The Arts in New York City
This excerpt from the Times review of the Beethoven concert struck me as interesting. The reviewer writes of his
conversation with a young man in a T-shirt emblazoned with another logo: that of Bathory, a revered Swedish black-metal band.
“Beethoven and Quorthon are my heroes,” my neighbor said earnestly. (Quorthon was the working name of Bathory’s founder, Tomas Forsberg.) Both, he proposed, were rugged individualists who brooked no compromise in forging an original, enduring style. When the orchestra came onstage he raised his right hand, index finger and pinkie extended: the orthodox heavy-metal salute.
One more thing: This was my neighbor’s first live encounter with Beethoven’s music. He had paid for a prime ticket for the Wednesday performance, and planned to be in a balcony for the orchestra’s second concert on Thursday.
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