Pop smarts

A lot of people in the classical world cling blindly to the prejudice that classical music is somehow smarter than pop music.

Here are two reviews that should do a lot to lay this foolish prejudice to rest.

One: the blog Proper Discord gives a thoughtful review of Renée Fleming's new indie-rock album Dark Hope. A lot of coverage of this album seems to dwell on the idea that it's crossover and how DARE she. This writer, instead, takes it on its own terms, with a depth of pop-music knowledge I couldn't hope to muster, and dismantles it very effectively.

Here is his concise explanation of the difference between a classical album and a pop one:

In classical music, it’s the composer’s job to write the notes, the musician’s job to make a good sound, the engineer’s job to capture it and the producer’s job to let you know when everything is in the can.

In pop music, they all work together to create a sound. The notes themselves are simple, so the sound needs to be great. That hasn’t happened here, or, at least, it hasn’t been done well enough to make it work.

Two: Ann Powers, the pop music critic of the Los Angeles Times, is reviewing the Achim Freyer Ring. First up: Rheingold. Not only is this a smart and informed review, but it addresses some of the issues surrounding the perennial question of whether, and how, classical music can reach a new, and implicitly pop-loving, audience.