Fred F. Herzog`s letter to Voice of the people on Oct. 23 attacks Lyric Opera`s Peter Sellars-staged (and entirely sold-out) ”Tannhauser” as
”catering to the baser instincts of musical illiterates.” I do respect Mr. Herzog`s right to his opinion, recalling that the Romans said, ”De gustibus non disputandum est” (”Differences in taste are not to be disputed”).
However, I must point out that The Chicago Tribune`s erudite music critic, John von Rhein, who wrote of Lyric`s ”Tannhauser” as a ”triumph,” is hardly a musical illiterate. And neither are the Boston Globe`s Richard Dyer and the Los Angeles Times` Martin Bernheimer, who are among the major American critics who already have praised the production.
When radio station WFMT polled the members of the opening-night audience as they left the Civic Opera House, 28 of the 30 queried were ”favorable to enthusiastic.”
Were there no nay-sayers? Yes, a tiny segment of the first-nighters booed when Sellars took his bows, but were drowned out by the incredible ovation from everyone else. And, remembering ”de gustibus . . . ,” I must report that the New York Times` Donal Henahan did pen a negative review. However, in all fairness and by all measurement, those ”against” have been greatly in the minority.
