For my degree I had a Professor who was Schoenberg mad; he tried his best to convince me that he was a genius – he may well be, but I just don’t get him and I never wish to hear his Variations again.
I suspect we all have some, seemingly irrational, blind-spots. I can’t stand Bruckner ( I have multiple recordings of all the symphonies and have tried to enjoy but become distracted after a few minutes) but love Wagner, dislike Italian bel canto opera but enjoy French bel canto, find Liszt to showy but like Alkan (explain that one !).
As for conductors, I like the “eccentrics”, probably because , whatever they are doing, they make you sit up and take notice. My likes include Silvestri, Beecham, Sinopoli and among the newer breed Currentzis. I agree with you Dieter regarding Rattle.
You may gather from the above that I have a low boredom threshold and am ancient, you are probably right on both counts.
There is no logic to this, perhaps irrational prejudice, but that’s what makes listening to music so great. As long as you listen with an open mind does it really matter if you have blind-spots ?
There’s a thesis here awaiting someone !
Happy listening, keep up the good work Dieter, stay safe.
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