tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29123385165039068692024-02-07T18:25:15.270+00:00Richard in LondonAn enthusiastic amateur's journey round the world of art & musicRichard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-7885313218823530772021-10-31T17:14:00.007+00:002021-10-31T23:12:39.061+00:00Recordings enjoyed over the lockdown years (part 1, piano)<p>Eventually, after listening to a lot of different music, my lockdown choices seemed to focus on keyboard music, including a lot of Bach. It's all a bit of a blur now - for example there was one week where the only thing I did was play and compare 7 different recordings of the Goldberg Variations. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LKhH1uk2m6FzQ7VEkEkrTQtn6mw-RwU_RCSCCx8QCkDmVukpLb0x5YyubWZ3UcP6GzILoML92R_iwm5ATlxg8Ibokw1VT5-PH3UhY5uLdLwvNEH_5cDm0HAdvvrDl-ahOuFEvbtfAaM/s1200/81zg4tfvUzL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LKhH1uk2m6FzQ7VEkEkrTQtn6mw-RwU_RCSCCx8QCkDmVukpLb0x5YyubWZ3UcP6GzILoML92R_iwm5ATlxg8Ibokw1VT5-PH3UhY5uLdLwvNEH_5cDm0HAdvvrDl-ahOuFEvbtfAaM/s320/81zg4tfvUzL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>J.S.Bach - Goldberg Variations (</b>2020, Pavel Kolesnikov). Kolesnikov plays in a manner utterly faithful to the composition, so in one sense quite an intellectual rather than emotional interpretation that does not obscure the structure of the music. But somehow he manages to superimpose upon this rigour an extra dimension of a dreamlike soundscape. It's really a rather wonderful combination. I like it very much. We managed to hear him play this at the Wigmore Hall in 2021, which was a complete treat. I'd also highly recommend his other recordings too - the Chopin Mazurkas are great.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggu3nQomFO2GB4Paf7Ke7lOgUoA6yJYEOqc3QoAOJU0W_mWO7TWQObGogVA9c3u8Doj8CWuzguPWx_1Xfyx-0ouGAzvl9hC_PGkjSCJ6iByBs4dQYmZkFQXMe3aGfL013YfALgcbtC-U/s1425/81R1E4zk1-L._AC_SL1425_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="1425" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggu3nQomFO2GB4Paf7Ke7lOgUoA6yJYEOqc3QoAOJU0W_mWO7TWQObGogVA9c3u8Doj8CWuzguPWx_1Xfyx-0ouGAzvl9hC_PGkjSCJ6iByBs4dQYmZkFQXMe3aGfL013YfALgcbtC-U/s320/81R1E4zk1-L._AC_SL1425_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>J.S.Bach - Goldberg Variations (</b>2013, Jeremy Denk). This would be my equal favourite with Kolesnikov. There's a clarity and transparency to the phrasing, and an utterly considered and mature understanding of the music that permeates every variation. </p><p>I know many people who love Glenn Gould's recordings. I've never liked them that much I have to confess, and struggled through them without much pleasure - give me Evgeny Koroliov any day. For the record I also listened to Gustav Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock, András Schiff, and Igor Levit's recordings, out of which I'd return to the Leonhardt mostly out of nostalgia - having first heard it some 40 years ago.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KMfnUtLTluuisdcypORGJKs4zfKVwgvcJ4V-Me0D9giKeMoxWkNo9f1FYEHDij_6gxW2vMJq8z7sNGFrML_J5hg0E5qps720ESQ9frkbjXi8Z7buY570tHggc5M5xDm5Y_rrHkLxrF0/s1000/51HovFhSvqL._AC_SL1000_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KMfnUtLTluuisdcypORGJKs4zfKVwgvcJ4V-Me0D9giKeMoxWkNo9f1FYEHDij_6gxW2vMJq8z7sNGFrML_J5hg0E5qps720ESQ9frkbjXi8Z7buY570tHggc5M5xDm5Y_rrHkLxrF0/s320/51HovFhSvqL._AC_SL1000_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>J.S.Bach - Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Buch 2 (</b>2021, Piotr Anderszewski). A fascinating and transporting interpretation, reordering the preludes and fugues and therefore allowing one to hear it in a new light. I always adore his recordings - a particular favourite is his Bach's Suite Francaise 5: (BWV816) in which the Gigue has all the momentum and rhythm of a really good pop song. We also heard him play in the Wigmore Hall. Odd to sit in it wearing masks, it creates a terrible distance between performer and audience.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnq1MuHQLh34m_kA6mnCKSpNG78xc539CidZa5d4CwKMtTQGo8omwasW2VphNpi30ju00CUbppxdQui1nWfAxh9In7amgK3i5tmNYrRxqgirM4FjTeduOxVr3ye9Dap0dk3b1_3cGhOTY/s1200/81gbsC47apL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1200" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnq1MuHQLh34m_kA6mnCKSpNG78xc539CidZa5d4CwKMtTQGo8omwasW2VphNpi30ju00CUbppxdQui1nWfAxh9In7amgK3i5tmNYrRxqgirM4FjTeduOxVr3ye9Dap0dk3b1_3cGhOTY/s320/81gbsC47apL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>J.S.Bach - Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Buch 1 </b><b>(</b>2014, Pierre-Laurent Aimard). As I have observed before, there's something elemental and magisterial in Aimard's playing of Bach. I often return to him when I need to reset my aesthetic benchmark.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-5rzQk6FN5gop_aaJYClZuTM5emfKSvFw7hpsmaT5sUXV0Ayloqbl0yM_v_xUwOdcX3sRMNOJY-7SpP1rlXgZiKAmBFIA7cYXtJT2aTf1nS1GiVS5CtNGreFN08L4zWhbLnEG8ishf8/s500/51QOoIr6VVL._AC_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-5rzQk6FN5gop_aaJYClZuTM5emfKSvFw7hpsmaT5sUXV0Ayloqbl0yM_v_xUwOdcX3sRMNOJY-7SpP1rlXgZiKAmBFIA7cYXtJT2aTf1nS1GiVS5CtNGreFN08L4zWhbLnEG8ishf8/s320/51QOoIr6VVL._AC_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>All the Beethoven symphonies transcribed by Liszt for Piano </b>(2011-2015 Yury Martynov) on 5 CDs. I found these following a BBC Radio 3 broadcast by Víkingur Ólafsson about music that had been transcribed for other instruments. Which piqued my interest. It's extraordinary that Liszt was able to capture the true essence and feeling of Beethoven's symphonies in a piano transcription; and equally extraordinary that Martynov is able to play them at all, let alone so convincingly. Definitely recommend this series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQElGaXl1fnBM1YEKTr-Gz099IfwVa7mj0Ja535a_hWmyyFfu72Te8VLwlra6MIo8o5ZS33KOOPnMGi6XCYvM7JTYPdJxiQweefaYxNGAiB_oWoHd8GEo0fSwe51102OyGiTc0peYGmE8/s1500/816XdkT7iSL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQElGaXl1fnBM1YEKTr-Gz099IfwVa7mj0Ja535a_hWmyyFfu72Te8VLwlra6MIo8o5ZS33KOOPnMGi6XCYvM7JTYPdJxiQweefaYxNGAiB_oWoHd8GEo0fSwe51102OyGiTc0peYGmE8/s320/816XdkT7iSL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Chopin / Liszt </b>(2019 Mariam Batsashvili) Sometimes I hear some music on the radio that stops me in my tracks and forces me to listen. And that's how in 2020 I discovered Mariam Batsashvili's playing. This is a life-enhancing, optimistic and joyous recording. I have since devoured her recording of early piano transcriptions and completely look forward to what she will do in the future. I haven't seen her play as the lockdown is intruding, but certainly intend to as soon as possible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEs4sIRlCPNTnADSANf6S5j1cT5N_NVSFfhsFwJyfv0Ny1GroednlqMg_yqbCoHYIsq5WaP_bs9Xk3lqPXFuhRm1hcVvZyLdVXULvk72xrA13xEcGy3UP3S8-hLf4HTur_sGDhN5Zo-A/s1500/81LYOpL5KUL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEs4sIRlCPNTnADSANf6S5j1cT5N_NVSFfhsFwJyfv0Ny1GroednlqMg_yqbCoHYIsq5WaP_bs9Xk3lqPXFuhRm1hcVvZyLdVXULvk72xrA13xEcGy3UP3S8-hLf4HTur_sGDhN5Zo-A/s320/81LYOpL5KUL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Mozart and Contemporaries </b>(2021, Víkingur Ólafsson). I'd never really got on with Mozart, all a bit too showy and flowery for my taste. So this CD is revelation, Mozart played with the considered reverence that Bach recordings get. It's great, and has made me re-evaluate my feelings about Mozart (which having said, I did always love Christian Blackshaw's 4 CD set of the Mozart Sonatas on Wigmore Live) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkL-mzSafT0pW7OSvOrK5eHX1Wpw76bGiKA7XzmzhocqntkchGM7POnmtlm9_0R2S6btnf2lWTvD-oZ9-ciYB8oUdSomlJx5IcVvBxgxJF6gXnYWzSNZiUPXP1x8oVGg1pTrVOgwbigM/s1200/511lb5zWGSL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1200" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkL-mzSafT0pW7OSvOrK5eHX1Wpw76bGiKA7XzmzhocqntkchGM7POnmtlm9_0R2S6btnf2lWTvD-oZ9-ciYB8oUdSomlJx5IcVvBxgxJF6gXnYWzSNZiUPXP1x8oVGg1pTrVOgwbigM/s320/511lb5zWGSL._AC_SL1200_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Schumann: Variationen </b>(2020, Elisabeth Leonskaja). This was quite hard to track down, the Berlin based label Easonus not being widely distributed as far as I can tell. It was also very expensive! But the recording is amazingly high quality, and there's something about the humanity and wisdom with a small undercurrent of playfulness in the way Elisabeth Leonskaja performs that I always find compelling.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbyqdXOLBoxJ_pWyVbSsjVBH0i5sq4j4Y0q3ipHbsZbGRYoZGoTQAOV_-sREXY1SQLVW6-iWM91C149dLJ2hwEwJP8Lao2h3tFlj40whvc8MHh7KgIsAVQs2Zpt4BZ41UPa2xK6f7M88/s1500/61L3rwHpEwS._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbyqdXOLBoxJ_pWyVbSsjVBH0i5sq4j4Y0q3ipHbsZbGRYoZGoTQAOV_-sREXY1SQLVW6-iWM91C149dLJ2hwEwJP8Lao2h3tFlj40whvc8MHh7KgIsAVQs2Zpt4BZ41UPa2xK6f7M88/s320/61L3rwHpEwS._AC_SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues; Stevenson Passacaglia on DSCH </b>(2021 Igor Levit). I'm still processing this one, I think it's the best so far of all of Levit's many and mighty recordings. Not completely convinced by the cover artwork, but it's better than some of the other ones Sony have designed for him. There's definitely a semiotics to classical album covers that the Sony design department seems wilfully to be ignoring in Igor's case.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-36876001718655838182020-05-25T00:35:00.002+01:002021-10-31T19:19:15.636+00:00Recordings that influenced my musical taste (part 3)Here as the final part are some more recent recordings that have guided my listening:<br />
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<b>J.S.Bach - Die Kunst der Fuge (</b>2008, Pierre-Laurent Aimard). There's a wonderful austerity and rigour to Pierre-Laurent Aimard's playing. I've occasionally been to concerts where a musician has rather "over-interpreted" Bach's keyboard music and had to rush home and put on this CD to clear my palate, as it were. Anyway, hearing this CD in 2008 pushed me down a whole route of finding other interpretations. The Keller Quartet's transcription of Die Kunst der Fuge for string quartet is well worth listening to.</div>
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<b>Éliane Radigue - </b><b>L’île re-sonante </b>(composed 2000, released 2005). The cellist and composer Ollie Coates programmed a concert at London's Southbank Centre in 2014 at which he played this piece by Éliane Radigue on a reel to reel tape recorder. It's a single piece of electronic music that lasts for about an hour - and was my entry to a whole new sound world. It kind or resets your understanding of what music is - and helps you hear music where you would not expect it, such as the noise of machinery. I've since devoured all of Radigue's music, and then discovered her influences such as La Monte Young, and her peers such as Pauline Oliveros. <i>L’île re-sonante </i>remains one of my most listened to pieces of music - iTunes tells me I have heard it 81 times. </div>
