critic stays put

David Stabler

David Stabler, the classical music critic for the Oregonian newspaper, has stated on his blog that he’s not taking a buyout from the paper, and is staying on indefinitely.

It’s good news.  Full-time classical music critics are getting to be as rare as hens’ teeth, and David is the only one left in the state of Oregon, so far as I can tell.

While there are things that he writes that I might occasionally quibble with, having a critic to read on a weekly basis is becoming more of a privilege than a right these days, and David’s done a lot to promote the hard work of many, many local arts organizations, which is much appreciated here in Portland, as opposed to Cleveland, Ohio…

Coming up on Thursday: our first rehearsals for Classical 1 - the might Ninth Symphony of Beethoven.  I’ll give my thoughts as the week progresses.  Meanwhile, check out David’s excellent piece on this oft-faved work (complete with some hilarious internet-sourced quotes from fans) here.