So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic

Rich refers to his book as a ""random collection of journalistic adventures"" from his lengthy tenure at LA Weekly (with a few exceptions). However, the volume is organized not chronologically, but into loose categories such as ""The Old,"" ""The New,"" ""People"" and ""Opera."" In addition to essays that served originally as concert reviews, Rich has included ""think pieces"" on both composers and works, as well as discussions of writers and writing, such as Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music. As one might expect in a volume culled predominantly from a weekly newspaper column, most of the articles are two or three pages long; what one might not expect, however, is how well each piece retains its original vitality. Rich's wit comes to the fore in his eloquent and concise damnation of the 2000 direction of, and additions to, Puccini's La rondine by Marta Domingo (wife of the tenor). Rich's enlightening essay on Giulini's rehearsal of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony addresses genuine, universal musical issues while describing the conductor's approach to the score. Abundant are lines such as, ""Nothing much happens in Werther, and it does so very prettily."" Never self-serving, Rich's wit makes the most of the little space available to him, and his fluid style gives the sense that he writes the way the rest of us breathe-although more thoughtfully.