Anthony Tommasini, chief classical critic of the New York Times, has a tidy, 8-minute video up on the Times’ site. It’s titled “Bel Canto” and Tommasini gently explains the ways that composers and songwriters get melodies stuck in our heads, from Bach on up to Rufus Wainwright, Stephen Sondheim and Burt Bacharach.
But the best part is seeing a critic in action in his native habitat, which in AT’s case is at the piano. He plays through portions of Bach’s “Italian” Concerto, “Casta diva,” and Chopin’s Piano Concerto. This sort of demonstration shows his musical chops infinitely better than any erudite review or profile could, though he can do that, too, and supplies justification to his musical opinions. It’s high time to get those cameras and critics together and up on the publications’ websites.
(It’s dated November 30, but since chunks of the Sunday paper are online a day early, so too are the non-tree-requiring portions [NTRP] of the paper.)