academically post-performance.

I agree with both stances.