(originally written June 2012) Shostakovich 10 A wonderful performance of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony by the CBSO under the mesmerising Andris Nelsons. Shostakovich is a site of ideological battle, his music fiercely contested and debated, with every sort of hidden meaning detected which might make it acceptable to anti-communist listeners. At the root of this is …
Category: music
Bits and Pieces – June 2012
Shostakovich 10 A wonderful performance of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony by the CBSO under the mesmerising Andris Nelsons. Shostakovich is a site of ideological battle, his music fiercely contested and debated, with every sort of hidden meaning detected which might make it acceptable to anti-communist listeners. At the root of this is a problem that conventional …
American Idol 2011-12 and The Amazing Joshua
Long-term readers will know that I am fan of TV talent shows, especially those for singers, as reinvented by Messrs Cowell and Fuller some time ago. However of recent years I had become disenchanted, most especially by American Idol which has always been the benchmark, and has produced by much the highest quality of contestant …
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My Silence – Part 3: Eyes and Ears
Any account of the past 20 months which entirely omitted what I have been watching and listening to would be absurdly incomplete. On the other hand to produce any sort of detailed list, let alone decent exegesis, would not only be impossible because of my poor memory, but would mean that I never caught up! …
Cher Hatred
During the 2010 X-Factor the outstanding performer was a 16 year old from Malvern called Cher Lloyd. She brought modernity, originality and zest, as well as a fine singing voice; it was her modernity, in the form of rapping, which was new for the X-Factor (and which made it certain she would not win - …
September Miscellany (2010)
September has been a very good month. A score of 7.07 on the Depression Scale which is the second highest ever and by far the best September. This may be partly because I am now marking more generously. It may also be partly because there is always something of a positive reaction when I emerge …
The Proms 2010
Consequent upon my ever-growing interest in classical music I have been listening to and watching more of the Proms this year than ever before. And because it has been Mahler's anniversary year, 2010 has been a particularly good year for me to do so. Having said which, the BBC's rather bizarre broadcasting practices have been something of …
Rigoletto – The ‘Live Film’
Over the weekend of 4th/5th September BBC2, along with a host of television broadcasters around the world, carried a 'live film' of Rigoletto with Placido Domingo in the title role. This was not the first 'live film' - there have been productions of Tosca and La Traviata previously - but it was certainly the first that …
Mahler: His Life, Work and World
In search of a biography of Mahler I borrowed Mahler His Life, Work and World by Kurt and Herta Blaukopf from the library: in the event it turned out not to a be a biography at all but a carefully arranged selection of Mahler-related writings. Letters to, from and about Mahler; reviews of his conducting …
Three August Movies
Definitely, Maybe (2008) written and directed by Adam Brooks is a movie I have seen a couple of times now and throughly enjoyed on each occasion. Unfortunately, also on each occasion I have watched the film in the middle of a depressive episode, and am therefore unable to write about it as much as it …
Moving Toyshop 