Where Have All The Critics Gone?

[Anoushik]

Just as I'd started to believe that the music situation in Armenia could not get worse, it sank to a new low. Who the hell does Mister X think he is to take the music of such a brilliant Classical music composer and sabotage it? I'm talking about Schubert's "Serenade". As if adding Armenian lurics to the beautiful piano composition is not enough, he has to sing it with such a distasteful vibrato and sentimentalism that one listening to it is on the verge of throwing up Shame on Armenia's music educators for not speaking up!

[Harut]

anoushik,

 

while i understand your annoyance with, as a classical musician, seeing a classical piece turned into something else, i don't understand your frusturation... there are hundreds of pieces of classical music turned into technos, pop music, rock, etc... this is just another example of it...

so what...

[hayemyes]

anoushik,

 

while i understand your annoyance with, as a classical musician, seeing a classical piece turned into something else, i don't understand your frusturation... there are hundreds of pieces of classical music turned into technos, pop music, rock, etc... this is just another example of it...

so what...

 

i understand her point too and urs, and i somewhat agree, but the renditions done by mr x are just digusting sometimes with the amount of vibrator his voice has, it does become very annoying, its like someone's shaking him while hes singing, and it just ruins the songs, same thing for his adagio of albinoni

[Anoushik]

Harut, yes you're right, classical music melodies have been turned into all kinds of junks. Since the majority of the famous composers are long dead, no one can claim copyright. Modern classical composers (or deceased composers who still have relatives) don't have these kinds of problems. One of the biggest problems I have about using classical music in other places is using it in advertising. It's pretty sad that when I hear the opening measures of Tchaikovsky's famous First Piano Concerto I can still see three cans of yoghurts come floating towards me. I'm still reminded of that stupid ad about yoghurts I saw in Germany when I was ten.

 

Now about Mr. X. The poor guy has no idea what taste in music is. He doesn't know that singing doesn't mean bleating like a sheep. But why am I bothered? Because of his arrogance and ignorance. Because he feels that he is equal to Schubert, because he allows himself to take the melody composed of such a genius and freely singing it without a second thought. And to think what a fool I was when a couple of years ago I doubted whether I, as a student, had a right with my humble talent to play the compositions of such immortal composers as Beethoven and Schubert. Here this "singer" is adding Armenian lyrics to it and bleating!

[Yervant1]

i understand her point too and urs, and i somewhat agree, but the renditions done by mr x are just digusting sometimes with the amount of vibrator his voice has, it does become very annoying, its like someone's shaking him while hes singing, and it just ruins the songs, same thing for his adagio of albinoni

Please for whatever reasons if someone smacks his head, may I have his MASK? I love to be Mr. X

[Azat]

HAHAHHA

Anoushik jan I agree 1000% . I am sick and tired of the stupid ways Armenian and foreign "singers" abuse music. You can add to the list the blind fool(Bocelli) who thinks he is the new Caruso(not that Mr Y can even be in even the blind fools league)

[Zartonk]

Regurgitation instead of creation. NO originality. End of story.

[vava]

Regurgitation instead of creation. NO originality. End of story.

 

It's a blight and it's infested in most forms of music.

[rostom]

Because he feels that he is equal to Schubert, because he allows himself to take the melody composed of such a genius and freely singing it without a second thought. And to think what a fool I was when a couple of years ago I doubted whether I, as a student, had a right with my humble talent to play the compositions of such immortal composers as Beethoven and Schubert. Here this "singer" is adding Armenian lyrics to it and bleating!

 

So are we not to listen to poetry recited by anyone other than the original author because it may be tainted by the person reciting it to his/her own feelings and/or understanding of the poem? And how about adding music to poetry while it is being recited, is this a no no either?

 

Singing to classical music composed by someone great is not a sin. In some cases it may even transform the original work into something attractive for those who would not have found interest in it in the first place. You don't like it, don't listen to it. In a world filled with marketing, propaganda, and idiots, we all need to learn to filter out the garbage. But please, don't make it seem that it is an abominable violation of a covenant of few who may have better understanding of the original work.

[Anoushik]

Rostom, thanks for your thoughts. I agree with some of them. However, the point of this thread was something else, and that is the lack of music critics (and art critics for that matter) in Armenia. In a free world everyone can do whatever he/she pleases, but at the same time there should be critics to guide the listeners, as well as the "artists" to strive for the best possible interpretation. If there are no critics, then the average listener cannot distinguish the good from the bad, and over time the average listener will start thinking that anything is good. For example, regarding Mr. X, the average listener thinks that singing with a full vibrato at every breath is the norm and is considered tasteful (which it isn't) because nobody else claims the contrary. And unfortunately for the Armenians, I notice that not only in Armenia, but also in the diaspora, our egos are so high, that God forbid we as a culture were to look at the American culture to actually learn something from them. And this is sad.