Your first classical 'hero'?

[Sergeant Rock]

If I said Hercules, would I be misunderstood?

Sarge

[Bulldog]

Shostakovich for me.  When I was a young teenager, I'd take the subway from Revere to Boston (Mass.), walk over to the Boston Public Library, listen to a whole bunch of recordings in a listening booth and inevitably take a few Shostakovich LP's  back home.  That was back in the late 1950's when the LP was king.  Now we've regressed all the way to digital downloads - tiny products for humans who keep getting bigger. 

[Elgarian]

What?  I don't understand.

Sarge

I think we may have now arrived at the third side of the coin, Sarge.

[Elgarian]

(* munches popcorn *)

Is that the special Doom-flavoured popcorn you've got there, Karl?

[some guy]

I think we may have now arrived at the third side of the coin, Sarge.

Cool. I love that little thin band that runs all the way around.

That's the side that one uses to do the spinning thing with coins that I like.

New poll: do you like the ridged third side or the smooth third side?

(Heh heh heh. I said "ridged.")

[starrynight]

Perhaps because some see something that isn't there, as they supply it from within themselves. It is not the fault of the one who admires another's work, but of the one who reads of the admiration and fails to see what is clearly stated.

I understand your frustration.

Except that nobody was saying anything about Elgarian, so perhaps the assumptions are from another direction.    And some people somewhere could well go over the top and beyond the music and perhaps supply things from themselves rather than that which is in the music.  Does it matter if someone does?  Maybe not, except in so far as some may find it limiting in discussion.

[Marc]

My first classical hero was Johann Sebastian Bach. As a kid, I immensely enjoyed playing his little keyboard pieces, especially that famous Bourrée from the E-minor lute suite and the two Inventionen in C-Major and D-minor.

He continued to be my classical hero when I seriously began listening to classical music (radio, vinyl). During my teenage years, my fave Bach performer was Nikolaus Harnoncourt. So, he's kind of an early hero, too.

Thanks to Lucia Popp (she's also an early heroine), my first classical heroine was Susanna, bride-to-be of Figaro in Mozart's opera. I was rather jealous of that lucky b*st*rd .... he should have married his mother!

Bach, Harnoncourt, Susanna, Popp.
Suddenly I realize (again): first loves are eternal.

[TheGSMoeller]

SuperRued

[Elgarian]

Except that nobody was saying anything about Elgarian, so perhaps the assumptions are from another direction

As I explained, I was using the opportunity to raise an issue that has often puzzled and frustrated me about the common assumption that hero worship and admiration are the same thing, and I was discussing the matter in general terms. (I regard the issue as an important one, which is why I raised it.) I'd say there's quite a big difference between what I said (and why I said it), and what you think I said (and why you think I said it).

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I think so.

[owlice]

Except that nobody was saying anything about Elgarian, so perhaps the assumptions are from another direction.

Right, and no one said, nor implied, that something was said about Elgarian.

[some guy]

If I may, I'd like to take this opportunity to say something about Elgarian.

I like Elgarian. I like reading his (her) posts, even when I disagree with what she (he) says.

I also wish English had a gender neutral pronoun other than "it." Or that "it" didn't sound silly when referring to humans.

In my time remaining, I'd like to say how much I enjoy Karl's new avatar.

Thank you, and good night.

[Karl Henning]

Classic hero:

[TheGSMoeller]

Classic hero:

I need to know where I can buy a sandwich with a sparkler on top. Always been a fantasy of mine.

[snyprrr]

Shosty

[snyprrr]

Shasta

[Mirror Image]

I would have to say Alban Berg. I have been listening to classical music for a couple of years when one day I happened upon the MET broadcast of Wozzeck. I was totally blown away. A few days later I stopped by a friend's place and told him about it. He played me the LP of Lulu. Wow!

OK, now Berg has moved down a few spots in my book, well below Mahler, Bach, etc. But he is still one of my favorite and I will always remember him as my first real hero in classical music.

Some would call Berg an anti-hero. , but I love his music so much.

[ibanezmonster]

Paganini.

[springrite]

Some would call Berg an anti-hero. , but I love his music so much.

We seem to share a love for the anti-hero type 

[Mirror Image]

We seem to share a love for the anti-hero type 

So it would seem...