![]() ![]() This is an exemplary case in that it combines both – and yet there is hope. It can only be helpful for the occasional bit of laughter to break through this phalanx of seriousness… It is my sincere belief that the health of the musical scene can be measured to a large degree in how well it can take a joke how well it deals with being poked fun at.”Ī lack of humor is one of the classical music business' more pressing problems, just after cowardice in all its many manifestations. Stern-looking busts peer down at us from uprights or auditoriums drill is the first order… and the first hint of coughing and crinkling in a concert house must be suppressed at all cost. “ is so important, since the cliché of classical music is rather one of thin-lipped humorlessness. One of my favorite parts in Moritz Eggert’s response – who outs himself as a true fan of Daniel Hope (recently praised by Peter Krause in Die Welt for being a “clever music-communicator and reasonably decent violinist” – is this: Hard to believe that at the source of this is an innocuous – juvenile or not – YouTube video and an insecure guy who can’t take a joke. Even in the best case scenario they are playing the humor police to please a performer with whom they are close. Or to appease a close friend of the upper management, as it were… Whichever it is (see footnote), it’s a PR disaster for the Berliner Konzerthaus, because even if the events did not transpire just like this, it certainly appears as though they sensed the threat of Hope’s leverage and rushed to minimize economic damage for the apparently small prize of throwing integrity to the four winds. Rather than standing up for one of their own, they obsequiously went to sack the little, the expendable guy… in order not to incur the wrath of the locally very present and popular star violinist. Not much less of a culprit, methinks, is the Berliner Konzerthaus, which allowed itself to be bullied into – or convinced of – or happily abetted – the firing of one of their own employees removing of an employee because a thin-skinned diva said so. (Incidentally, if you want to read something nice about Hope, his superb “ Vivaldi / Four Seasons Recomposed” CD was one of my favorite releases in 2012.) ![]() His actions as detailed in Eggert’s letter below speak for themselves… including those where he contacted the magazine for which Lücker also writes and tried to attack freedom of speech and the freedom of the press – which apparently is anyone’s natural instinct these days, when reading something one doesn’t like. In an article in the bilingual Van Magazine titled “ Critic Bashing” he was called out for taking a dig at me, actually, responding to my Forbes article “ The Real Top 10 Bach Recordings” in a public Facebook comment by suggesting that “it demonstrates the egregious level to which certain internet music journalism has sunk.”īut let us let Daniel Hope be Daniel Hope. Is it more revealing that he considered the shred legitimate criticism (which is to say: worth taking seriously and responding forcefully to) or how he responded thereafter? We know that he is not one who likes criticism of any kind other than the obsequious type (of which he gets plenty in the German and English press). The former seems to display a case of severe humorlessness, considerable insecurity, liberally spiced with a vengeful streak. Only it is very difficult to say who gets off worse, in this case, Daniel Hope or the Berliner Konzerthaus. If this is in fact how matters transpired, it is a “ Reveal Magnifico” (as the NFL’s Dan Hanzus would say) – a tearing away of the curtains of a superficial niceness, revealing the true character of those involved. Eggert’s letter is cited in full (in translation, with permission) below. At least this is what we gather from the response of Moritz Eggert’s, who – as a co-founder of the blog on which the video was published – was prompted to write an open letter to Daniel Hope, explaining the background, detailing the chain of events and Daniel Hope’s reaction, and pleading reason. ![]()
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