Spectator mourns opera critic
RIPThe Cambridge scholar Michael Tanner has died at the age of 89. He began reviewing opera for the Spectator in 1966.
Sorry to report that Michael Tanner has died – great friend, great mind, great critic. Final time I went to see him in hospital last week he told me off for reading Bergson and started dreaming of Simon Keenlyside singing Pelleas
— Igor Toronyi-Lalic (@igortoronyi) April 3, 2024
Tanner was a lecturer in philosophy and a life fellow of Corpus Christie College. His books include short guides to Nietzsche and Wagner.
Having invited him to talk about Beethoven 9, he rocked up in a bomber jacket, without notes, and gave a 30 minute analysis of Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus that held the audience gripped. Afterwards we stood for so long in New St, talking Wagner, that he nearly missed his train. https://t.co/b3gYPlOjBZ
— Richard Bratby (@RichardBratby) April 4, 2024
Obituary here.
RIP. A great if complex man!
One of the last critics worth reading for his integrity, literary style, opinions and knowledgeable insights. RIP.
Michael Tanner’s little book on Wagner is a treasure, wise and fun.
I first encountered Michael as a wonderfully forceful critic in the Classic CD magazine where he regularly upset the readers with rejections of sacred cows like Solti and the “authenticity” merchants. His books and essays on Nietzsche were also refreshingly unpretentious unlike later efforts from such imposters as Brian Leiter.
Didn’t know him which I regret because will have less and less of his kind…rip
Michael Tanner was a very special, precious person. His death is a truly sad loss to opera criticism and the world of philosophy. When I saw him not so long ago in Cambridge in his house with its vast library of books and recordings, he pointed to something in its midst which the Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, had presented to Wagner at the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876: a very fine cigar, lovingly encased in a prominent position to prevent it from decay. God knows where Michael got it. A terrific joke of course. He had few illusions about the precariousness of art and philosophy in today’s world, but never lost his good humour and enthusiasm. I’ll really miss him.
One must not speak ill of the dead …….
But on behalf of my wife, I am unable to forgive him …..
I used to admire him, but then he went and deployed the word “chthonic” in a review of a new CD of Mahler 3. And they used to get at me for using obscure words! This was as bad as using music textbook jargon, making the reader feel inadequate.
You should know what that means! Mahler indeed can be thus. The thing is the spelling!
Tanner was a rarity: a great critic and musicologist. His work on Wagner will remain as valuable as ever.