Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Joseph Szigeti

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 01:54, 13 February 2008.

[edit] Joseph Szigeti

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I've been working on this article for a while now with the intention of getting it featured. It's been through two peer reviews (neither of which generated much commentary) and I've had positive comments on it from some wiki-colleagues of mine, so I figured that now is as good a time as any to take the plunge and put it up here on FAC. K. Lásztocska^talk 05:40, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

• I'm a bit concerned about the heavy reliance of the article on Szigeti's autobiography, although I guess if there are no good biographies out there, this can't really be helped. The references though are inconsistently formatted. Also, is there a reason why two versions of Grove are used as references? Presumably, the online one is the most up to date and accurate version, so perhaps that one should be used? BuddingJournalist 05:29, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
  • And a reminder: don't forget the page number for the reference for the Joachim anecdote. :) BuddingJournalist 05:34, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
    • That's precisely the problem I encountered: not much has been written about him. (I noticed with some irritation in the conservatory library yesterday that there are at least three thick books on every other great violinist of that era...) As for the two versions of Grove--no, no reason. I just happened to be in the library the time I used the paper copy, and browsing the electronic version from my laptop when I used the online. I'll fix it...K. Lásztocska^talk 05:37, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
• Support As long as the refs get cleaned up. Some further comments: Could the "American debut" section be expanded a bit to discuss his actual debut? :) When, where, what he played, the reception, etc. Any references for the last two paragraphs of "Szigeti and new music"? The article is very well written. The prose flows beautifully, and I'm especially impressed with the way the quotations are seamlessly woven into the text. All too often, Wiki articles relying on quotations stick them in the text awkwardly without transitions. This article definitely meets the 1a requirement of WP:WIAFA in my opinion. Glad to see more high quality articles on classical music. BuddingJournalist 05:52, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
  • p.s. I never knew Kyung-Wha Chung studied with him. Learn something new every day on Wikipedia! The statement could use a citation though. BuddingJournalist 05:54, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
• Mild oppose refs 19 and 45 need cleaned up. Sumoeagle179 (talk) 11:20, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
  • Is the admitted sloppiness of the references your only objection? I'll work on cleaning up the refs this weekend but as I'm a full-time student with very limited spare time it might be somewhat slow-going... K. Lásztocska^talk 15:27, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
• Comment I'm by no means familiar with the subject of the article, but the text seems to leave nothing to be desired. The article could use some MOS-based copyedits - for some missing internal links, for not using italics in names of publications etc., but these can be handled at any point. Minor concerns: some paragraphs and specifically-worded pieces of information do not seem to have any references, and I can only presume this was because the info is sourced, but the editor forgot to add the specific sources. For example, I presume the information "The reasons for his detention remain unclear", which is in reference to his temporary departure from the States, is backed by the preceding citation; in this case, the citation should be moved to the second sentence or kept in both sentences - since, as it is, it may imply that the editor does not know the reasons rather than that researchers have struggled to find them out and failed etc. Paragraphs such as those in the final section also look like they would need a citation or two, and so do statements about other his influence on other musicians. I presume the citations are readily available from sources used in the rest of the article. The references do need some copyediting. Also: he is included in categories for Jewish people, and he probably was, but this info is not part of the text. Other than that, the article is near to perfection, and I'm looking forward to giving it a support vote. Dahn (talk) 16:07, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
• Comment - refs 19 and 45 do need a bit of a cleanup, but nothing that merits an oppose. If possible, it might be nice to see the reception section a little bit bigger, but still, doesn't merit an oppose. Will ^(talk) 14:47, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
• Support pending the minor fixes suggested above. A fine treatment of a notable subject into which the author put a lot of heart. Biruitorul (talk) 18:42, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
• Comment – please clean up your blockquotes. The MOS, if memory serves, says no quotation marks around blockquotes. Regardless of that, some of them in the article have them, some don't, and there's even one without an opening one but with a closing one. Consistency, one way or the other. Carre (talk) 08:35, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
  • The unnecessary quotation marks have been removed. K. Lásztocska^talk 13:05, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
• Support This article has become the premier source to begin research on the subject. Especially appreciated are the sound clips of the artist's recordings through the years. Take a stroll through peer articles - other classical violinists (some very good ones) and one can see that this article stands out. It meets FA criteria, AND I would come here before Britannica. István (talk) 18:32, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
• Support The "Family life" section is logically a part of "Biography" and should be a subsection thereof. I would like to see his American debut itself described (rather than just the circumstances surrounding it). The prose is very well done. Maralia (talk) 21:26, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

• Note; The images and music samples should be staggered to avoid sandwiching text between, see WP:MOS#Images. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 22:26, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Comment to above note On my settings, this is not really a problem, but, if it is seen as one, I would suggest removing the photo of Bartok and the landscape. Neither is especially relevant to the article - I don't picture that Bartok's looks illustrate something in a biographical article about another person, and the landscape, though beautiful, is not connected to Szigeti - it is not a picture of his home, a monument dedicated to him, an image of the place made around the time of his birth etc. (consider, say, a random picture of some place in South Africa in the article on Nelson Mandela, or a random picture of Provence in an article on Mistral - in all cases, they tend to give the impression of a primer rather than the impression of an encyclopedic article). Dahn (talk) 23:13, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

• Support—Well done. The only thing I notice: Can you put the final dots for quotes that start within WP sentences after the closing quotes? There are several. Tony (talk) 22:35, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.