Grasshopper

Often there are misunderstandings between people who see each other face to face; just imagine how much more likely they are to occur among people who, in the end, only know each other by their nicknames (even if in your case, Marco Poletti is probably your real name, I don’t know). Anyway, I’m glad to acknowledge what you say, and from my side, I recognize that my reactions to your provocations have sometimes been disproportionate, which, by the way, is not in my style. As for the review on Masini or similar, The Punisher was already asking me why I don’t eventually dedicate myself to a good, healthy criticism, and I replied that for me, there’s the “technical” problem of having to endure listening to an entire album by such a singer, as I can't criticize it "a prescindere." So I’m afraid I won’t do it, but you can never say...

It's a somewhat improper way of indicating the diversity of possible timbres of various instruments, but also of the different registers of the same instrument. It's a comparison frequently used in the language of classical music (there are variations by Bach called "cromatiche," for example), and a bit less so in jazz. There's an amusing anecdote regarding this: it is said that Pier Farri, Guccini's arranger in the '70s and a fanatic of chromaticism, asked bassist Ares Tavolazzi to play a certain piece "making it a bit more yellow." To which the excellent bassist took his instrument and left in a huff...

A small difference from Zarathustra: I really like Battiato, but not his "more learned vein."

I don't know why, but it's already three reviews in a row where Zarathustra anticipates what I would like to say. I tried listening to the first piece, and after 6 minutes I was looking at the stereo display, wondering: another 12 minutes of this tune? The 2 is out of respect for Battiato; in absolute terms, it would be a 1.

I realize that "to crush" is a rather strong term: it would be better to say "to warn" any naive listeners, who in the case of senior86 and also of VivaLì are surely acting in good faith, about the extreme musical and literary poverty of certain artists created by the market, who, it must be acknowledged, are liked by thousands of fans, even if they are generally almost always adolescents. Trying to make them understand that there are other musical worlds, not just the realm of classical music, but various worlds rich in masterpieces of every genre. Of course, one should manage to do this without coming across as snobbish. I try to do so: if you pay attention, even when I talk about Mahler's symphonies or certain milestones of '50s jazz, I try to use approachable and understandable terms. If in some cases I let slip a somewhat "classist" and elitist comment, I am the first to apologize: this is not at all intentional because it goes against my purpose of introducing what I believe to be great music.

Oh, the snobbery... If this stuff for whiny teenagers doesn’t appeal to me at all, I can’t just force myself to like it. However, there’s one thing I can do, and I think I’ll start doing it from now on: staying away from reviews that deal with "music" of this kind, not commenting on them, so I avoid getting stuck in pointless discussions. It seems necessary to trash these records for proper musical information, but I’ll let others handle that.

Oops, I had forgotten about Vasco Rossi: especially at the beginning of his career, there are a few decent albums: "Bollicine," for example. Then he started to coast a bit, with all those live albums and compilations...

You must admit that my field of action is not limited to "those four" (which I still don’t quite understand who they are - The Beatles, perhaps?). So far, I have covered various genres, and although I am predominantly a classical music lover, I also consider a lot of jazz, a great deal of rock (especially vintage), and Italian singer-songwriter music to be great music as well. Unfortunately, those three you mentioned almost always make me feel nauseous, although I would save the albums "Buon compleanno Elvis" by Ligabue and "California" by Nannini (I just can't seem to find anything worthwhile from Carboni). I don’t write for national magazines or other websites (though another site contacted me for a biography of Ivano Fossati to which I contributed) because I see this more as a hobby than anything else, even if the appreciation I’ve received here seems to suggest that I’m quite good at it. Finally: I’m glad to find you a bit more understanding and reasonable; I honestly couldn’t take any more of the Viva Lì who covered me in insults "regardless," without even reading what I wrote.

The oddity in the "thirty-year-old" (referring to Carboni, not to Viva Lì, whose age I do not know) I found in the apostrophe. I've always seen it written as one word. As for the rest, when I need some entertainment, I don’t listen to Carboni or similar "artists"; otherwise, I would be a masochist. Regarding my meager salary, I feel lucky to have it as it provides some security, and in these times, that’s no small thing. I have never said anywhere that I feel like a failure; on the contrary, I have a significant regard for myself, which, for obvious reasons, increases immensely every time I deal with Viva Lì (or marco poletti, as you will).

I hurriedly passed by, but as usual, I wanted to propose, as an alternative to the recent versions discussed here, two old but always valid recordings of this colossal work, which brings together the best of the suggestions of symphonic and sacred music: Claudio Abbado with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Otto Klemperer with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The latter, among other advantages, has the practical benefit of fitting on a single CD (79 minutes), allowing the listener to truly immerse themselves in sensations without annoying interruptions.