Comments on On An Overgrown Path: More on Norman's pulped fiction

Someone has linked Norman's Wikipedia entry to thi...

2007-10-29T13:59:52.939Z

Someone has linked Norman's Wikipedia entry to this blog, and it wasn't me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lebrecht

As far as I know, Andrew Porter is still writing o...

2007-10-29T05:36:54.911Z

As far as I know, Andrew Porter is still writing occasionally for Opera and the Times Literary Supplement.

Early this year, Porter reviewed the most recent Covent Garden "Carmen" (the one with Antonacci and Kaufmann) in the TLS and I recall reading his 2005 review of the ENO "Butterfly" production that the Met later picked up. He detested that "Butterfly" with a passion! I remember his cutting dismissal well.

Porter occasionally directs, too, generally at universities or at smaller companies.

Given that there was no trial and the matter was j...

2007-10-29T00:58:08.365Z

Given that there was no trial and the matter was just settled out of court, how much do we really know about the facts of this case? Is this just a case of someone with deep pockets being unhappy with how he was portrayed in a book, so he uses every legal means at his disposal to hound the author and publisher, or was Lebrecht truly guilty of falsifying information? Heyman claims Lebrecht made him look "like a sh*t", but has he provided any evidence to demonstrate that Lebrecht actually said anything untrue? Maybe Heyman is a sh*it!

Of course, this case also demonstrates the problem with British libel law being much too plaintiff-friendly. Note that the book was only challenged in the UK and is only being pulped in the UK, but not in the US, where it is much more difficult for a plaintiff to prevail in a libel suit. Until I see evidence from Heyman demostrating that Lebrecht lied, I'm not ready to presume that Lebrecht had no solid sources for the things he published about Heyman and Naxos. I agree there has been way too much schadenfreude over this issue from the Lebrecht-haters, many of whom are motivated, I think, less by professional considerations than by simple jealousy of Lebrecht and his position.

Jon, the question of how does someone like Norman ...

2007-10-28T22:14:23.885Z

Jon, the question of how does someone like Norman Lebrecht reach such a high position? is an important one, and I may return to it.

We have to be careful here, and I am getting a liitle uncomfortable with all the schadenfreude, which I know my blog is part of.

Lebrecht is a very fine writer. You don't win a Whitbread Award for your first novel for nothing.

The following may help provide the answer:

The three biggest music stories on my blog in reader numbers in the past 12 months have been:

1. Joyce Hatto
2. Norman Lebrecht
3. Robert King

Do we build these people up to knock them down?

Mike, I don't know Andrew Porter's whereabouts. Bu...

2007-10-28T22:09:28.598Z

Mike, I don't know Andrew Porter's whereabouts. But, I think he must be 78 now. So I hope he is enjoying his retirement and enjoying some fine music. Do any other readers know more?

So, how does someone like Lebrecht reach such a hi...

2007-10-28T20:38:18.979Z

So, how does someone like Lebrecht reach such a high position in the classical music world?

Dear pliable: You are usually so decorous and kind...

2007-10-28T17:19:18.026Z

Dear pliable: You are usually so decorous and kind, but when you are not, watch out! Printing A. Johnson's note from The Independent and employing the wonderful pun of "Pulped Fiction" were both brilliant strokes. Thanks.

And completely off-topic, I've just performed in an abridged version of "The Magic Flute" in San Francisco, which is using Andrew Porter's witty and beautiful English translation. Do you have any idea what has become of Mr. Porter since he left New York in 1990 and returned to England? Google, for once, was of absolutely no help other than confirming that he's still alive.

Lebrecht is a lively writer and he does, in fact, ...

2007-10-28T09:59:31.303Z

Lebrecht is a lively writer and he does, in fact, come close to identifying the most critical problem in the contemporary structures of professional music making. However, the combination of his sloppiness with facts and apparent inability to recognize the degree to which his own position as a traditional critic is embedded in the very same structures. Traditional music publishers, concert management agencies, recording and broadcast companies, and traditional critics created a system that functioned well enough under very different circumstances than those found today. That system is now breaking down under a dramatically altered environment for music making, and the natural lethargy and inevitable petty corruptions in the system -- against which Lebrecht rightly rages -- are not making the transition any easier.

The relevant question now is not the "survival" of classical music but rather which of these institutions have the flexibility to operate in the new environment and also which new institutions will now come into play, supplementing or, in some cases, replacing old ones. In this era of transition, we have to be prepared for the possibility that many features peripheral to musical life will change or disappear altogether -- publishing houses, for example, or newspaper critics -- but also be prepared for the possibility that the new enviroment will be less tied to large institutions, a traditional star system, and a narrow repertoire.

This headline says it all:Blogs: A Week Ahead of t...

2007-10-28T08:51:47.129Z

This headline says it all:

Blogs: A Week Ahead of the Newspapers

http://timworstall.com/2007/10/28/blogs-a-week-ahead-of-the-newspapers/