...not again...

I know, I know, this has to stop. It dosn't do anybody any favours. You've got to admit though...

Uncanny!

Is it just me, or is Paul Whitehouse the spitting image of Jascha Heifetz?

I'll get me coat

Strictly for Masochists

What does David Sawer and Armando Iannucci’s new opera Skin Deep have in common with Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt at Covent Garden? Well, it seems both are good productions of lousy works. Curiously, though, we are being encouraged by the critics to go out of our way to see them, and not for the quality of the productions, but for the novelty value of the music. Charlotte Higgins, writing in her Guardian blog, broadly supports Andrew Clements’ opinions in his two-star review of Skin Deep then signs off by encouraging us to see the work on the grounds that it is ‘never boring’. Similarly, both Hugo Shirley and his (perhaps slightly more esteemed) colleague Norman Lebrecht, reviewing the opening night of Die Tote Stadt, basically say it’s a dud then encourage us to go along. Speaking for myself, I’m inclined to give them both a miss.

The Genius of Alfred Brendel

I just bought a fancy new stereo - SACD, big amp, monolithic speakers, the whole bit. The sound is great, but for that money it ought to be. I put on the few SACDs that I've bought over the years, the Concertgebouw's new Alpine Symphony puts it through its paces. But the most amazing revelation, strangely, has been a 1991 recording of Liszt's B Minor Sonata by Alfred Brendel. The multiple layers, each at a different dynamic and articulation level, the polyphonic lines emerging from the middle or low register then gradually returning as the phrase runs its course. And, of course, the willingness to lay into the bass register when it's required. It's magnificent stuff, the stereo was worth every penny, but I hope I've something left over for a few more Brendel recordings.

Retrospect Ensemble?

The Kings Consort is, apparently, no longer happy with its name. This is reasonable enough, considering the recent revelations about the activities of Robert King. In fact, its hard to think of a worse name - Jonathan Kings Consort perhaps? What they've come up with isn't quite that bad, but it hardly rolls of the tongue. Still, the success of Ensemble 415, a group named after a pitch convention (sexy!), demonstrates that in period performance at least its the sounds you make and not the sounds your name makes that matter.

Henry Purcell - Coming Clean about the Name

The English can't lay claim to many of the world's greatest composers. A pity, then, that we can't even agree on the pronunciation of the immortal names the country has produced. Henry PurCELL was relatively uncontroversial until revisionist scholars (i.e. busybodies) adopted a stress on the first syllable - Henry PURcell. A least one blogger has pointed out that the last syllable stress is preferred by the composer's living namesakes. Could it just be that they, like the classical music community at large, chose to distance themselves from a certain leading brand of washing powder?

Those Americans!

I've just found this in a 1985 journal of the International Trombone Association. It's a joke of some sort, it must be, right? It appears to have been awarded at the end of each AGM according to a strict set of criteria, although history fails to record their details. Buddy Baker seems pleased with it though.