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<b><br /></b><b>Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara - In Trance </b>(2011). I heard Justin's music on Radio 3's Late Junction, I think it was one of the shows hosted by Verity Sharp with her distinctive musical choices and appealing intonation. I'd not really heard much World Music before then. A whole new vista opened up - including the work of Tinariwen and Tamikrest, and Robert Plant's post-Led Zep work, much of which is done with Justin Adams. Juju's <i>"In Trance"</i> is great driving music, and almost impossible to sit still to!<br />
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<b>Jóhann Jóhannsson - Englabörn </b>(2002). If I had to choose my favourite record by Jóhann it would be <i>Orphée</i>, which we discussed often as he was writing and recording it, or the <i>Miners Hymns</i>. But <i>Englabörn</i> is the one that started things off. On the strength of hearing this album, recommended by my friend Thilo, in 2014 I made contact with Jóhann - who was living in Copenhagen at the time - and invited him to tea. Out of that developed over the years a deep friendship, and a commission I gave him to write a string quartet, since recorded by the Echo Collective and released by Deutsche Grammophon. In the time I knew him, Jóhann introduced me to many other musicians and their music - Hildur Gudnadottir, Dustin O'Halloran, Stephen O'Malley & Colin Stetson to name but a few.<br />
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<b>Caterina Barbieri - Patterns of Consciousness </b>(2017). I was rather randomly browsing the <a href="https://thequietus.com/" target="_blank">Quietus </a>on the internet in May 2019 and came across an interesting review of one of Caterina's later albums - <i>Ecstatic Computation</i>. Intrigued I found her on Bandcamp and ended up buying everything she has recorded. The first track on this record - <i>This causes consciousness to fracture - </i>has the intellectual satisfaction of a Bach fugue; at the same time there's an ecstatic emotional undercurrent that sneaks up on you and then takes you over. And then it hits a sort of singularity point and gets mashed up in the second part, TCCTF - like entering another universe. Really just amazing. I started to find out a bit about where she had learned music, who else she worked with etc, and ended up with the next recording by one of her friends and collaborators, Kali.</div>
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<b>Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code </b>(2019) - when I first heard this I had the happy realisation that my very personal journey through music was continuing to progress, and that there is still so much more to discover and learn. I won't go on about how much I like this record - possibly at mid 2020 my current favourite record - but rather how hearing it has introduced me to the work of so many other composers working in a similar or related vein - Ellen Arkbro, Sarah Davachi, Kara-Lis Coverdale etc. <br />
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So, that gets me up to date for the moment with albums that influenced my listening. I'll revisit this theme in a year or two.</div>
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-20671484121719341462020-05-21T16:24:00.005+01:002021-10-31T19:19:07.676+00:00Recordings that influenced my musical taste (part 2)<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Again, in not a particularly chronological order, here's the second group of recordings:</div>
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<b>Monique Haas (piano) - Debussy & Ravel </b>(recorded 1968-72 ). I mentioned above (in part 1) that my two introductions to classical music recordings were Steve Reich and J.S.Bach. I naturally became aware that there were many centuries of music between the two that needed filling in. These recordings by Monique Haas of the complete piano music of Debussy and Ravel were part of my introduction. I've heard many recordings since that I prefer - for example Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's superlative five disc recordings of Debussy's piano music, and Alice Sara Ott's Ravel. But at the time Monique Haas opened my ears to a new direction for listening.</div>
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<b>Purcell - Dido & Aeneas, Dido performed by Janet Baker </b>(1961). I used to think I could not relate to opera very well - I think principally because of the idiotic narratives of the Verdi and Mozart operas that are so popular, and what always seemed like the self-conscious pomposity that accompanies their performances. This recording was part of what made me change my mind - it's hard to imagine singing more heart-wrenching than mezzo-soprano Janet Baker <i>Dido's Lament</i> in this recording from 1961.<br />
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<b><br /></b><b>Led Zeppelin - Remasters </b>(1990). It was only when this retrospective remastering was released that I began to appreciate Led Zeppelin were not just another guitar based Heavy Rock band that so blighted my teenage years (see previous post). The music has so much R&B and soul in it. A friend asked me recently if I could go back in history to see one pop concert which would it be? He chose Jimi Hendrix - a perfectly reasonable choice - but I would choose Led Zep from around 1971. I also love the fact that Robert Plant did not get stuck in his own past, but has continued to progress his musical journey - in particular I like very much the various albums he has made in the last 10 years with Justin Adams.<br />
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<b>Mahler's 5th Symphony, conducted by Klaus Tennstedt </b>(1988, released 1990). My grandfather often went to the Royal Festival Hall, and I was in the audience for this concert as his guest. He was friends with Klaus Tennstedt, who we met after the concert. Around this time was the beginning of my appreciation of orchestral music, and I listened widely to Mahler, Beethoven, Brahms usw. I can never fail to be impressed by hearing orchestras play well, and in awe of the composer's ability to conceive of and write an orchestral score. But I think in the end my preference remains chamber music.</div>
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<b>Madonna - Ray of Light </b>(1998). It's hard to explain the impact of this album if you weren't there at the time - it's had so much influence on what came afterwards that it sounds very familiar to our ears. 20 years ago it was an extremely innovate mixing of electronica, dance, techno and dub. All that aside, the title track - Ray of Light - is the most transcendent, ecstatic piece of music that never fails to grab me when I hear it. A piece of musical perfection.</div>
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<b>Alina Ibragimova playing Bach's Violin Sonatas & Partitas</b> (2009) I didn't used to like violin music so much, I found it scratchy. And then somehow listening to this record changed that. I have since heard other great violinists play the sonatas and partitas. They are all doing what classical musicians do best, communicating the work of the composer to us the audience. Somehow Alina playing these works is something else. I have been there more than once, watching her perform the sonatas and partitas, standing on the stage, closing her eyes and starting to play, and opening her eyes only once she has finished. She is inviting us to share her own intimate pleasure of playing the music for herself, somehow brilliantly captured in this recording. If I could take only one record to my desert island I would take this.<br />
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-63292864433951562342020-05-20T16:10:00.001+01:002021-10-31T19:18:59.673+00:00Recordings that influenced my musical taste (part 1)<div class="" style="clear: both;">
Prompted by one of those Facebook memes going around while we are all trapped in Coronavirus lockdown, I have started thinking about the records that most influenced the evolution of my musical taste. Here's the first instalment, in a not completely chronological order:</div>
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<b>Misty in Roots - Live at the Counter Eurovision 79 </b>I could have chosen any number of reggae records to start this list off - I'd been listening to reggae pretty much exclusively since 1976 (at the age of 15) with a bit of punk beginning to intrude as time went by. I've included <i>Misty in Roots Live at the Counter Eurovision </i>not only because it is one of my favourite roots reggae records, but also because it's one of the best live concert recordings of any genre. Famously when it was first released the DJ John Peel devoted an entire radio show to the record, simply playing the whole LP twice over because he liked it so much. It starts with the immortal words "<i>When we trod this land, we walk for one reason. The reason is to try to help another man to think for himself. The music of our hearts is roots music: music which recalls history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot determine your destiny; the music about the present, because if you are not conscious of the present, you are like a cabbage in this society; music which tells about the future and the judgement which is to come.</i>"</div>
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<b>Creation Rebel & New Age Steppers - Threat to Creation </b>By late 1979 an interesting strand of music had emerged in the UK - the meeting of reggae and punk, championed by eg: the Clash, but also by producer Adrian Sherwood and his ON-U Sound label. Adrian was making heavy heavy dub music, getting even more psychedelic than the Jamaican producers. I was at university at the time, living my life to a permanent backdrop of far out dub, the bass shaking my bones, and the tunes twisting my mind. Possibly the heaviest of all the records, and one of those I listened to most, was this 1981 ON-U Sound release <i>Threat to Creation </i>by Creation Rebel and New Age Steppers. Have a listen to the track "Chemical Specialist" and you will see what I mean. </div>
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<b>The Pop Group - Y </b>In early 1980 I went to Bristol to hear Creation Rebel play. At the same concert was the Pop Group, who had released their record "Y" the year before. I'd never heard music like it - I'm not sure many other people had either - it's an extraordinary combination of funk, punk and chaos, produced by the reggae dub master Dennis Bovell. The Pop Group were touring southern England - so I skipped a few weeks of university and just followed them around going to all their gigs and buying them drinks afterwards. Listening to "Y" in 2020 is still amazing, it's as though the record had been made this year. This is music that does not age - a strong candidate for the best pop record of all time.</div>
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<b>Public Image Limited - Metal Box </b>After the Sex Pistols split up, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten as was) formed Public Image Limited, or PiL for short. <i>Metal Box</i> (1979) was their second release - three 12 inch singles in a film canister stamped with the logo PiL. With Keith Levene's scratching metal guitar on top and the momentum of Jah Wobble's thunderous baselines below, this record reinvented (for me at least, but I think for many others too) dance music as something dark and dubby. The years have not aged it. Listening to it now is still like listening to music from the future. </div>
