The Moment When All Opera Becomes Sh*t.

[Operahaven]

"Every time I conduct Wagner the world disappears, and for days after, all other opera seems nothing but shit. Verdi is shit. Puccini is shit. Tchaikovsky is shit. Even Beethoven is shit. And...," and here he paused, leaned his face close to mine, lowered his voice conspiratorially, and with genuine distress written over all his features, he, in hoarse, shamefaced whisper declared,

"and, Mozart...even Mozart is shit."

***********

You can read the whole thing here:

http://www.soundsandfury.com/soundsandfury/2006/08/goldovsky_mozar.html

***********

I quite agree with Mr. Goldovsky's sentiments !

0:)

[springrite]

Yes, indeed. Even that article and this post is sh*t. 

[Daidalos]

Then I guess you'd agree that even Debussy and his opera becomes shit?

[Operahaven]

Then I guess you'd agree that even Debussy and his opera becomes shit?

No Daidalos....  Pelleas et Melisande  is always the exception.

[PSmith08]

Eric, if you're going to repost ACD's anecdotes, you could at least choose a more recent anecdote than the Goldovsky story. Why, you ask? Well, those of us inclined to read S&F or care what ACD thinks have already read that post. Indeed, I knew as soon as I saw your title what the content would be. It's not like that's an obscure blog, rarely read by those who need to know.

You really get us riled up with the Einstein stuff, and then you pitch one like this? Come on, friend.  You're better than this.

[head-case]

Yes, indeed. Even that article and this post is sh*t. 

I certainly agree with your assessment of the post and article.   

[head-case]

Come on, friend.  You're better than this.

What evidence do you have?   

[Operahaven]

Come on, friend.  You're better than this.

You're right, Patrick... 

[PSmith08]

What evidence do you have?   

We both know that Eric can craft, wittingly or otherwise, a stemwinder of controversy for the ages. It pains me to see him doing anything less than his best on the needless-controversy-creation front.

You're right, Patrick... 

You'll get 'em next time.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

...and in a related story (courtesy of Lethe):

Motorhead. This band successfully makes all other rock sound like bullshit.

I'm sure Goldovsky would've thrown even Wagner out the window after hearing Motorhead...

[M forever]

Who is Goldovsky?

[PSmith08]

Some sort of New York opera-scene figure from thirty-some years back.

[Wanderer]

It's obvious the man has no discerning taste. Although, some people would forgive him the Verdi comment.

[knight66]

Surely this is the real explanation of the remark......

Quote "Goldovsky was a native Russian, and, well, you know just how emotional Russians can get, especially after tucking away three or four shot glasses filled with lethal-strength vodka."

That being said, I don't feel I need say more.

Mike

[Wendell_E]

It's obvious the man has no discerning taste. Although, some people would forgive him the Verdi comment.

Hey!  Hey!  Of course, Puccini's always a load of crap (Fanciulla del West and at least 2/3s of Il Trittico excepted).

Back before the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast intermission features were dumbed down, Goldovsky would often do a "Musical and Dramatic Analysis" of the broadcast operas.  You can still hear many of those at The Metropolitan Opera International Radio Broadcast Information Center (http://archive.operainfo.org/).  Click on the Opera, then on then on the "Intermission" link.  I'm not sure which operas have Goldovsky features, but I know Aida (since Verdi's good name's been besmirched) and Pelléas et Mélisande do.

Surely this is the real explanation of the remark......

Quote "Goldovsky was a native Russian, and, well, you know just how emotional Russians can get, especially after tucking away three or four shot glasses filled with lethal-strength vodka."

I think you're on to something here.  In any case, I'm sure that even if the Piece of Shit Effect was real, it probably wore off quickly.

[(poco) Sforzando]

No Daidalos....  Pelleas et Melisande  is always the exception.

No, Haven. He is quite specific: "all other opera."

[M forever]

I have always wondered which strange mental mechanism causes that when some people are very enthsiastic about something, they can only express that in negative ways, by putting down other things. I understand he is enthusiastic about Wagner, but why does "all opera become shit" in the moment he realizes he likes Wagner best? That appears to be a very strange form of enthusiasm to me. But there are also many threads here which display the same kind of mental problem, all these "this composer is the greatest and this is the most overrated" blablabla threads.

[Hector]

Yes, indeed. Even that article and this post is sh*t. 

The article, maybe, your post, no! On seeing the title of the thread the first thought that went through my head was: "When it is Wagner."

However, I would never publish such sentiments

[marvinbrown]

Goldovsky turned his face toward the ceiling, threw his arms up in a sort of helpless gesture (Goldovsky was a native Russian, and, well, you know just how emotional Russians can get, especially after tucking away three or four shot glasses filled with lethal-strength vodka), and declared passionately in a vodka-thickened Russian accent which I here won't even attempt to mimic, "Wagner!, Wagner! He consumes me!"

 
  I can relate to this  .

  marvin


 

[Hector]

Goldovsky turned his face toward the ceiling, threw his arms up in a sort of helpless gesture (Goldovsky was a native Russian, and, well, you know just how emotional Russians can get, especially after tucking away three or four shot glasses filled with lethal-strength vodka), and declared passionately in a vodka-thickened Russian accent which I here won't even attempt to mimic, "Wagner!, Wagner! He consumes me!"

 
  I can relate to this  .

  marvin


 

It could have been misheard: "Wodka, wodka, it consumes me."