It's a different kind of spontaneity. In classical music, all the notes are (usually) all written down, so they have to be imbued with interpretation. There is always room for the same notes to be played differently at different times! Glad my comments are helpful!

There is a whole world of technique for waving your arms — how to give the clearest beats, how to indicate dynamics, how to move along or pull back the tempo, how to indicate articulation and phrasing. The conductor must be able to communicate all this (and more) in the moment, because if every single thing is agreed…

People are willing to put up with less bullshit these days. Musicians can be crazy and eccentric, but the ones who are famous still show up (though I can't speak for Martha Argerich). The financial backers will not usually take the risk of hiring someone who doesn't show up to rehearsals/performances. There are of…

Seconding Nixon in China — "I am the wife of Mao Tse-Tung" is entering the soprano repertoire, and I am all about it.

Thoughts on the concert:
* She is serving some La Callas realness with these looks.
* "Der Zwerg" is a really cool Schubert song — it's about a dwarf who strangles a queen in a boat.
**EDIT: The Schubert song is actually "Die Junge Nonne," which has a similarly tempestuous accompaniment. It's about a nun walking through…

The shape is way too close to a mullet for my taste.

100%. All of that.

Some genuine laughs here. If I had a nickel for every time one of my dramatic friends blamed everyone around them for being dramatic. Also, "Follow that boat!" was just a hilarious moment.

I'm guessing that the big moment they're working toward this season is when all the disparate groups come together to fight Negan. That would explain why they've had all these one-off episodes at different communities, and they didn't cut back and forth between locations to keep the siloed feel and to not anticipate…

Anyone else bothered when both Rick and Aaron got in the bullet hole-riddled boat? One person would have much more time to get to the canoe before sinking, and then

This is tiptoeing on August Rush territory. Being able and allowed to conduct a symphony orchestra takes years of training, rehearsal, and study — Rodrigo is already very young for his position (as is/was Dudamel, whom his character is based on; incidentally, this is one reason there's such a delay in getting female…

GREAT choice.

Oh boy, a season with an opera singer! A singer myself, I'm surprised I don't have more to pick apart … yet. I'm so happy they got a legit singer for the voice of La fiamma — Ana María Martínez is the real deal (I'm really glad they haven't fallen into the popera trap). A couple things, though: A star soprano would…

Just look at the facebook post of this article …

As an occasional viewer of Survivor, my issue is that Alaska was acting (even in the confessionals) like she's not just eliminating her biggest competition. It's the correct move strategically, but she's doing it in an incredibly shady way, and her concern about how she would look if she were upfront about it is…

Can I just say how much I'm over white person mistaken for racist plots? 30 Rock wisely abandoned them after a couple seasons, and MF would do best to follow. I know they're relatable to a certain extent, but goddamn, they're tired. I don't need to see another white person freak out for 21 minutes because they're…

Exactly. All that.

Interesting to see how Ru would decide without a lip synch.

Honestly, I think the competition bit plays more of a role than the friends bit. But I guess we can't forget that Tatianna was the only queen from her season …

… it’s hard to argue with any of these decisions