Anne Midgette, Part 1: Former Music Critic and Reviewer for the Washington Post & New York Times

Anthony Plog on Music

Anne Midgette was the music critic for the Washington Post for eleven years, and for seven years before that was a regular contributor to the New York Times. She is the author of two books on music, The King and I, about the relationship between Luciano Pavarotti and his manager, Herbert Breslin, and My Nine Lives, with the pianist Leon Fleisher. She is currently working on a historical novel about Nanette Streicher, the woman who built pianos for Beethoven. Oh, and she has also written some travel books! So who better to ask about what it is like to be a music critic and her life in the arts?
We begin with my asking Anne Midgette about her (at least to me) unique view on the purpose of a music critic. We then talk about what a normal day might look like and about the pressure of writing music reviews with incredibly quick publishing deadlines. Ms. Midgette is well known for her articles having to do with the #MeToo problem in classical music, which we discuss in depth toward the end of this episode.

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