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Critics in Cleveland.
Published: 8/23/2010 5:04 PM
Last Modified: 8/23/2010 5:04 PM

To much the world, the fact that Don Rosenberg -- for many years, the classical music critic of the Cleveland Plain Dealer -- filed suit against his employer when he was reassigned from covering the Cleveland Orchestra, is the definition of "tempest in a teapot."

Yet in the classical music world, the main issues involved in this imbroglio have been much discussed. Rosenberg claimed that his reassignment from covering the Cleveland Orchestra -- whose conductor, Franz Welser-Most, Rosenberg had an less-than-enthusiastic opinion, which he expressed repeatedly in his reviews -- to writing about other arts and culture events was "age discrimination," as a younger writer took over the job of writing about the orchestra.

There was much talk of the Cleveland Orchestra -- one of the country's leading orchestra's and certainly the cultural linchpin of the city -- exerting pressure on the newspaper to remove a critic who expressed an opinion contrary to that of the orchestra's leaders.

Rosenberg sued, and lost. He may appeal. He will lose again, I'm afraid.

In Saturday's The Wall Street Journal, Terry Teachout in his "Sightings" column gives a fine overview of the case, and also offers what would have been the common-sense answer to the problem -- namely, have two people review the orchestra's 21 subscription concerts, either alternately or in tandem.

Read the story: Sightings

Of course, having two writers cover the same event is unheard of -- at least, outside of the sports department.

But it does point to the fact that a review -- any review -- is an opinion, and is not supposed to be the "last word" about a performance, but the starting point for the audience's own discussion and investigation of what is out there to be experienced in the world of the arts.




Reader Comments 2 Total
senor notas (2 years ago)
James: I grew up in Cleveland and the feeling is 'fie' on anyone who would make a critical or negative comment about their beloved orchestra. There is a lot of angst in Cleveland about a lot of things, baseball, football, you name it.
dean (2 years ago)
Martin Bernheimer tells of how newspapers ought to be run:

"Several lives ago I served as music critic for the Los Angeles Times, then flourishing. In some ways my situation paralleled Rosenberg’s. The young music director of the local Philharmonic was a photogenic extrovert named Zubin Mehta. He made a mighty splash in heart-on-sleeve challenges but seemed insensitive to works requiring elegance, subtlety or introspection. My reviews offended the orchestral establishment. More important, they offended Dorothy Buffum Chandler, the Golden West’s powerful culture-booster, fundraiser and social doyenne. She was also the mother of Otis Chandler, publisher of the LA Times.

Mrs Chandler wanted me fired. Her son, bless him, had other ideas. He ran a full-page “house advertisement” in the paper, featuring my beleaguered mug and bearing a blush-inducing headline: “He faces the music even when it hurts.” Otis sent me this message: “Keep the faith, baby, ’cause your publisher boss (your only boss) is with you all the way.” The editors, bless them, seconded the motion. “You protect Beethoven,” they declared, “and we’ll protect Bernheimer.”

Who, one wonders, is protecting Beethoven in Cleveland?"
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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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