Recently awarded the 150th-year Sibelius Medal, Sir Simon Rattle has just given an interview to Vesa Sirèn for the Helsingin Sanomat about the Finnish composer’s work. Just in time for the Sibelius cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic.
About Music
“…if we’re not willing to be challenged, we’re missing out on what life is asking of us.” Peter Sellars
One of the foremost directors of our time, Peter Sellars, speaks to The Guardian about the artist in society, free speech, opera, Klinghoffer, and The Gospel According to the Other Mary:
“The great painters (…) depicted their own times. The events they portray ask us where we stand, who we are, what we’re doing right now (…) I find the same sense of immediacy in the Bach passions. They’re about what we did this morning and what we’re doing tonight, and the values they represent are deeply attached to universal questions of justice, reconciliation, restoration, suffering, illness, recovery and resurrection. These are challenging issues, but if we’re not willing to be challenged, we’re missing out on what life is asking of us.”
Alex Ross on Music Criticism
What are critics for?
Here is a question of many answers that pops up every once in a while. In a recent interview, Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker and author of the bestseller (and admirable) The Rest is Noise, gives some intake on this most difficult topic.
“Something that I find very common is the assumption that critics are principally there to deliver a judgment on a performance; ranking the performance, rating the performance. And then, of course, the next question is, why is this needed any longer when anyone can go online, and rate an event, and put stars on it and deliver their opinion? And my answer is that this judgment, this ranking, this rating is part of what critics do. It’s an essential segment of any review. I don’t necessarily feel that it’s the most essential part of the process, and for me, actually, it’s the least interesting. What did I, in the end, think about the performance, how did I rank it? Yes, that needs to be in there somewhere every time I write, but ultimately, I don’t think anyone cares what I, myself, this single person, thought of the event.”
The Shadows of Time 