Lord knows there’s plenty to complain about in the classical music “scene”: dorky advertising, pretentiousness, complacency, self-seriousness, and the sexy dances of opera. (Also, coughing in the quiet parts, filming the concerto on your iPhone, intermission selfies in flattering concert-hall mirrors, and clapping discourse.) But what about the musical things that bug us most? Here is my attempt at a ranking of the ten most obnoxious classical music clichés. 


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