Ever since Lorin Maazel took over the New York Philharmonic, critics have lined up for and
\nagainst and in between. Today’s Financial Times review of their performance of Berlioz’s “Rom\u00e9o
\net Juliette” puts the case on both sides as well as anything I’ve read: The maestro “is a bit like that
\ngirl with a curl. When he’s good, he’s very good indeed, and when he’s bad he’s tawdry.” <\/P>
\n
But Here’s some incidental intelligence of my own: I ran into I figured Ax’s opinion was worth something, and not just because he has to have a great pair Ax said he loves the hall, thought it sounded great from the stage and — having attended Ever since Lorin Maazel took over the New York Philharmonic, critics have lined up for and against and in between. Today’s Financial Times review of their performance of Berlioz’s “Rom\u00e9o et Juliette” puts the case on both sides as well as anything I’ve read: The maestro “is a bit like that girl with a curl. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbvgEs-6y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nreview<\/FONT><\/EM><\/B><\/A>, which tells how Maazel “brought out the virtuosic best” in a
\n“variable orchestra” and “mustered a gutsy performance on a vast scale.” The reviewer also offers
\nthis “incidental intelligence: in their possibly misplaced zeal to abandon Lincoln Center in favour
\nof Carnegie Hall, Philharmonic apologists have wasted no effort to disparage the acoustics of
\nAvery Fisher Hall. After a concert that sounded as fine as this, I think they may protest too
\nmuch.”<\/P>
\n
\nAx<\/FONT><\/EM><\/B><\/A> at my local gym and asked him what he thought of the
\nacoustics of Zankel Hall, which has been the subject of so much critical hemming and hawing in
\nrecent weeks.<\/P>
\n
\nof ears to be the pianist he is: Ax performed, both as a soloist and as Ren\u00e9e Fleming’s
\naccompanist, in the concert that inaugurated Zankel Hall last month.<\/P>
\n
\nseveral other concerts — from the orchestra seats; he didn’t mind the subway rumbling nearby —
\nwhich he found barely audible and not worth worrying about — and rolled his eyes about the
\ncritics. “They’ve got to say something<\/I>,” he said, and smiled as he said this. It was a gentle
\nform of indulgence. (Click on his name above, and you’ll hear why.)<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"