I've had enough of the Infiniti ad with the kid orchestra butchering "Sprach Zarathustra."

[usonian]

6. I don't watch TV, but totally agree.

Classical music gets so butchered. Even classical music stations do it, never mind the deviants who create ads.

I don't want to even think of the travesties.

The exception I make (for myself) is to try to play transcriptions of pieces for piano. In fact, a whole lot of pieces were worked out on a piano by their composers.

Oh, the "cartoon" exception. How many of us first learned of classical works from Bugs and friends? At least, I don't think the music was doctored (much)

Strauss was an amazing composer. For the bombast of Zarathustra and the ferocity of Elektra, he wrote lovely Viennese style pieces, and wrote heavenly music for the female voice. And then there's the Alpine Symphony, complete with thunderstorm sound effects.

Saturday's Met opera will be Elektra, and the Sacramento State late night opera the same day (capradio.org, streaming online if you aren't in FM range) will be Rosenkavalier. The latter has an enormous range of emotions, from the crude Baron Ochs, to the three ring circus of his tormentors, to the out of this world duet of Sophie and the Marschalin. All in one opera.