Melbourne Herald Sun
The following is a posting to Andrew
Bolt's Online Form and Andrew's response. Andrew Bolt panned
Diamanda's performance of Defixiones without even attending the show
(talk about "phoning it in"!!). I could say that I hate
his column and I find is as offensive as The Patriot Act of the USA but
that would be LYING because I've actually never read his column.
But I've heard his column blows.
Next time Diamanda is in town, Andrew is,
of course, more than welcome to attend. We'll even provide him
with a Cole's Notes summary of the performance so he doesn't feel "undercultured"
or left out.
Perhaps Andrew is right. Australia
would be better suited spending their public money on Australian acts.
Perhaps next year's headliner could be Kylie Minogue. Hey, she
even sings in English which, as we know, is right up Andrew's alley.
It's one thing for a critic to
intelligently review a performance and provide actual criticism on a
performance that said critic has actually seen. However, for a
critic to proclaim a performance completely inaccessible without
actually attending/experiencing the show is, in my humble opinion,
corrupt, terribly arrogant, and dishonest. In other words, it is
exactly the type of content we are used to seeing from Fox Media.
At least Andrew is decent enough to have a
dialogue with his readers...case in point is below.
-Garth.
ANDREW BOLT'S ONLINE FORUM
From: Daniel
Comment: While I must agree with your opinions regarding many of the
shows on
offer at the recent arts festival, I was surprised to see included in
that
the work of Diamanda Galas, the San Franciscan singer and pianist of
Greek
Orthodox heritage. My sister attended this showing with a friend and
both were
enthralled by the womans enigmatic playing and singing in Greek,
Armenian &
Assyrian.
Of course this type of thing may not be for everyone but diversity is
one of
the key aspects of a vibrant society. A diverse arts scene with its
many
festivals is one of the great things about Melbourne as an
international
attraction. Our government should continue to foster such things, not
at the expense of
necessities, but maybe at the expense of some of their own perks. And I
noticed you mentioned that you didnt attend any of the shows yourself
so why not
live and let live rather than deriding other peoples creative efforts.
I'm sure
they would have a place reserved for you at next years festival if you
thought
you could give it a better crack.
Andrew replies: "...enthralled by the womans enigmatic playing and
singing
in Greek, Armenian & Assyrian" I didn't deny there were some who went
for this
kind of "enigmatic" performance in languages (Assyrian?) that perhaps
not one
in a 100 there would have understood. Some people really get off on the
mystic, and even more on believing they see meaning where others see
none. But I
fully understand why so many others would figure this kind of act is
incomprehensible, if not pretentious, and not deserving of taxpayers'
money for a festival
aimed at a Melbourne audience.
Why, for instance, do we import this kind of act for the festival, but
shut
out any involvement from our Melbourne Symphony Orchestra or our top
actors and
singers? Why were great international performers of mainstream Western
culture not invited, but Japanese dancers with rabbits brought in
instead? There is
a vanity here of the resentful and undercultured, I fear.