Pavarotti Apreesh
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Okay, maybe he wasn't a team player. But he got people who weren't going to be talking about classical music to be talking about it (albeit five days after his death). That's an accomplishment in and of itself.
Thats EXACTLY why I was in favor of Ken Burn's Jazz. Was I particulary excited to see Wynton and Stanly crouch pontificate about what they thought made great Jazz? No - but peeps (this is back when I was @ WUNH) at my radio station were digging in and learning more about Coltrane, Coleman, Davis, Armstrong etc. Its not long until they gateway drug into Art Ensemble or Sun Ra or Ayler, regardless of whether or not the show gave those artists 'fair' mention.
I don't know a lot about Opera,but if the current events of Pavorotti get people in general to want to go to the Met or check out Puccini, can it be a bad thing? I don't think so...