Naxos Blog

You have to wonder about an article in which critics bare their less-than-highfalutin music choices, particularly if they include such recordings as Otto Klemperer conducting Bach or a recording of the works of American composer Leroy Anderson. Are these really “guilty pleasures?” How about just wonderful music, without the tag of is it highbrow enough or is the performance authentic? And frankly, those selections seemed kind of tame to me. I really wanted to hear a Times critic confess an addiction to Linda Eder or Elton John—or better still Brittney Spears (no, not really, even I have my limits). I think it would have been fun to raid the shelves of these folks to see what commercial pop music they might have hiding between the Stockhausen and the Elliott Carter.

When I think of guilty pleasures, I think of music that might have questionable artistic merit, but still has something that gets to you—even if it is cheesy. Everyone has something in their collection that fits that bill. Sometimes for me it is a song that has a wonderful melody, but the arrangement is so canned and synthesized that to many listeners it would be considered just plain awful. I don’t know who is responsible for some of these awful arrangements of otherwise beautiful songs, but I hear beyond the gauzy and overly-orchestrated background and just find pleasure in listening to the schmaltz. And have I mentioned yet that I really like Michael Jackson’s classic albums Thriller and Off the Wall? Or Julian Clerc (without Carla Bruni, please)? And yes, talking of overly-sweet, I like Twinkies too.

My collection boasts probably thousands of CDs and LPs, mostly classical and new music. But in all honesty, the music I listen to as much “serious music” would really fall under the category of “guilty pleasures.” I’m not ashamed of my taste or listening to music, which many would consider far from “highfalutin.” Excuse me, but I love salsa and yes, Mark Anthony’s rendition of Juan Gabriel’s Hasta que te conoci just floats my boat. And, yes, I’m a sucker for Luis Miguel and Caetano Veloso’s versions of old Latin classic tunes. I also really like Elton John’s debut album (the one with Your Song and Take Me to the Pilot). So I’ve made my confession. I feel better now, at least until someone responds to this post and banishes me permanently from Sequenza21.

In the meantime, I’m going to hear soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian on Saturday night and I’m hoping at the end of her beautiful program she will sing a tango from her new CBC CD Tango Notturno. Maybe she’ll grace us with one by the great tango master and matinee idol, Carlos Gardel (Por Una Cabeza or Volver). Or, maybe one of Astor Piazzolla’s classic tangos: Oblivion, Invierno Porteño, Verano Porteño, Che Tango Che….I’d be happy with Kurt Weill’s Youkali (although I don’t think I will ever get Teresa Stratas’ version out of my head).

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 10:04 am and is filed under Tidbits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.