Newspaper Article

YES, CLASSICAL MUSIC IS STILL IMPORTANT

Erikson, Matthew, Courant Staff Writer

2003

Overview

The article is ostensibly about the future of New York City Opera as it weighs a move from Lincoln Center to a more prominent home at the proposed cultural site at Ground Zero, yet the interest and repercussions go well beyond the confines of New York. The catalyst for [John Rockwell]'s argument is the 1970 Carlisle Floyd opera \"Of Mice and Men,\" which recently ended a run at New York City Opera with Connecticut Opera's general and artistic director, Willie Anthony Waters, as its conductor. Rockwell's article also provokes some necessary and fair questions as to the future of opera and classical music. Yet it doesn't take a connoisseur or Ph.D to recognize that much of pop music is ephemeral or, at worst, has no musical value. In contrast, classical music and opera have stood the test of time, offering substance and quality to generations of listeners patient enough to appreciate its more subtle pleasures. It's a tradition embraced and taught in conservatories throughout the world. Its champions and personalities -- from Chinese pianist Lang Lang to Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov (whose new opera \"Ainadamar\" had an exciting Tanglewood debut last summer) -- transcend European boundaries.

• Publisher: Tribune Publishing Company, LLC
• Subject: Rockwell, John