Alan Rich stands at the head of my mini-directory of classical critics for the simple reason that he is the dean of the profession — at once the most venerable and the most youthfully curious music writer in America. He's a man who once shook Bartók's hand (Boston, 1944) and writes generously of composers one-quarter his age. Nevertheless, as Laura Stegman reveals, the LA Weekly, which has employed Alan since 1992, has chosen to let him go. (She paints a bleak picture of classical criticism in LA, but there's Tim Mangan in neighboring OC.) Evidently, the decision was made not by LA Weekly editors but by Village Voice Media executives — the same who have presided over the evisceration of the Voice's once-mighty arts coverage, dispensing variously with the great Robert Christgau, the late Leighton Kerner, Chuck Eddy, Deborah Jowitt, and, most recently, Nathan Lee. Have ad sales sky-rocketed as a result? Funny, they haven't. The good news is that Alan will carry on writing, via the Internet; I'll post a link the moment his site is up and running. Still, this is a pretty grim day. (Hat tip: ACD.)
