{"id":38608,"date":"2012-04-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nybooks.wpengine.com\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:34:15","slug":"freedom-and-art_2012-05-10","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/articles\/2012\/05\/10\/freedom-and-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom and Art"},"content":{"rendered":" The Metropolitan Opera\u2019s 1991 prod<div class=\"leaky_paywall_message_wrap\"><div id=\"leaky_paywall_message\">\t<div class=\"paywall\" id=\"paywall-a\">\n\t\t<div class=\"fadeout\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-content text-center pb-xs-14\">\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=200 200w, https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sub_PrintDigital_11062022-72ppi.jpg?w=400 400w\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 200px, 400px\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"New York Review in various formats\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"paywall-img mb-xs-3\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-20 text-lg-30 mb-xs-1 color-ny-red font-giza\">Continue reading <br\/>for just $1.00 per issue!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal \u2013 All Access \u2013 that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.nybooks.com\/ecom\/nyb\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=NYB&publ=NY&key_code=EPMXM01&type=S\" class=\"button font-giza bg-ny-red color-white hover-text-white hover-expand sign-in-subscribe text-xs-16 mb-xs-3 paywall-offer\"><span>View Offers<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<hr class=\"mt-xs-0 mb-xs-3\"\/>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Or\u00a0register\u00a0for a free account to read just this article. <a href=\"\/account\/register\/?level_id=0\" id=\"register\">Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-label color-gray mb-0\">Already a subscriber? <a href=\"\/account\/signin\/\" class=\"paywall-signin color-gray\">Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"paywall\" id=\"paywall-b\">\n\t\t<div class=\"fadeout\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-content text-center pb-xs-14\">\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=200 200w, https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/PrintandDigital-2x_FreeNotebk_02112021-B.jpg?w=400 400w\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 200px, 400px\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"paywall-img mb-xs-3\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-20 text-lg-30 mb-xs-1 color-ny-red font-giza\">Continue reading for just $1 an issue and get a FREE notebook! 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Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal\u2014All Access\u2014that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.nybooks.com\/ecom\/nyb\/app\/live\/subscriptions?org=NYB&publ=NY&key_code=EPKXM01&type=S\" class=\"button font-giza bg-ny-red color-white hover-text-white hover-expand sign-in-subscribe text-xs-16 mb-xs-3 paywall-offer\"><span>View Offers<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<hr class=\"mt-xs-0 mb-xs-3\"\/>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-xs-16 mb-xs-2\">Or\u00a0register\u00a0for a free account to read just this article. <a href=\"\/account\/register\/?level_id=0\" id=\"register\">Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"text-label color-gray mb-0\">Already a subscriber? <a href=\"\/account\/signin\/\" class=\"paywall-signin color-gray\">Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<script>\n\t\/\/ Set link current page variables\n\tvar $ = jQuery;\n\tvar paywall_type = 'register';\n\t$('.paywall-offer').each(function(index) {\n\t\tvar offerLink = $(this).attr('href') + '&current_page=' + window.location.href;\n\t\t$(this).attr('href', offerLink)\n\t})\n\t$('.paywall-offer').on('click', function() {\n\t\tdataLayer.push({'event': 'Paywall Click', 'paywall_type': paywall_type });\n\t})\n\tvar signinLink = $('.paywall-signin').attr('href') + '?current_page=' + window.location.href;\n\t$('.paywall-signin').attr('href', signinLink);\n\n\t\/\/ Push paywall custom event for gtag if it becomes visible\n\t(function() {\n\t\tif (!document.getElementsByClassName('article-main-content').length) {\n\t\t\treturn;\n\t\t}\n\n\t\t\/\/ https:\/\/www.simoahava.com\/analytics\/google-tag-manager-dom-listener\/\n\t\tvar targetNode = document.getElementsByClassName('article-main-content')[0];\n\t\tvar config = { attributes: true, attributeFilter: ['style'] };\n\t\tvar callback = function(mutationsList, observer) {\n\t\t\tfor(var index = 0; index < mutationsList.length; index++) {\n\t\t\t\tvar mutation = mutationsList[index];\n\t\t\t\tif (mutation.type === 'attributes') {\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log('The ' + mutation.attributeName + ' attribute was modified.');\n\t\t\t\t\tif (document.querySelector('.paywall')) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push({'event': 'Paywall Visible', 'paywall_type': paywall_type });\n\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect();\n\t\t\t\t\t\treturn true;\n\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t};\n\n\t\tvar observer = new MutationObserver(callback);\n\t\tobserver.observe(targetNode, config);\n\t})()\n<\/script>\n\n<div id=\"paywall-ad\" class=\"inline-banner-ad d-flex flex-column\">\n\t<p class=\"text-label-sm mb-xs-2 mt-xs-2 color-gray text-center\">Advertisement<\/p>\n\t<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1600792242058-0\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We do not learn language by reading a dictionary, and we do not think or speak in terms of dictionary definitions. Meaning is always more fluid. Nevertheless, we are hemmed in, even trapped, by common usage. Senses we wish to evade entrap us. The greatest escape route is not only humor, but poetry, or art in general. Art does not, of course, liberate us completely from meaning, but it gives a certain measure of freedom, provides elbow room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137642,"featured_media":38609,"template":"","categories":[18766,18771,18770,18776],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8012],"class_list":["post-38608","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-ideas","category-music","category-philosophy-religion","article-type-essay","article-form-feature","_issue-2012-05-10","author-roles-by","author-cap-charles-rosen"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/nybooks.com\/articles\/2012\/05\/10\/freedom-and-art\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Freedom and Art","url":"http:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/articles\/2012\/05\/10\/freedom-and-art\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/articles\/2012\/05\/10\/freedom-and-art\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/rosen_1-051012.jpg?w=125","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/rosen_1-051012.jpg"},"articleSection":"Music","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charles Rosen"}],"creator":["Charles Rosen"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The New York Review of Books","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2012-04-19T16:00:00Z","datePublished":"2012-04-19T16:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T00:34:15Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Freedom and Art\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nybooks.com\\\/articles\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/10\\\/freedom-and-art\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nybooks.com\\\/articles\\\/2012\\\/05\\\/10\\\/freedom-and-art\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nybooks.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/rosen_1-051012.jpg?w=125\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nybooks.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/rosen_1-051012.jpg\"},\"articleSection\":\"Music\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Charles Rosen\"}],\"creator\":[\"Charles Rosen\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"The New York Review of Books\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2012-04-19T16:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-19T16:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-21T00:34:15Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nybooks.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/38608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/38608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1649092,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/38608\/revisions\/1649092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38608"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybooks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=38608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}