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<b>Killing Joke - Killing Joke </b>released in 1980, the first broadly Rock genre LP that I ever owned or liked. I had spent the second half of the seventies at a British boys' boarding school being forced to overhear the musical manifestation of everyone else's teenage angst - which was somehow entirely guitar based white rock music (Genesis, Yes, Deep Purple, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Led Zep etc) while all I wanted to hear was reggae and soul, although I guess we began to find more common ground in punk music. Fortunately I had headphones. Anyway, hearing Killing Joke was a bit of a revelation. And possibly one of the best ever record covers. </div>
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<b>Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians </b>The German label ECM released Steve Reich's <i>Music for 18 Musicians</i> in 1978. I bought a copy in 1979 because I liked the cover, but didn't actually listen to it until 1983, when I was first living in Germany. Contemporary classical music hadn't grabbed me as a concept before, but when I did listen to it what I heard in the music was the same as what I heard in dub reggae, the concepts of repetition and change playing together to make beautiful shapes in my mind. I grew also to love the contemplative aspect of the long form piece - it's a single piece 56 minutes long. Many years later I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Reich a few times. He told me when he wrote <i>Music for 18 Musicians </i>he thought he was creating something new and radical, but with the perspective of age he's realised it has more in common with Bach's fugues. It may or may not be true that there were more performers than people in the audience for the 1976 world premiere in New York, but since then it has become one of the most popular pieces of contemporary classical music, and one that people want to talk to him about the most. Which is rather to ignore the amazing music Steve Reich has gone on to compose in the 40 years since then.</div>
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<b>J.S.Bach - Brandenburg Concerto </b>My other entry into the world of classical music was this recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto from maybe 1970. I had a copy in my car via my mother. For lack of anything else to listen to on a motorway journey in 1981 I put this cassette on. After about 20 minutes I had to stop the car and just listen, so strong was my response. It's played at a fast tempo, and has all the consequent joy of upbeat pop music. Interestingly this particular recording has only ever been released on cassette- there's not digital version anywhere (I have looked quite hard). I've also often wondered if concertos 2, 3 and 5 were recorded at the same time!</div>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-56622897483947257592020-04-18T11:49:00.001+01:002020-05-26T19:19:08.337+01:00The construction of Roskear tin and copper mine, 1924<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Clearing out a box of pictures from storage I found these photographs. They catalogue the construction in 1924 of Roskear Mine at Dolcoath, Camborne, Cornwall. My great-great-great grandfather Charles Thomas (1794-1868) was one of the first Captains of Dolcoath copper and tin mine, followed by his son Josiah Thomas (1833-1901) and his son Arthur Thomas (1867-1949).</div>
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-19686229009616333982019-12-28T00:44:00.001+00:002019-12-28T00:44:36.933+00:00Reviving the blog.It's been a busy and rather traumatic 3 years since I last posted, both in terms of the external world, and in more personal ways too. I shan't go into details, but I will start occasional blogs again in 2020. Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-78469592277026024392016-05-24T17:06:00.000+01:002016-05-24T17:52:25.177+01:00Learning to love classical music (if you like pop music)<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two years ago a pair of clever, aesthetically sophisticated
artists asked me to help them begin to like classical music. It wasn’t so much that the desire was not
there, but rather that with contemporary culture’s focus on the immediate and
the new it’s easy to avoid exposure to classical music altogether, and therefore not quite know where to find the way in. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked for advice from various composers and music
professionals – saying to them that the one thing I was not looking for was a
chronological introduction – more important was music you could relate to if
you knew all about pop music. I was
thinking in part back to how my love of classical music started, which was in about
1984 with Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” – which seemed to me at the
time to share much with the dub reggae I was then listening to – and from which
I worked my way backwards over the years to Bach, only to find then great
similarities between Bach and Reich in terms of compositional structures. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've spent the last 15 years on my own journey, with great delight filling in the gaps for everything between the Baroque and the Contemporary, discovering the pleasures of Shostakovich one year, and Chopin the next.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the order of the music to which I
introduced my artist friends to start them on their own journey:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Purcell - Dido and Aeneas (if possible the version
with Janet Baker singing). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Jóhann Jóhannson – Englabörn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. Beethoven's 5th symphony <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. Arvo Pärt – Litany<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Steve Reich – music for 18 musicians (original
version)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Satie – Gymnopédies <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. Debussy – La Mer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. Stravinsky – the Rite of Spring<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. Louis Andriessen – De Staat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Anything by Hans Abrahamsen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11. Iannis Xenakis – Jonchaies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">12. Morton Feldman - Piano and string quartet <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and/or Piano, violin, viola, cello<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">13. John Cage - Sonatas and interludes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">14. Bach Cello Suites – Fournier version<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">15. Varese<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-
Ameriques<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">16. Turnage - Drowned Out <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">17. Mahler – 2<sup>nd</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup>
symphonies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">18. Strauss - Alpine Symphony </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">19. Ades - America <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">20. Britten - Four Sea Interludes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">21. Ades - Tevot (Berlin phil/rattle)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">22. Charles Ives - songs (Aimard/Susan Graham)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">23. Schubert's string quintet <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I felt that once they had experienced
the music above they would be pretty much ready for anything classical music
can offer. As they listen to music in their studio via Spotify, I could see what they were playing ... and I knew they arrived when one of them became addicted to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you are on a similar quest, happy listening!</span></div>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-78248243299924218902016-04-24T19:02:00.002+01:002016-04-24T19:02:45.866+01:00RTF London concerts - Jóhannsson and Guðnadóttir<br />
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Still basking in the memory of two concerts held on 15th and 16th April in London to premiere new RTF commissions by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Jóhann Jóhannsson, details of both of which are on the RTF website.<br />
<br />
We had 70 people to a supper and recital at Sir Vernon Ellis's house on 15th, and about 250 people bought tickets for the concert the next day at Conway Hall. Both pieces of music far exceeded my expectations, and I am looking forward very much to helping them receive further performances and evolution. More on this in due course, in the meantime here's some photos:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooIrsw7iyJoHtI0hTREe8eHMKjhE8-jedwKp70-EWinXJXc8HMVc3YofUwYrcVXkTyf-2bohhha6N7HuGIZ2uRpVFVsX0rd5ofgOYcQMJoyCPsMQn0HuanoLQGSy3bgYbKqNuLbG2kiQ/s1600/CO6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooIrsw7iyJoHtI0hTREe8eHMKjhE8-jedwKp70-EWinXJXc8HMVc3YofUwYrcVXkTyf-2bohhha6N7HuGIZ2uRpVFVsX0rd5ofgOYcQMJoyCPsMQn0HuanoLQGSy3bgYbKqNuLbG2kiQ/s640/CO6.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poster - 2 of which were "liberated" about 10 minutes after I put them up outside the Conway Hall!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Qt0HE9d503h49-j-o0CPlAQCF7bTXuep-UgoKvBvYtFq-4qoN2W-nACgnOsLSzUcil6_PYqdjHA9JtXA9l1W4d-iy6_EUXbe0LUsuj17Q-j5CkBAN2MzMDFH8Z1Nza1o3oHa57rXQWc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-21+at+22.39.18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Qt0HE9d503h49-j-o0CPlAQCF7bTXuep-UgoKvBvYtFq-4qoN2W-nACgnOsLSzUcil6_PYqdjHA9JtXA9l1W4d-iy6_EUXbe0LUsuj17Q-j5CkBAN2MzMDFH8Z1Nza1o3oHa57rXQWc/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-04-21+at+22.39.18.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Hildur rehearsing before concert on 16th</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBeM-kLiLy8QRLWRM-XttuhN9cV5PAasxu459N56H7R3Nf2wBc-PSUq9tewDc6dCBxxjfZGNYa8Uwe1EcVWM1EVv6iEryAg_s_PenkPvwJqAqNs_z3A-tCEKdETlKXK4Shlb3rAkxeUg/s1600/Johann-+Conway.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBeM-kLiLy8QRLWRM-XttuhN9cV5PAasxu459N56H7R3Nf2wBc-PSUq9tewDc6dCBxxjfZGNYa8Uwe1EcVWM1EVv6iEryAg_s_PenkPvwJqAqNs_z3A-tCEKdETlKXK4Shlb3rAkxeUg/s400/Johann-+Conway.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moody photos by Guy Woodgush</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The quartet playing</td></tr>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-50847577198544952422015-12-28T15:44:00.001+00:002015-12-28T15:44:52.549+00:00Concert Highlights for 2015<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My ticket stubs
tell me that I went to 62 performances during 2015, of which 15 were in Berlin,
9 in Manchester and most of the rest in London.
