To me this is two questions. Are there pieces that we're sick of because they've been used and used and used, and are there pieces we just don't like. Scheherazade is a favorite piece of mine, but I think it's been done to death by skaters, for example, and I also wish that choreographers would use other Rachmaninoff pieces besides the Second Concerto although it's something I love. Likewise I continue to love Swan Lake, Carmen, and many of the other warhorses, but I too would like to see a moratorium declared on them.
On the other hand, I disliked Otonal (or as I called it to myself, Atonal) the moment I heard it, although I liked Maria B's program that she skated to it. Part of the problem was that the recording she used was a bit distorted and off-key. And, as Doris points out, it's so dirgelike.
The Rachmaninoff Prelude in C sharp minor (Mao's Bells of Moscow) is my least favorite piece by one of my favorite composers. It's a dirge to the nth degree. Even Rachmaninoff got sick of it, and he was always asked to play it at recitals.
I agree that Minkus's Don Quixote is on the insipid side, though for John Curry it was a heavenly piece, and he made it look like diamonds.
There are a lot of pop music standards that I dislike, usually slow and sung by blaring voices, including Whitney Houston's song about "The Greatest Love" (or somesuch), which seems to be delivered on just two notes. She had one of the great voices of our time, but some of her songs had no structure whatever. A lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff and Les Mis stuff can end up sounding overwrought too, but there are other songs by these composers that are charming (and are not used nearly enough). One wonderful song by Lloyd Webber is "Seeing Is Believing" from a lesser known musical, Aspects of Love. Maybe for an exhibition piece....
Seeing Is Believing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyM9Hj_uukc
I have no problem with Vivaldi, and I love tango and Brubeck's Take Five, so those I can't agree with, but they need to be done right. Not every skater is a great interpreter.
As for Bond, I hate to vote against it because I love John Barry so much, and there's lots of Bond music. Look how Gordeyeva interpreted (appropriately) From Russia with Love with Valeri Bure in Battle of the Blades and tell me you never want to see something like this again. As Christopher Dean says in his critique, "Shaken, stirred, and still standing." It's short because it's for a competition piece with a non-figure skater, but I think it's relevant to our discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWl47OkisCA
On the other hand, I disliked Otonal (or as I called it to myself, Atonal) the moment I heard it, although I liked Maria B's program that she skated to it. Part of the problem was that the recording she used was a bit distorted and off-key. And, as Doris points out, it's so dirgelike.
The Rachmaninoff Prelude in C sharp minor (Mao's Bells of Moscow) is my least favorite piece by one of my favorite composers. It's a dirge to the nth degree. Even Rachmaninoff got sick of it, and he was always asked to play it at recitals.
I agree that Minkus's Don Quixote is on the insipid side, though for John Curry it was a heavenly piece, and he made it look like diamonds.
There are a lot of pop music standards that I dislike, usually slow and sung by blaring voices, including Whitney Houston's song about "The Greatest Love" (or somesuch), which seems to be delivered on just two notes. She had one of the great voices of our time, but some of her songs had no structure whatever. A lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff and Les Mis stuff can end up sounding overwrought too, but there are other songs by these composers that are charming (and are not used nearly enough). One wonderful song by Lloyd Webber is "Seeing Is Believing" from a lesser known musical, Aspects of Love. Maybe for an exhibition piece....
Seeing Is Believing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyM9Hj_uukc
I have no problem with Vivaldi, and I love tango and Brubeck's Take Five, so those I can't agree with, but they need to be done right. Not every skater is a great interpreter.
As for Bond, I hate to vote against it because I love John Barry so much, and there's lots of Bond music. Look how Gordeyeva interpreted (appropriately) From Russia with Love with Valeri Bure in Battle of the Blades and tell me you never want to see something like this again. As Christopher Dean says in his critique, "Shaken, stirred, and still standing." It's short because it's for a competition piece with a non-figure skater, but I think it's relevant to our discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWl47OkisCA