Talk:Martha (opera)

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[edit] Almost Pure Opinion

The section "Musical Content" is almost nothing but the writer's opinion. Example sentences I present as evidence that this is completely unacceptable for an encyclopedic entry are the following: "With this overture Flotow has his ten minutes of genius. It stands head and shoulders over the opera itself and the rest of his production." "Seen on the background of the overture the happy ending seems misplaced." "In fact much of the music in Martha, especially Lyonel's rejection of the remorseful Lady Harriet in act four, belongs to a more tragic opera. It would have been more effectful if the loving couple wasn't united at the end." "might not be of their calibre" My recommendation is that this be deleted entirely, or leave the one or two sentences that might be in there that aren't sheer personal taste. Smyslov 15:43, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

I think it can be toned down. It doesn't have to be deleted. -- Kleinzach 09:37, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Not wishing to conflict, but I think it should be either referenced or deleted, not because every unreferenced statement has to go, but because it really is a very subjective statement. There is some matter of interest in there, but a lot of it is a sort of wishful rhapsody - 'If only Flotow had been a decent German composer' - rather than a hard statement of who he was: and this does no favours either to the opera or the composer. And telling us which key it is in doesn't help unless one explains how the tonal colouring affects the dramatic handling. I have added something tangible I found in Kobbé, and set up a reference system Eebahgum 19:47, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

I have attempted to express this writing in a more encyclopedic style. Eebahgum 16:16, 9 November 2007 (UTC)