By what may no longer be merely coincidence I also went to 62
performances in each of 2014 and 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I saw a large
range of fantastic performances in 2015, mostly with the company of great
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What sticks in my mind from the
year most includes:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Hildur Gudnadottir playing a
solo set on her electric cello – Hildur creates with her playing an enclosed
and rather magical world that sucks you in as you listen. If you don't know her music I recommend her various CDs. (24.02 Café Oto, London)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Wagner’s <i>Tannhauser</i>, played by the Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel
Barenboim, with staging by Sasha Waltz.
While I find Waltz’s choreography in its own right a bit pedestrian, and
Wagner a bit overbearing and slow, the combination of the two unexpectedly made
something rather perfect. (02.04 Staatsoper, Berlin)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Joe Phibbs’ </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Quartet No 1</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">, played by the Piatti
String Quartet.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Joe’s compositions are
very beautiful.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Most reviewers compare
his music to Britten, but I think he makes much more modernist soundspaces than
that, and if anything his songs are like Schubert Lieder.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">On the strength of hearing this
quartet, I have commissioned him to write some piano solos!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(26.04 Conway Hall, London)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Tree of Codes</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> at the Manchester
International Festival – a collaboration between Wayne McGregor (choreography)
Olafur Eliasson (design) Jamie XX (music) and soloists from the Paris Opera Ballet
– was visually stunning. In particular a
solo dance by Marie-Agnès Gillot, étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, to trance
like dub music from Jamie XX achieved a rare moment of transcendence. I liked it so much I saw it twice in its two
week run. (July, Manchester International Festival)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Sunn O))) – drone metal band
from Seattle playing the loudest music I have ever heard, reverberating through
my body for 2 hours.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Despite wearing
earplugs it still took months for my hearing fully to recover afterwards.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">So I shan’t see them again without industrial
ear protectors, but it was truly unforgettable and stirring.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(08.09 Neukoln, Berlin)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Iliad Overnight</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">, by the National Theatre
of Wales – a performance based on Christopher Logue’s poem “War Music” that
started at 18:00 on a Saturday evening and finished at 06:00 the next day. Utterly gripping rendition that had me
rushing to read every poem Logue had ever written – once I had caught up on my
sleep! The reviews were equally fulsome,
the Guardian calling it the “Theatrical Event of the Year” (03.10 The Ffwrnes,
Llanelli, Wales)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">N</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">ederlands Dans Theater showing
</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Shoot the Moon</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Stop-Motion </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">by Sol León and Paul
Lightfoot, and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Solo </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Echo by Crystal
Pite.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Great dancers, and the Pite piece
in particular has all the sublime abstraction that keeps me going back to more
and more contemporary dance.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">My new
favourtite dance company! (31.10, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Annual concert performance for
the charity “Awards for Young Musicians” at which some incredibly talented
young people played, including a stand out pianist, Laura Newey, who played
Chopin’s </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Preludes 1-5</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> with precocious
passion and grace.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(09.11 Charterhouse,
London)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Cédric Tiberghien, playing a
programme of piano pieces by Bartók</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">and
Boulez.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">One of the most intelligently
thought out concerts I have heard in a long time, Tiberghien alternated the
composers to show us the connections between them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">A real education, and beautiful playing. (24.11 Wigmore Hall, London)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a footnote,
the 2015 events included:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">22<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>classical concerts (ie written before about 1960)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">18 contemporary classical music concerts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">16 contemporary dance performances<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>plays<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The concerts
included<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21 Chamber recitals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9 Ensemble performances<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8 Orchestral concerts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 Operas<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most
visited London venues were:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8 at the Southbank<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(16 in 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9 at the Wigmore Hall<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(8 in 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7 at Sadler’s Wells (6 in 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 at the Barbican (3 in 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 at Royal Opera House<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2 in 2014)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-12716658877380736212015-10-17T12:42:00.000+01:002015-10-17T12:42:56.457+01:00EuropeI'm happy to see the Economist (October 16th 2015) coming out firmly in favour of the UK staying in the EU, arguing strongly against the view it might be in the UK's economic benefit to leave the EU.<br />
<br />
I am however still puzzled by the absence of the moral argument in the public debate. Whatever the narrow advantage or disadvantage to the UK of EU membership, surely the point is that it is moving in the right direction to reduce the importance of nation states, in whose name we have managed to create so much strife and unhappiness in the past. <br />
<br />
<b>What's the EU for?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The politicians who created the thing that turned into the European Union weren’t inventing a Union from nothing; they were building on this historical and cultural commonality of all European people. The motivation to create binding political ties across Europe came from the desire to avoid yet another generation of carnage and loss through warfare. And it has worked, brilliantly. The historically warring states of France, Germany and Britain have been at peace for 70 years.<br />
<br />
French and German people understand this. The European Union, and its euro currency, are not economic projects, they are a social political project to make sure that the next generation of children don’t have to kill each other in yet another futile war.<br />
<br />
Greek, Spanish and Portuguese people understand this. The majority of adults in these countries have lived under dictatorships. Greece and Portugal were military dictatorship until 1974, and Spain until 1975. The European Union is one of the mechanisms that now preserve these democracies.<br />
<br />
Polish, Bulgarian, Czech people understand this. The European Union created the counterpoint to the tyranny of communism.<br />
<br />
<b>What's up with the British?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
British people don’t understand this. The UK joined the EEC (forerunner to the EU) in 1973, and in a subsequent 1975 referendum 67% of the UK voters endorsed this choice. At the time Britain was almost bankrupt, and had to be rescued by the IMF in 1976. So economic issues loomed large, both in the minds of the voters, and in the arguments made by the politicians in favour of joining and then staying in the EEC.<br />
<br />
The effect of this has been for the last 40 years to make the British think of the EU as a purely economic mechanism – the debate in the media is about “value for money” - ie the cost to Britain versus the economic benefit to Britain of being in the EU. The arguments for remaining in the EU are based on the jobs that would be lost by leaving; the arguments for leaving are based on the money that would be saved by not being part of the Union, on preventing immigration, and on some spurious notion of sovereignty.<br />
<br />
These seem to me the wrong questions. The right questions are things like: “what will happen to France, Germany etc if Britain leaves the EU”; “how much is it worth spending to make sure my children don’t fight in world war III (answer is obviously “everything”); “how can Britain contribute to European and world peace and culture” etc.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The British have a proud history of acting selflessly to help others. Now is not the time for us to delude ourselves that we can independently determine our future in a globalised world; it is the time to recognise that our membership of the EU is the opportunity to take an active part in helping human civilisation mature into something better. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-65825168655906116512015-10-16T21:19:00.003+01:002015-10-17T12:48:10.530+01:00Science Fiction<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My youthful
relation to science fiction was I now see rather the equivalent of the current
generation’s obsessive use of the Internet.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">As a teenager I used science fiction to escape the mundane.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">With a torch under my duvet I would devour
books in the middle of the night.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">All
those spaceships, aliens, fighting and so on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Largely I moved
on to highbrow contemporary fiction, poetry and non-fiction. I’d explain the sci-fi books to the quizzical by pointing out that one can enjoy beer as well as fine
wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">A few years ago,
eventually slightly embarrassed by the glittery gold writing on the spines of
so many books in our overflowing bookcases I put most of them into storage.
