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musicianiship--when is it bad or good ?

i have been attending concerts for the last 50 years. very often, i find it it interesting to read a music critic's "opinion" of the performance i have attended. invariably, a performer is taken to task for a poor performance or is praised for an "excellent" one.

why is one performance better than another if it is a matter of opinion ?

for example, if a pianist distorts the tempo by playing too slow or too fast, or with too much stacatto, or in general, takes liberties with the score, why is that necessarily bad ?
mrtennis
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Mrtennis,
If you or anybody here saw Coen Bro's movie "The Man Who Wasn't There" one french piano teacher once said:
"Ze music comes not from fingers! It should come fgom hart..."
rja's avatar
rja
2,370 posts
 
I think musicianship is a good thing when it serves the music. It's a bad thing when it (abilty, virtuosity) become the object and is secondary to the music.
gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
I think what we hear today played on modern pianofortes' is not the same sound tone-wise as when Beethoven composed/performed his piano music back in the day. And who has the right to say what is being played correctly? not as If Beethoven will be in the audience eh?
Go to the concert, enjoy, go home. Its a one time only experience, who gives a rats bottom what a critic thinks? as long as you've enjoyed it. I've got admit I've never been to a 'bad' classical concert, not that I would know what a bad one was, except maybe if the pianist was playing in the key of C and the orchestra was playing in B. If there were some bad ones, I care not. I've enjoyed all I've been to.
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