Classical Life returns.
I’ve been blogging about classical music for nearly four and a half years for my employer, the Orange County Register. I am still employed as the classical music critic there, but the blog was recently mothballed, so I’ve decided to get my own.
(The L.A. Times covered the demise of my Register blog, and Iron Tongue of Midnight, Alex Ross and ARTicles also weighed in. And thanks to my readers for all the support they sent my way.)
I don’t quite know what shape this blog will take. Blogging for a newspaper has its own set of imperatives, many of which drove my thinking and writing there. Here, the rules are different, and I’m still learning what they are.
One thing I will do is provide links to my articles and reviews at the Register. I hope you’ll click on them (and read once you do) as faithfully as you have done in the past. My livelihood depends upon it.
But I don’t want this just to be a blog that links to my writing elsewhere. I want to provide original content as well, and will do so as often as time, energy and inspiration allow me to.
As always, your comments are welcome, even encouraged.
I’ll leave it there for now (I have to get to work). Stay thirsty, my friends.
classical life 
Let the classical magic flow!
Cheers!
I faithfully read your Arts Blog and I will happily continue to read you, here!
Congratulations on having the courage, energy and integrity to begin this new journey on your own. Many, many will be grateful. The Force is with you!
Welcome, Timothy John! I am excited to see what will happen here! Something tells me I won’t be disappointed…
Congratulations on staying alive in the Blogosphere!
That was fast! Way to go Tim. You’re an inspiration. (and you have a great touch with picking art. 🙂 )
Laura
Wherever you go, there you are! And the saga ensues…
Best wishes!
How about a list of Bowl-friendly repertoire you’d like to see/hear…?
I need to post another comment so I can subscribe by email to this site. Will be great to see what develops on this site without the constraints of a corporate mother ship …
“corporate mother ship” …I think that’s a fitting term. ; )
The phoenix rises! It will be exciting to witness and participate in the rebirth of your blog. Thanks for keeping it alive.
Thank goodness! I hope that your “Classical Life” blog fills the emptyness left by the end of Alan Rich’s “So I’ve Heard.”
Welcome back, Tim! Wherever you go, your loyal fans will follow.
Yes! Congratulations Tim. Thank you for sharing your expertise via the blog. Alex and I appreciate your mentoring.
Glad to have you back in the blogosphere, Timothy. I will definitely do my best to ensure you get the appropriate hits on the OCRegister.com site and make comments as much as possible. That said, I have a suspicion that the most interesting comments and chats are going to happen here, not there. I guess we’ll see.
It would be nice if your employer eventually allowed you to mirror your old blog posting onto this new space, similar to how all of the late, great Alan Rich’s columns from LA Weekly are searchable on his blog, http://www.soiveheard.com. I know that they said that all the old posts aren’t going away, but you never know when someone may change their mind about that, especially if someone needs a little server space.
In any case, here’s to many more years of seriousness and silliness, random travel pics, and posts of German kid-pop groups singing Erlkonig. Long live classicallife.net!!!
Looking forward to many more musical insights!
Keep up the good work, Tim. I always look forward to your writings.
I knew you wouldn’t stay sidelined and silent for long. Congratulations! Celebrate by throwing in a well-chosen bit of profanity every now and then.
And of course in terms of Google page rank and SEO, having all your old posts here on this new blog would help the new blog immeasurably. The more content the more Google’s algorithms will respect you …
Great to have this and so quickly! It is bookmarked and I look forward to many wonderful entries!
What a relief to discover that your departure from the blogosphere was only abrief interruption. How reassuring to know that your gifted prose, wit and insightful observations will continue to available to us all in this format.
As evidenced by those who commented on the demise of your previous blog, you have amassed a a large following of dedicated and loyal readers who derive a lot of pleasure from your writings.
Long may you blog!
It’s sad to me that there is a mistaken belief, in our country, that importance is related to popular appeal.
The fine arts, by their nature, will never have a huge mass following. With food, McDonalds and their kind of general thinking and popularity has lead to an obesity epidemic in our country. I think this problem is similar to what the news media is going through. Reporting and coverage has lowered itself to what is common and popular. Not what is important and of value. Sometimes what is popular is important and sometimes it is not. The media needs to divorce itself from “the numbers” and stick to what is good regardless of what the numbers say.
I know they will say it’s a business and they have to make a profit. But journalism, and the news, should not be businesses so tainted by how money talks.
…glad to see you will be “blogging,” but I was disappointed to not see any updates on Lindsey Lohan or Mel Gibson-what’s up with that?? (Argh, argh-that’s comic strip jargon for “ha, ha!”
Congrats Tim!
Welcome to the world according to your values. We need that right now.
Bravissimo!
Carry on, kid.
So happy you’re back, Tim! Plus, I like the new, clean look.
Welcome back, Tim! And good luck with this new adventure!
Congratulations on your new beginning. Long may you blog!
Congratulations, Tim — creative journalism is flourishing in the blogosphere — good examples all around — and the really good news is that you’ll continue to “Push” your reviews to your loyal followers — which 99% of us will read — benefiting OCRegister as well. See you at the concerts — dpe —
Keep up the blogging … and we’ll keep up the reading!
Glad to see such a quick rebound on your part, Tim. I’ve of course added Classical Life to S&F’s elite Culture Blogs listing. Good to be able to do so so quickly after having to remove your now defunct OCR entry.
ACD
I’m glad you decided to continue on your own. I will keep reading you on the OC Register site, and hope this blog pays off for you in ways that the OCR powers-that-be are too short-sighted to see. I know it will be rewarding for the rest of us.
Tim,
Way to grab the bull by the horns! All I can say is don’t change a thing. Your wit, humor, and extensive music knowledge (not just classical) , has been a welcome releif when reading your blog at the OCR.
Continued success and lets get together for a Dos XX cerveza sometime.
Wow, that was quick!
Tim/anyone, what is the name of the painting used uptop, it’s lovely.
Are you able to fiddle with the layout a bit? A Preview option would be nice, as would the ability to post .jpgs and links to YouTube stuff, though that could get messy.
Not sure what the title is. It’s a Currier and Ives print, 19th century.
I will be able to post YouTube videos on the blog. And jpgs, such as my Heifetz program.
Tim. Thanks for taking the time and effort to continue the blog on your own. You have original insights that I appreciate and I love your lists!!!!
And…
For what it’s worth (probably not much), I sent this message to your OC Register editor:
>As newspapers began to die and shrink nationwide, and as serious, informed, discerning arts coverage threatened to go the way of the dodo, the Register’s arts blog served as a reassuring reminder that all was not lost. Yet.
>Tim Mangan’s coverage of so-called classical music was a model of its kind — smart, tough, eminently readable , with subjective opinion invariably supported by objective evidence. This turn of events is sad, shocking, painful and, I fear, a sign of our blighted times.
Glad you didn’t waste any time! Congrats!
Tim, So VERY VERY VERY! nice to see you blogging AND also to see many of the “usual” suspects back as well. I was already missing the many interesting comments from HH, AL and others.
P.S. I wondered if you would consider listing, some day, your favorite Brandenburg Concerto recordings? I could use some help!
I can tell you one of my favorite Brandenburg recordings right now: Benjamin Britten conducting the English Chamber Orchestra. You can get a used copy on Amazon for $5.
Tim,
Totally missed that the paper pulled The Arts Blog…and at Opera America it sounded like they were healthily invested in it. Bummer but excited you’re up and blogging again!
-Brian