More than 20 crates of first edition hardbacks, of well worn and now collapsing
paperbacks, even the odd copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Astounding
Science Fiction </i>1960s magazines given to me by mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">There was a shelf
of books I did not – could not – store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books
I knew I would read again. A more mature sort of book exploring the complexity
of human reactions to alien ontologies. I’m looking at them now and realising
almost all of them are by female authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I imagine about 90% of science fiction books are by men, like almost all
those that now rest quietly in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ready
Steady Store</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">First among
these, both chronologically and literarily, must be Ursula le Guin. Her books
have an almost contemplative nature – small windows on lives in a vast
universe. It was in her books I first encountered themes of androgeny, of
polyamory, and the emotional regret of distance in time and space leavened only
by her invention of the Ansible – allowing instantaneous communication across
the universe, copied by so many other subsequent writiers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Notable other
occupants are Nicola Griffith, whose books have quite a strong Sapphic context;
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Karen Lord (I particularly admire her
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Best of All Possible Worlds</i>”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dan Simmons’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hyperion Cantos<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></i>put
images in my mind 20 years ago that I still can’t escape – if you have read it
you will probably know what I mean. The Shrike.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Finally, this
ramble has been prompted by putting into the bookcase the third of a trilogy
just finished – Ancillary Justice, Sword and Mercy by Ann Leckie.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">In one sense a classic space opera with
fighting, aliens, AI etc.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">But in another
an extraordinary internally focused trilogy, involving a lot of sitting round
drinking tea, love, misunderstood feelings.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The aliens she imagines are really other, largely only hinted at, truly
incomprehensible.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I would love to read
more about them and perhaps she will write that in the future.</span></div>
Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-63170124791602156282014-12-31T09:19:00.000+00:002015-03-03T21:38:32.795+00:00Concert highlights for 2014<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">My ticket stubs tell me that I went to 62 performances during 2014,
of which 9 were in Berlin and most of the rest in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strangely in 2013 I also went to 62
performances (7 in Berlin, 8 in Manchester and most of the rest in London).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">Almost everything I went to pleased me greatly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those that really stick in my memory as
special were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Johánn Johánnsson playing his score “<i>The Miners’ Hymns</i>” to accompany
Bill Morrison’s film about the lives of miners in County Durham during the
twentieth century – the film is an extraordinary and ultimately rather
depressing piece of social history, beautifully complemented by the music (09.03 Barbican)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Harmonic Series, at which the cellist Olly Coates introduced me to
Éliane Radigue’s “<i>L’ile re-sonante</i>”. I had not come across Radigue before, and now
I am addicted - iTunes tells me I have since listened to this piece 39
times. It’s 55 minutes long, so that’s
about 3 days worth of my life. And that’s
not to mention the 12 times I have listened to her 3 hour long "<i>Trilogie de la
Mort"</i> this year (17.03 Southbank)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The London Sinfonietta as part of its “Blue Touch Paper” programme
played a new sextet by Gavin Higgins – “<i>Uncle Dima</i>”. An angry polemical piece raging against
Russian suppression of gay rights. I
find it extraordinary that the pop music of our times is so politically
passive, but take great comfort that our contemporary composers are not. (21.05
ICA)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Opera Erratica’s “<i>Triptych</i>”. I loved it, a sort of mini
opera created by a cooperative. Highly modern, dense with meaning,
and very pretty girls wearing not much. It suggests one way forward
for opera as something less expensive, elitist and hierarchical. I’ve since seen further performances by the
same company which I have also enjoyed greatly, including <i>""The Little Match Girl Passion" </i>followed by a Christmas Carol
Karaoke in Hackney Wick (03.06 Print Room, Notting Hill)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Mica Levi playing her score along with the film “<i>Under the
Skin</i>”. I have followed her work closely,
seeing her play both pop concerts as Micachu, and as a collaborator with the
London Sinfonietta. She’s a refreshing
and rare reminder that pop music does not have to be merely dull repetition
(18.06 Southbank)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Alice Coote and Christian Blackshaw performing Schumann
Lieder. From the first note I was transported to another world; I
already knew that Blackshaw is amongst my favourite pianists, and found Alice
Coote’s voice an equal delight. (22.06 Wigmore Hall)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Matthew Barney’s “<i>River of Fundament</i>” with music by Jonathan Bepler. Visually beautiful, unforgettably intense.
Somewhere between a film, art, opera and surreal pornography. And six
hours long. I’d really like to see it again. (26.06 Colliseum, London)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Norma Nahoun and Julien Quentin performing a concert of music by the
English composer Charlotte Bray in this wonderful piano repair workshop come
concert space. The concert included "<i>Yellow Leaves"</i> which I had commissioned (12.09 Piano Salon Christophori, Berlin)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Hauschka playing through his new album “<i>Abandoned City</i>” on prepared
piano and electronics in this wonderful Berlin venue. (19.09 Volksbühne, Berlin)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>B<span style="font-family: inherit;">ritten Sinfonia playing live work by Thomas </span>Adès live for dances by four choreographers (Wayne Macgregor, Karole Armitage, Alexander Whitley, and Crystal Pite). A perfect marriage of musicians, composer, and dance. The standout moment however was Adès playing the piano while Claire Booth sang so captivatingly that I was almost unaware of the dancers on the stage (01.11 Sadler’s Wells)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Cédric Tiberghien, playing Bartók piano pieces to a chamber music size audience
(about 20 of us). Cédric talked through
the whole development of Bartók’s composing in an insightful, informal, and
informative manner. And he plays
beautifully. (04.11 Queensgate Terrace)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
As a footnote, the 2014 events included:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>classical concerts (ie written before about
1960)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">25 contemporary classical
music concerts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">11 contemporary dance
performances<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>plays<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">The concerts were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">22 Chamber recitals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">14 Ensemble performances<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">7 Orchestral concerts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; tab-stops: 1.0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">6 Operas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The most visited London venues were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">16 at the Southbank<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(22 in 2013)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">8 at the Wigmore Hall<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(11 in 2013)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">6 at Sadler’s Wells (5 in
2013)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">3 at the Barbican (1 in
2013)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">2 at King’s Place<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(none in 2013)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-20220012451052136792014-12-28T00:18:00.001+00:002014-12-28T00:18:25.092+00:00Dusk on the Fal River at St.Clement, Christmas 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-86866475408949172912014-11-10T00:24:00.000+00:002014-11-10T00:24:21.130+00:00Night Train to Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I took the night sleeper from Berlin to Paris. It's being discontinued at the end of 2014 and I wanted to experience its romance. It reminded me of journeys from my past.</div>
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-17838615935267236722014-10-08T22:57:00.000+01:002014-10-08T23:03:29.768+01:00Gentlemen Like Us, with Pinar & Viola<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some time ago, and as part of the research work for a planned composer/artist collaboration (on which more news in a month or two), I asked the Amsterdam based post-digital artists <a href="http://pinar-viola.com/#/home" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Pinar & Viola</span></a> to create a design for a pocket square. After some deliberation, which included their relocating to Paris, the girls came up with the desire to create a "wearable spell" and produced a wonderful design - a digital painting suffused with symbols and meaning:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from the design for the spell</td></tr>
