Page 256 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
P. 256
glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
Out of all reviews, only three are inherently negative. As an example,
and a point of interest, I have selected two negative reviews penned by Pe-
ter Kušar, because it is discernible that in his reviews up to 1983, he was dis-
missive of music or compositions dating to the late Romantic period and
onwards. Below are two extracts from both reviews:
Every orchestra has the very human right to be able to do more than
just first-class acts. The Philharmonic Orchestra made the most of this
right in its Friday performance with conductor Anton Kolar...a pro-
gramme which, although it consists of ‘hardened’ points, of music
where everything is calm, beautiful and right, but of music where a liv-
ing coffin would probably not be able to say why the musician has to
live for it, in what interesting way it defines his truth and problems and
such a programme leads to mental laziness and utterly mediocre sat-
isfaction ... Mahler’s Fourth Symphony ... Marijan Gebrijelčič ... Prel-
ude(a) ... Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 ...17
Bartok’s First Piano Concerto. The work is a true example of artistic in-
completeness, and as difficult as it is to write anything bad about Bela
Bartok, this time it will only be a necessity: the piece becomes entan-
gled in a certain helpless coarseness, in defiance that has not yet found
its fierceness. ... the only thing that might actually be interesting – is the
composer’s tortured search for himself...was only brought out in the two
final movements of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.18
Then, the previously detected deviation cannot be found. To illustrate
this, below is an excerpt from a 1985 review:
za izvajanje domačih glasbenih del na prvo mesto njenih obveznosti.” Milan Stibilj,
“Prva izvedba dela Davida Torazdeja,” Delo, April 12, 1983, 6.
17 “Vsak orkester ima pravzaprav že čisto človeško pravico, da ne zmore le prvovrstnih
dejanj. Filharmonični orkester je to pravico na svojem petkovem nastopu z dirigentom
Antonom Kolarjem krepko izkoristil…program, ki je sestavljen sicer iz ‘utrjenih’ točk,
iz glasbe, kjer je vse mirno, lepo in prav, toda iz glasbe, pri kateri bi verjetno živ krst ne
znal reči, zakaj mora glasbenik zanjo živeti, v čem zanimivo opredeljuje njegovo res-
nico in probleme, takšen program pa vodi v duševno lenobo in skrajno povprečno za-
dovoljstvo … Mahlerjeva Četrta simfonija … Marijan Gebrijelčič … Predigr(a).” Peter
Kušar, “Slab orkestrov dan,” Dnevnik, April 30, 1980, 5.
18 “Bartokovega Prvega klavirskega koncerta. Delo je namreč pravi zgled umetniške ne-
dorečenosti in kakor o Beli Bartoku kar najtežje zapišeš kaj slabega, bo tokrat le pot-
reba: skladba se zaplete v neko nemočno grobost, v kljubovalnosti, ki še ni našla svoje
silovitosti. … edino stvar, ki bi pravzaprav utegnila biti zanimiva – skladateljevo mu-
čno iskanje samega sebe…sta se dirigent in orkester izživela šele v obeh sklepnih stav-
kih Beethovnove Sedme simfonije.” Peter Kušar, “Kako ublažiti ‘trdo’ glasbo,” Dnev-
nik, March 17, 1981, 5.
256
Out of all reviews, only three are inherently negative. As an example,
and a point of interest, I have selected two negative reviews penned by Pe-
ter Kušar, because it is discernible that in his reviews up to 1983, he was dis-
missive of music or compositions dating to the late Romantic period and
onwards. Below are two extracts from both reviews:
Every orchestra has the very human right to be able to do more than
just first-class acts. The Philharmonic Orchestra made the most of this
right in its Friday performance with conductor Anton Kolar...a pro-
gramme which, although it consists of ‘hardened’ points, of music
where everything is calm, beautiful and right, but of music where a liv-
ing coffin would probably not be able to say why the musician has to
live for it, in what interesting way it defines his truth and problems and
such a programme leads to mental laziness and utterly mediocre sat-
isfaction ... Mahler’s Fourth Symphony ... Marijan Gebrijelčič ... Prel-
ude(a) ... Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 ...17
Bartok’s First Piano Concerto. The work is a true example of artistic in-
completeness, and as difficult as it is to write anything bad about Bela
Bartok, this time it will only be a necessity: the piece becomes entan-
gled in a certain helpless coarseness, in defiance that has not yet found
its fierceness. ... the only thing that might actually be interesting – is the
composer’s tortured search for himself...was only brought out in the two
final movements of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.18
Then, the previously detected deviation cannot be found. To illustrate
this, below is an excerpt from a 1985 review:
za izvajanje domačih glasbenih del na prvo mesto njenih obveznosti.” Milan Stibilj,
“Prva izvedba dela Davida Torazdeja,” Delo, April 12, 1983, 6.
17 “Vsak orkester ima pravzaprav že čisto človeško pravico, da ne zmore le prvovrstnih
dejanj. Filharmonični orkester je to pravico na svojem petkovem nastopu z dirigentom
Antonom Kolarjem krepko izkoristil…program, ki je sestavljen sicer iz ‘utrjenih’ točk,
iz glasbe, kjer je vse mirno, lepo in prav, toda iz glasbe, pri kateri bi verjetno živ krst ne
znal reči, zakaj mora glasbenik zanjo živeti, v čem zanimivo opredeljuje njegovo res-
nico in probleme, takšen program pa vodi v duševno lenobo in skrajno povprečno za-
dovoljstvo … Mahlerjeva Četrta simfonija … Marijan Gebrijelčič … Predigr(a).” Peter
Kušar, “Slab orkestrov dan,” Dnevnik, April 30, 1980, 5.
18 “Bartokovega Prvega klavirskega koncerta. Delo je namreč pravi zgled umetniške ne-
dorečenosti in kakor o Beli Bartoku kar najtežje zapišeš kaj slabega, bo tokrat le pot-
reba: skladba se zaplete v neko nemočno grobost, v kljubovalnosti, ki še ni našla svoje
silovitosti. … edino stvar, ki bi pravzaprav utegnila biti zanimiva – skladateljevo mu-
čno iskanje samega sebe…sta se dirigent in orkester izživela šele v obeh sklepnih stav-
kih Beethovnove Sedme simfonije.” Peter Kušar, “Kako ublažiti ‘trdo’ glasbo,” Dnev-
nik, March 17, 1981, 5.
256
