New Yorker Classical Music Critic Andrew Porter Dies at 86

Music critic Andrew Porter died either Thursday night or early Friday in London. He was 86. He died from complications of pneumonia, and it was confirmed by Sheila Porter, his sister and only immediate survivor.

Porter was considered one of the foremost music critics in the world, widely read on both sides of the Atlantic. He was best known in the United States for his association with The New Yorker, where he was music critic from 1972 to 1992.

After leaving the magazine, Porter returned to London, where he lived to the end of his life, writing for The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement and other publications.

Porter had many traits that allowed him to be the critic he was: he was an accomplished organist; he translated the librettos of dozens of operas from the original French, German and Italian into highly regarded English versions; he had a deep knowledge of music theory, music history and composers' biographies; a keen attention to the historical context in which a work was composed or performed, and to the prevailing political winds, both musical and non-, during those times; a ready command of the entire production history of an opera or the publication history of a score (he was an occasional opera stage director); the abilities of an intellectual gumshoe (he made a major discovery involving Verdi's "Don Carlos" that altered the way the opera is understood); an acute sensitivity to the architectural and acoustic qualities of concert halls; a robust cultural understanding of the city in which that hall was located; an appreciation of the ways in which music dovetailed with allied arts (he wrote a good deal of dance criticism early in his career); a phonetician's familiarity with the vowel sounds of a given language, and how they rendered the words of that language more or less singable; a passion for fealty to a composer's historical intent that was matched by a commitment to the work of 20th-century composers; and much else.

Andrew Brian Porter was born in Cape Town on Aug. 26, 1928; his father was a dentist, his mother a homemaker. He studied music at Diocesan College in Cape Town and then took a degree from University College, Oxford, where he studied music and English.

Porter wrote criticism for The Manchester Guardian and then for The Financial Times, from there he was picked by William Shawn, then The New Yorker's editor, for a year's trial at the magazine; he remained there for nearly 20 years.

Porter was renowned as a translator for his complete English version of Wagner's "Ring" cycle, which was recorded by the English National Opera. He also translated many other works.

As a musicological detective, Porter was responsible for bringing to light a restored version of "Don Carlos," which he meticulously pieced together from traces Verdi had left behind.

As a director, Porter directed many operas, including a production of "La Forza del Destino" at the Seattle Opera in 1984.

Porter also contributed articles on music to The New York Times, and was a three-time winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for music writing. His other books include the anthologies "Music of Three Seasons" (1978), "Music of Three More Seasons" (1981) and "Musical Events: A Chronicle" (1987).

Porter is survived by his twin sister Sheila.

Read the originial article here.

Photo Credit: Tannis Toohey/Toronto Star

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