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We did some research about how to produce handmade silk pocket handkerchiefs - including some very helpful advice from Nicholas at <a href="http://lenoeudpapillon.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">"Le Noeud Papillon"</span></a> of Sydney, Australia - and in the end had them manufactured in California by <a href="http://www.digitalsilk.us/index.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Donnalee</span></a>, a delightful hippy, or that's how I imagine her anyway.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished article</td></tr>
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Last week we had a very special incantation ceremony in London at which 5 of the 7 recipients of this very special limited edition were able to join us in Gothic surroundings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viola casting a spell on CA, me and TF</td></tr>
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Pinar wrote out the spells, and Viola read them to the members of the "Gentlemen Like Us" club, and then gave us each a unique, named pocket square. And now we can't be parted from these pocket squares, which are more than just a piece of silk, they are a talisman to protect us from the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TF in his office, wearing his charm<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AP returning from night out in town, with protection.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sLVMBr3BOm_pd0JhaK_NSRM_tHbEMewyJ3I9x1PnhXt26_cfxky7q9zpTm3Y4giYK6zOFPhvvtLg7xchZiPOT0wNnOkmstvn7GwB_mSlr6ReNipx7ZYWOzxQgNvbD36PQPi1To9uzkg/s1600/GLUs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sLVMBr3BOm_pd0JhaK_NSRM_tHbEMewyJ3I9x1PnhXt26_cfxky7q9zpTm3Y4giYK6zOFPhvvtLg7xchZiPOT0wNnOkmstvn7GwB_mSlr6ReNipx7ZYWOzxQgNvbD36PQPi1To9uzkg/s1600/GLUs1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, with a private witch in my pocket<br />
masquerading as wearable art</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMSErNL8YIpzHJPiGyTcC1ik1tQPdntqSkXCbI_UFtaphEfnfNEwoyf0hlLWHLSDMxtdUKa5OvqnrvehwT0rjlULl3btM6RdSs0BK58ZYUM4ZWgmtW53FYkxvYEfc63rrpm_L4qu8a2E/s1600/GLUs7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMSErNL8YIpzHJPiGyTcC1ik1tQPdntqSkXCbI_UFtaphEfnfNEwoyf0hlLWHLSDMxtdUKa5OvqnrvehwT0rjlULl3btM6RdSs0BK58ZYUM4ZWgmtW53FYkxvYEfc63rrpm_L4qu8a2E/s1600/GLUs7.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MT - under the spell!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-29827790218543209422014-08-19T11:11:00.002+01:002014-08-20T23:34:19.378+01:00Stolpersteine in Frankenthal<span style="font-family: inherit;">Laura and I went to Frankenthal (Pfalz) on 18th August 2014 for a ceremony at which the artist Gunter Demnig placed commemorative Stolpersteine for my grandfather (Dr F.A. Mann) and great-grandfather (Dr. R. Mann) outside Westliche Ringstraße 9, the house in which they used to live.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Vaa34PCDfXJ91uDLaPRUJVeKzrDcEhPGdQcJdAeBawqcmYhw_pCjJWnvRGkKjxUiUGr5-_5tNKxA_qCS2FutyVHqUXtB2oJ4yqt56fRI4h4UVUmTbyS7EGnSwowVh7jEbJUPAu9UnBA/s1600/Frankenthal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Vaa34PCDfXJ91uDLaPRUJVeKzrDcEhPGdQcJdAeBawqcmYhw_pCjJWnvRGkKjxUiUGr5-_5tNKxA_qCS2FutyVHqUXtB2oJ4yqt56fRI4h4UVUmTbyS7EGnSwowVh7jEbJUPAu9UnBA/s1600/Frankenthal2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Westliche Ringstraße 9</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mayor of Frankethal, Herr Theo Wieder, made a very good speech in which he emphasised the importance of learning from the past. We have enjoyed a long period of peace in Europe, but events in the world around us show how fragile this is - we must understand through knowledge of history the necessity as individuals to make moral choices. Laura said to me later that her history lessons at her (British) school are just about facts - and how much better it would be for it to be about ethical responsibility too.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F3OVXe5xSbTUUhbWJ4n1R6E4T0U0foLUZpElOtvP6ILv2YuYvbAUgbOUMibXBSbLslXhdgKw9Q0DUo-ekTLyara80UHjKgpSGTIpui-ZNoxXgJ44orYxkuTn08jyCF2UW7BCnog_ohM/s1600/Frankenthal1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F3OVXe5xSbTUUhbWJ4n1R6E4T0U0foLUZpElOtvP6ILv2YuYvbAUgbOUMibXBSbLslXhdgKw9Q0DUo-ekTLyara80UHjKgpSGTIpui-ZNoxXgJ44orYxkuTn08jyCF2UW7BCnog_ohM/s1600/Frankenthal1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oberbürgermeister Wieder</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After laying Stolpersteine at two other houses of former Jewish residents of Frankenthal (the Rahlson family - died in concentration camps; and the Schottland family - fled to USA) Gunther Demnig then moved on to the Mann family house. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCguBgEBxDaQtiayE3oQSlZIwUD-_dBJs9wp8CrKbDo6WpqMhYSyQG3axzOXG8xdV_7ayy56IvyT7Ref-EPn-N2zVTrThZ6Qc0UjjFiC-lU-ZBx9HgHywPw9KqTuPPn1JocjiFpcn-2x8/s1600/Frankenthal4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCguBgEBxDaQtiayE3oQSlZIwUD-_dBJs9wp8CrKbDo6WpqMhYSyQG3axzOXG8xdV_7ayy56IvyT7Ref-EPn-N2zVTrThZ6Qc0UjjFiC-lU-ZBx9HgHywPw9KqTuPPn1JocjiFpcn-2x8/s1600/Frankenthal4.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gunter Demnig installing Stolpersteine for Mann family</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a short further speech about the history of the Mann family (many generations of bankers, lawyers and judges) given by Herr Herbert Baum, of the Association for the memorial of Jews in Frankenthal (website<span style="color: orange;"> </span></span><u><a href="http://www.juden-in-frankenthal.de/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">here</span></a><span style="color: #0000ee;">)</span></u><span style="font-family: inherit;"> He seemed to know more about the history of my family than I did! The audience included the Frankenthal Town Archivist, Herr </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Gerhard Nestler (leaning on umbrella).</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFHJwjut_R5pH7MY8byTT7uRHLHd1F2otvU73sVQAiQACUUCyOqcMum34zGvWuTxe_h_NjyO8l3LetDIxe5ElUvlvxlTNW-crQ-WTAmp-vSGnyZBJug6a-Il2olG8YzTzk_rGMviAoUM/s1600/Frankenthal5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFHJwjut_R5pH7MY8byTT7uRHLHd1F2otvU73sVQAiQACUUCyOqcMum34zGvWuTxe_h_NjyO8l3LetDIxe5ElUvlvxlTNW-crQ-WTAmp-vSGnyZBJug6a-Il2olG8YzTzk_rGMviAoUM/s1600/Frankenthal5.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Herbert Baum giving a speech</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are the Stolpersteine installed in the pavement:<br /><br /> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrpujl2mN6mHVTxJOEStjS0JCq_zp1nCD7R02OvfiYsiQ_XHruNAthy7jvER6YYHT9f4_-mPkLQmymEi7jJiEXHAoqdc0tX_d0i-EWkZ7VToyDKSLnpNhczQ5Qvnv0TVluHFUHza9LeQ/s1600/Frankenthal7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrpujl2mN6mHVTxJOEStjS0JCq_zp1nCD7R02OvfiYsiQ_XHruNAthy7jvER6YYHT9f4_-mPkLQmymEi7jJiEXHAoqdc0tX_d0i-EWkZ7VToyDKSLnpNhczQ5Qvnv0TVluHFUHza9LeQ/s1600/Frankenthal7.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />And finally, a photo of me and Laura with the amazing Gunther Demnig. Over the last 20 years he has installed 48,000 Stolpersteine across the countries in Europe from which minorities were persecuted by the Nazis. He's created something that is both an extraordinary work or art, and a powerful piece of social and political action. His website is <a href="http://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/home/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">here</span></a>. and more info about his work is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolperstein" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">here</span></a></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkLxgTDtBL8VP-LvmnNrUOED5jpBKGnrrs7Uwsjx8ouMO8dK1K16R1W3I5tCtjBqwBjCioWGJaqArVyX3cNAk54KDJJzZOJ5V3Gr03kuWoSuvVFAkRPyEx_z9VNZEpBj176xwvfajZA60/s1600/Frankenthal6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkLxgTDtBL8VP-LvmnNrUOED5jpBKGnrrs7Uwsjx8ouMO8dK1K16R1W3I5tCtjBqwBjCioWGJaqArVyX3cNAk54KDJJzZOJ5V3Gr03kuWoSuvVFAkRPyEx_z9VNZEpBj176xwvfajZA60/s1600/Frankenthal6.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gunter, me and Laura at Westliche Ringstraße</span></td></tr>
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Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-84328131785772455242014-07-09T21:31:00.002+01:002014-07-09T21:31:48.781+01:00Music with people singing<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven’t always
liked music with people singing – particularly lieder and opera. I did always think that in my later years I
would be nudged towards opera, in the same way that perhaps my reading will
nudge me towards Trollope and Proust when I am more grown-up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notwithstanding
my reservations, in the last 6 weeks I have been to the complete gamut of
singing possibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The orchestra and
chorus of Santa Cecilia, conducted by Sir Antiono Pappano, singing Verdi’s
<i>Requiem</i> at the Royal Festival Hall.
Completely wonderful, proper Italian choir singing big music.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<i>Thebans</i>” by
Julian Anderson, a new opera at the ENO.
I could see it was a proper opera, but I found it a bit plodding
narratively, and felt it could have been written at any point in the last 50
years. So didn’t exactly excite me.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Opera Erratica’s
“<i>Triptych</i>” at the Print Room. I loved
it, a sort of mini opera created by a cooperative. Highly modern, dense with meaning, and very
pretty girls wearing not much. Much more
engaging than “Thebans” and points one way forward for opera as something less
expensive, elitist and hierarchical.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alice Coote and
Christian Blackshaw at the Wigmore Hall performing Schumann Lieder. From the first note I was transported to
another world; I already knew that Blackshaw is amongst my favourite pianists,
and found Alice Coote’s voice an equal delight.
