4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Review

I bumped into Greer Grimsley at 7-11 downtown yesterday. Greer is singing Mephistopheles in SDO's production of Faust.

I asked him if he ever reads reviews.

He said he waits until a show is over and then reads the reviews because they can be insightful. They can also be distracting which is why he waits.

I mentioned being irked at one, specific, San Diego reviewer who seems to have no grasp of the art form of opera.

Greer wasn't surprised. "Oh that's everywhere."

That's depressing.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

El Cajon Mountain “Race you to the top”

With only the weekends to relax, why do I do something that isn’t relaxing?
Next Article

Spring brings May gray, Coastal wildflowers blooming

"Our Lord's Candle" and Mojave Yucca continue to bloom

I bumped into Greer Grimsley at 7-11 downtown yesterday. Greer is singing Mephistopheles in SDO's production of Faust.

I asked him if he ever reads reviews.

He said he waits until a show is over and then reads the reviews because they can be insightful. They can also be distracting which is why he waits.

I mentioned being irked at one, specific, San Diego reviewer who seems to have no grasp of the art form of opera.

Greer wasn't surprised. "Oh that's everywhere."

That's depressing.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

so sorry Tenor :-(

April 28, 2011

Yes, it just means we have a greater responsibility to help spread the gospel of opera!

I swear, I read one of the reviews for Faust and thought of the voice of the Lord speaking to Job out of the storm, "Who darkens my council with words without wisdom?"

Hmmm. Indeed.

April 28, 2011

i'm doing some classical music in general gospel spreading over at FB...put up the movie "The Red Violin" and a "Mother Jones" article on Joshua Bell

peeps seem to enjoy the classical more as background for some film they like...for the most part Opera is expensive to go 2...i would have loved 2 have seen the one Lise was in (Turandot) but it was over $100 a ticket...out of the retired aficionados price range unfortunately

ah well...so it goes ;-D

April 30, 2011

only one more Opera for u this season....will u be singing Opera elsewhere??

http://www.sdopera.com/Operas/Overview

Faust again tomorrow ..toi toi toi Garrett!!!

April 30, 2011

The problem in San Diego is that we have critics who are willing to praise everything indiscriminately (see under Baldridge), with beautiful word-spinning but with an almost complete lack of knowledge of the operatic art form (see under Herman), with good intentions (see under Chute and UT), with such feverish boosterism and/or self-aggrandizement as to make any informed criticism meaningless (see under Jones Westlin City Beat), or with so much academic jargon that the reader is smothered (see JSmith Reader), or the occasional critic (Overton UT) who seems to live in another world altogether where he thinks the SDO is the Met or San Francisco, and your blog which, to be frank, treats its readers as though they never went to grammar school. Then there is the VOSD whose writer treats the arts as though they are her paper dolls. In the end, the public is the loser in every case.

May 8, 2011

goodness Joseph...ur right in there singing ur acerbic operatic solo

those with limited understanding of opera need wooing...not burying with supercilious arrogance

building a fan base is essential for both the writer and the opera fan

May 8, 2011

No, those with limited understanding of opera need to read reviews that take the trouble to give them some useful tools to listen with a discerning ear. Boosterism ain't it. Praising everything as if it were wonderful ain't it. Opera doesn't need a "fan base" so much as it needs an audience that cares about it, that won't take being treated like cattle (i.e. "It's wonderful just because we did it, so there, and don't ask any questions." -- the general m.o. of San Diego Opera). And they need opera companies that don't charge $195 for a seat. Informed criticism of an opera production has little to do with building a fan base. That is the company's job, not the critic's, not only for opera but for theatre as well, and for classical music in general. I seriously doubt that you would stay a "fan" for very long of a pop singer who expected you to applaud everything they did just because they told you to -- even when it wasn't very good.

May 9, 2011

"your blog which, to be frank, treats its readers as though they never went to grammar school"

would u be willing to change that to middle school homey??? ;-D

May 8, 2011

"your blog which, to be frank, treats its readers as though they never went to grammar school"

would u be willing to change that to middle school homey??? ;-D

======================== I would try for "Jr. High School" Nan!!!!

BAM!

May 8, 2011

SNAP!!!...puppy ;-D

May 9, 2011
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox [email protected] — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close