Stricken From The Record
The following is a list of words that Miss Mussel wishes would just disappear into the ether. These pesky bits of vocab have been soiling arts pages for years now and it’s just getting embarassing. To be fair, they often most often in marketing materials than they do in newspapers…but still.
Miss Mussel has made a pact with herself to strike these words from her vocabulary on a permanent basis. Why? Because they are so overused they are devoid of meaning and, if you read carefully, they are very often redundant.
- diva/divo/all plays on words using this root
- virtuoso
- world-class (unless the item being described legitimately qualifies)
- world-renowned (see above)
- prodigy
- genius
- the next [insert name of artist or composer]
-
prestigious
The list will be updated as more irritating turns of phrase are spotted.
What’s on your list? If you’ve not got your own online soapbox, please feel free to use the comments. Diatribes welcome.
On this day..
- Disponible Partout - 2010
- A Message From Jonas Kaufmann - 2010
- Update - 2010
- Photo Essay: A RARE Soundwalk - 2009
Peter on 
Pierre Random on 
I appreciate and second your list. I would add “talented” to mine.
Ah…talented…that’s a good one.
I think one of the most damaging words (especially in reviewing recordings) is “definitive,” both because it encourages the wrongheaded idea that there is a single best way to perform a work, and because it encourages a sort of competitive attitude to evaluating performances – this is better than that, etc. It’s not to say one performance might not be better or best, but that’s simply not the point of the music in the first place.
Yes…that old chestnut. I suppose definitive is ok as long as the person using it recognizes that is means the best for them at the time of writing and is open to the fact that there may be something that suits them better in future.
Your larger point is why I dislike record reviews on the whole. The way they are discussed ends up commodifying the music, which in the end neuters it.
The whole evaluation of performances situation is difficult because I make part of my living as a reviewer. So far I justify it by saying that we evaluate everything as a matter of course and an informed opinion, while it may not be definitive *ahem*, is valuable as a starting point for discussion of some sort..like our Pachelbel debate.