Still surprised this concert wasn’t reviewed anywhere, I think it’s the
best of the 50 I have been to so far this year. But the music establishment is a bit
anti-Blackshaw because he won’t play their celebrity games and is seen as a bit
“difficult”.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Luca Francesconi's</span><span lang="EN-US"> “<i>Quartett</i>” at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House. Utterly amazing, absorbed in the 80 minutes
of this modernist mini-opera. As above, reviewers ignored/found it difficult
which reduced audience numbers. But I loved it.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“</span><i>River of
Fundament</i>” by Matthew Barney, with music by Jonathan Bepler, at the
Colliseum. Visually beautiful,
unforgettably intense. Somewhere between
a film, art, opera and surreal pornography.
And six hours long. Two weeks
after seeing it I know I would go again like a shot if the opportunity offered
itself, mostly to hear the music again. Bepler
has written things for voices to do that I haven’t heard before, and would like
to hear more of.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<i>Lyrische
Symphonie</i>” by Alexander Zemlinksy, at the Staadbad in Mitte/Wedding, Berlin. Seven connected movements, scored for an
orchestra of 200 with baritone and soprano soloists. The staging I heard was with a reduced
orchestra of 23, but still worked really well. It’s music I ‘d like to hear
again.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Janacek’s “<i>The
Cunning Little Vixen</i>” at Garsington, with Claire Booth in the title role. Claire was great, fully engaged in the role
of the Vixen. Garsington is also a
fantastic setting, it reminds me of Glyndebourne when I first went there (as a teenager) in the
1970s, before it got all corporate.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 2014</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<!--EndFragment-->Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-7508994759846753422013-07-25T13:50:00.002+01:002014-08-19T11:43:18.842+01:00New Movement Collective - NEST<br />
<br />
<br />
I have been helping to support the New Movement Collective (NMC), run amongst others by my friend Gosia Dzierzorn of the Rambert Dance Company.<br />
<br />
<br />
NMC's latest piece (NEST) is a dance and immersive multi-media performance being put on at the Welsh Chapel in Shaftesbury Avenue, former site of the Limelight club at which I occasionally passed some time when younger. So it was with a strange sense of impending nostalgia for racier times that we went to see the show a couple of nights ago. It's based on the story of the Odyssey, which the children impressively and confidently narrated the bones of to me in the taxi on the way over.<br />
<br />
The piece was extraordinarily good, and rather than trying to describe it I will rely on the very praising reviews here: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/18/new-movement-collective-nest-review" target="_blank">Guardian</a> <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/dance-review-saisons-russes-du-xxie-sicle--next-time-show-me-the-colour-of-your-orchestra-8722978.html" target="_blank">Independent</a> <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/new-movement-collective-nest-welsh-chapel--dance-review-8725673.html" target="_blank">Standard</a> <a href="http://www.theballetbag.com/2013/07/21/nest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBalletBag+(The+Ballet+Bag)" target="_blank">BalletBag</a><br />
<br />
My favourite bit of all was the dancer Clemmie Sveass as Penelope (Odysseus's wife) weaving and unweaving the shroud. (Penelope, whilst being pursued by suitors in Odysseus's absence used the delaying tactic of pretending to weave a burial shroud for his father Laertes, claiming that she would choose a suitor when finished. But each night she undid part of the weaving).<br />
<br />
Another fine element was a dance done by Gosia in front of a mirror - which I think was a metaphor for the Cyclops's eye. I liked the piece so much I went back alone a couple of days later.<br />
<br />
Anyway, altogether I am immensely proud to have been able to support NMC. It's the second time I have done so, and I am sure not the last.Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-91966234132430756732013-07-17T08:31:00.002+01:002021-10-31T22:00:18.795+00:00In Manchester: 4 – The parties<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The parties were all great. Imagine if
London had decided to have and largely fund a festival and allowed the
organisers to put on a show in most of the National Gallery; have a series of drinks parties with a very
loud disco in the House of Commons attended by most of the Cabinet; and to take
over the unused bit of Waterloo station as a concert stage set. That’s the equivalent level of commitment
that Manchester makes to the Festival. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTqTi6DlLDQ968ar3Qu4PHI7puAUnSbT9vly3qcowJQjK2VqzunFiLTFv4KI4vSx-09pvMP9AzyCONafcmMWBSUrc79Y6ybfnMbYW3ur2m3qycUmlNvrUdfB7EySe781bvd2T-9Y59LU/s1600/Charlie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitTqTi6DlLDQ968ar3Qu4PHI7puAUnSbT9vly3qcowJQjK2VqzunFiLTFv4KI4vSx-09pvMP9AzyCONafcmMWBSUrc79Y6ybfnMbYW3ur2m3qycUmlNvrUdfB7EySe781bvd2T-9Y59LU/s400/Charlie.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Escaping the culture, Charlie and I took a train out from Manchester to <br />
Alderley Edge and walked up a hill to a great pub - the Wizard - for lunch</td></tr>
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<br />
Somehow also the tireless <a href="http://moreintelligentlife.co.uk/content/features/anonymous/alchemist?page=full" target="_blank">Alex Poots</a>, festival director, was everywhere. How he manages to organise it all and still be at all the parties is incomprehensible. Perhaps he doesn't sleep much. </div>
<!--EndFragment-->Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-84670137748619900622013-07-17T01:04:00.002+01:002013-07-17T01:04:58.580+01:00In Manchester: 3 – Macbeth<br />
When Caroline, the children and I walked in to the deconsecrated St.Peter’s Church the usher pointed out that as we were in the front row we needed to be careful not to lean forwards in case we got hit by a sword. <br />
<br />
The production was relentless, visceral, immediate. We were spattered with mud, water, blood. Clashing swords created firefly-like sparks landing on our faces. McDuff’s wife and child were slaughtered a meter in front of my nose. Shocking, tragic, total theatre.<br />
<br />
Kenneth Branagh brought to the role such a psychological profundity and narrative clarity that I would say this could be the defining Macbeth of our generation. It's odd then to read the reviews; the critics seem divided between the majority who think it outstanding; and one or two who strangely didn't like it at all.<br />
<br />
Almost everyone I know intends to go and see it in a cinema when it’s broadcast this weekend. But what you won't get in the cinema is the peaty, lingering, smell of the Scottish mud.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-91548292656634061242013-07-17T00:52:00.001+01:002013-07-17T08:10:33.535+01:00In Manchester: 2 – The Michaelangelo Sonnets<span style="font-family: inherit;">A Peter Sellars staging of Shostakovich's <i>Suite on Verses of Michaelangelo Buonarroti, Op.145 </i>and Bach's <i>Cantata BWV 56.</i> Both were sung by the Bass-Baritone Eric Owens, accompanied by the organist Cameron Carpenter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The older I get the more I get Shostakovich. His piano sonatas seem like the logical successor to Bach’s fugues, and the eighth string quartet perhaps the pinnacle piece of chamber music of the 20th Century. So I was already in a state of heightened expectation as Eric Owens started singing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The odd solitary tear but seldom graces my cheek, perhaps only once every couple of years, and usually at moments of overwhelming beauty. This was one of those. That said, the friend I took didn’t like it at all. He found it a bit melancholic. However, I am older than him, and I quite like the cathartic effect of a bit of gloom. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was very happy subsequently to meet both Peter Sellars and Eric Owens at one of the many, many parties at the festival. I couldn’t stop myself sort of hugging Eric, and I asked Peter if he was ever going to revive the “Peony Pavillion” – a Tan Dun piece which we had seen at the Barbican 20 years ago – and which has resonated in my head ever since. He seemed very pleased to be asked, and is indeed just “finishing it off” now. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-5573958289132121132013-07-17T00:39:00.000+01:002013-07-17T00:39:56.803+01:00In Manchester: 1 – Massive Attack vs Adam Curtis
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve just
attended 10 shows in Manchester over two weekends of the 2013 Manchester
International Festival. Every single show
was amazing in its own way. I should
admit to a slight bias – I chair the commissioning circle for the
Festival. That said, I am incredibly
proud of my involvement with this really unique and outstanding event. I also think I went to 10 post-show
parties. I have decided not to drink for
a bit!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b>Massive Attack vs Adam Curtis</b></div>
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I love Bristol post punk music. If I ever get on to Desert Island Discs then the Pop Group’s “She is Beyond Good and Evil” would definitely be on my playlist. Massive Attack, coming out of the same mindset in the eighties, are right up my street too. </div>
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Adam Curtis’s documentaries, most of which I have seen, are a bit less central to my life – while he’s got some great and important ideas his polemic goes over the top a bit, perhaps counterproductively. </div>
