Tomorrow, June 18, is Robert Commanday's 92nd birthday, the co-founder (with his wife, Mary) of San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV). He is still fully engaged in the work of the publication's Board of Directors because, as he says, "unlike the thousands of bylines in the past, this is my legacy, existing in the present and future."
Many of those bylines were seen in The San Francisco Chronicle where Commanday was music editor from 1965 through 1993, after a chorus-conducting and teaching career at UC Berkeley. When he retired from the newspaper, he came up with the then-novel idea of professional online coverage of classical music, especially — but not exclusively — in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Besides SFCV.org, there are now numerous similar publications, some using 'Classical Voice' in the title, including Classical Voice North America, from the Music Critics Association of North America, the organization Commanday headed twice in the past.
In the years since 1998, with the diminution of print press and the elimination of most music critic positions, SFCV and its cousins have taken up a task vital to the entire fabric of classical-music artists, organizations, and audiences.
Commanday's philosophy and modus operendi haven't changed through the decades. To quote from his farewell in the Chronicle in 1993:
I don’t regret or withdraw a single carping article or castigating review. The standards I had held to were not set by me but by the works and the art form first and then by the artists and performing institution themselves. They also are measured by what we have come to expect of them and what they claim and aim to be.In that sense, evaluating is an act of respect. A symphony, opera, or ballet company can’t aspire to be "world class" (a ridiculous term in any event) and profess it in the publicity and then feel it should not be judged on those terms.
If we’re tough, it’s because we care, which serves as the same basis for our enthusiasm and praise. It’s the caring we share, not any particular opinions. Agreeing isn’t what matters. The best reward has been the sense I’ve gotten that you readers get that point. That’s why ours is such a great audience and why it must inspire the performers.