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However together, the combination of the band and the documentary made for a new art form. Peter Saville describes it as “Grown up pop music”. I’d say it was the best way to see a documentary ever - it’s like the conscious bit of my mind was fully consumed by the bass being cranked up to 11, so the Adam Curtis messages, however far fetched, bypassed my critical faculties and were injected straight into my brain. A sort of voluntary brain washing.</div>
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The band hid behind screens, and played other people’s music. As an act of supreme professionalism and self-confidence, it left me in awe. The cover of Suicide’s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWJEMxWxa9M" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Dream Baby Dream</span></a>” is still echoing in my head a week later. Hope they record it sometime.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZST-jMPXFEIK1jwAxytyJgogZHO4W5-vnJLKZltpWkc_erdEr3p0fxpX478IXCYEM0ezxIkQv9tEOysmU2i10xcZbd1L_MteZECMPO1qt92qXPnRCcLvXYwbxxWbGJvtdQLSnvBe-RIQ/s1600/Massive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZST-jMPXFEIK1jwAxytyJgogZHO4W5-vnJLKZltpWkc_erdEr3p0fxpX478IXCYEM0ezxIkQv9tEOysmU2i10xcZbd1L_MteZECMPO1qt92qXPnRCcLvXYwbxxWbGJvtdQLSnvBe-RIQ/s400/Massive.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With P&V before the concert</td></tr>
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I have realised too that I have done a lot since my last post - for example going to Tokyo to see a play. I might have to become a bit chronologically non-linear in my posting.</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-33941824154959475722013-03-22T22:33:00.001+00:002013-03-23T21:17:13.268+00:00Two book launchesI went this week to two strangely contrasting book launches, with a unifying theme.<br />
<br />
The first was on Tuesday at "The Society Club" - a rather fascinating bookshop at 12 Ingestre Place in Soho - for "How to Wear White" by Francesca Beauman. She's written an intriguing book aimed at women getting married - peppered with good advice, and also unexpected and bizarre statistics that relate in some way to marriage - for example a table of champagne consumption by bottle for every country in the world for last year. I am extremely fond of Fran and have known her for all of her life, so I never miss any of her book launches (this must be her fourth or fifth). You can buy her book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Wear-White-bride---be/dp/1408826607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363989082&sr=1-1" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVqvhsxWe3tsH0IYBmSSpgyP1OC-kRaW8xpwA_IQgHtxNXGz4WF7swHHkqhrItCgi0i0KBXQB86JECaCK7Ny9gHg7b_QpnUTOBPOjCPaKoISCs3nI_B-WkYw9R6HwRrspTgr9OeVbW_c/s1600/fran1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVqvhsxWe3tsH0IYBmSSpgyP1OC-kRaW8xpwA_IQgHtxNXGz4WF7swHHkqhrItCgi0i0KBXQB86JECaCK7Ny9gHg7b_QpnUTOBPOjCPaKoISCs3nI_B-WkYw9R6HwRrspTgr9OeVbW_c/s320/fran1.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
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Fran's husband James Bobin directed the very successful Muppets film that came out last year, and he's half way through making the next one. For me perhaps his greater claim to fame is that he co-wrote and directed "Flight of the Conchords". It was fun therefore to find Jemaine Clement at the book launch party. <br />
<br />
The Society Club also quite distractingly above its bookcases was having an exhibition of Bob Carlos Clarke pictures - I spent most of the evening making polite conversation whilst being quite distracted by pictures of girls naked save for various bits of PVC clothing. All very jolly.<br />
<br />
The second was the next evening at Boodles - another club but not one in which you would ever find Bob Carlos Clarke pictures. This was to launch the publication of a book about the history of Boodles written by David Mann, who died last year, and other contributors. The book is a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the club.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSTSTV4qwsdb_EYB2dOl2zhHj_O-mV_K73A52XqCGdnMbZREaAEVkgt2q4v1cW8eqB7DWugUK9PvM6FhyrQJ1Bg_1hHcmg0KqqbVGDp4GEW2gVKcD0liCdqjf8dBIgz6DpvBIo-YR05k/s1600/boodles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSTSTV4qwsdb_EYB2dOl2zhHj_O-mV_K73A52XqCGdnMbZREaAEVkgt2q4v1cW8eqB7DWugUK9PvM6FhyrQJ1Bg_1hHcmg0KqqbVGDp4GEW2gVKcD0liCdqjf8dBIgz6DpvBIo-YR05k/s320/boodles.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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Boodles, like so many other London clubs, is entirely comfortable, seductive and appealing on the one hand; and absolutely appalling and retrograde on the other. It's the sort of club in which gentleman have to wear coats and ties; in which women have been grudgingly tolerated and only then in recent times, and occupy a second class role if at all; and in which it helps if you were at the right school, the right university, the right regiment, speak in the right accent, have the right family, etc. Despite precisely meeting all these requirements I can't quite relate to these places. The charming wife of the president of the club told me that she thought I probably wasn't old enough yet (I am past my first half century!) and that she thought the club was an extremely useful place because it got her husband out of the house and meant she did not have to cook him dinner. <br />
<br />
All of that said, I did meet some very urbane and open minded people at the launch party, and enjoyed some conversations about music, and the future of Europe. <br />
<br />
I then drifted into conversation with quite a large group of men who were describing to me very animatedly how wonderful they thought "Nigel" was, and what fun he had been at dinner the night before. It was only when one of them began telling me how there were enough immigrants in the country now, and perhaps we should even encourage some of them to leave, that I realised "Nigel" was of course Mr. Farage of UKIP. As frequently happens they made the categorical error of believing that because I looked and spoke like them, I might share their reprehensible views. The conversation went from bad to worse at that point, and so with my prejudices about the moral bankruptcy that inhabits the rotten core of these institutions entirely reinforced, I left.<br />
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The unifying theme, lest you should wonder, is family. Fran is my cousin and David was my uncle. <br />
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-2704107025635077382013-03-21T18:25:00.000+00:002013-03-21T18:25:31.732+00:00In Berlin: 2 - Thilo HeinzmannThe composer Jóhann Jóhannsson and I paid a visit to the studio of Thilo Heinzmann, the Berlin based artist. As we arrived Thilo was listening to Jóhann's "<i>Englaborn</i>". If you don't know it I strongly recommend it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17GsJY8sDtxrag8Y_2fgcHZDPDC0QEjTI7qRPCafJIKhjmGKF5TEqNK0S3IqWWNtPM7lS7QxFktpACiSdq4cybhP7dwkrQWVdWQxGYRKl56j6Qoopo0iUB9tdFZSpZ7N9NY3e3s4LK7M/s1600/thilo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17GsJY8sDtxrag8Y_2fgcHZDPDC0QEjTI7qRPCafJIKhjmGKF5TEqNK0S3IqWWNtPM7lS7QxFktpACiSdq4cybhP7dwkrQWVdWQxGYRKl56j6Qoopo0iUB9tdFZSpZ7N9NY3e3s4LK7M/s320/thilo1.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Thilo holding one of Jóhann Jóhannsson's records </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Thilo and Jóhann are collaborating on a project, one of the end points of which will be a composition by Jóhann called <a href="http://www.rthomasfoundation.com/sample-page/commissions-and-grants/rtf008/" target="_blank">"<i>12 conversations with Thilo Heinzmann</i>"</a>. This meeting at the studio was the 4th conversation, in which I was very pleased to be able to participate.<br />
<br />
Jóhann is recently back from a trip to the South Pole - and we noted that in a funny parallel some of Thilo's polystyrene pictures have an iceberg like quality. Thilo has been in Paris looking at impressionist paintings, and I think the result has been to inject a wider colour palette into some of his paintings.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzFU6wKDG_T532l-RQ4UrW08CVsGdhyUqzQKg3wmHQbyqpTIicIGsuAd7nrHlVJMTwT2l7b1LofvCs6uugKt4XgYZJqRA42VWmj8JZO-ZI9tUnetpDxYdupMbwwljpxhaRyKi6mZ9vls/s1600/4th+conversation1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzFU6wKDG_T532l-RQ4UrW08CVsGdhyUqzQKg3wmHQbyqpTIicIGsuAd7nrHlVJMTwT2l7b1LofvCs6uugKt4XgYZJqRA42VWmj8JZO-ZI9tUnetpDxYdupMbwwljpxhaRyKi6mZ9vls/s320/4th+conversation1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jóhann and Thilo in front of a post-Paris trip painting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The project has 8 more conversations to go, and I will blog about it again later in the year.<br />
<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2912338516503906869.post-19926523452055587702013-03-21T09:26:00.002+00:002013-03-21T18:09:13.201+00:00In Berlin: 1 - Nachtmusik barock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In Berlin on Sunday for a rather unusual concert at <a href="http://www.radialsystem.de/rebrush/index.php" target="_blank">RadialSystem V</a> - a performance space near the Ostbahnhof. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8dG3sK3ElBEbJx-wO01QgP-v60RGInX1V00LeRrp1LQv20yWvI7Ni5mxlsThzKLzpdfFj1tA-J4OsFA1JJtCONsq4iYR9U4tc4kPisRJV41XpT2JYHE8oAAsN3SZd5DDKjJXzU20bSw/s1600/radialsystemv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8dG3sK3ElBEbJx-wO01QgP-v60RGInX1V00LeRrp1LQv20yWvI7Ni5mxlsThzKLzpdfFj1tA-J4OsFA1JJtCONsq4iYR9U4tc4kPisRJV41XpT2JYHE8oAAsN3SZd5DDKjJXzU20bSw/s400/radialsystemv.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RadialSystem V from the river during the day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The concept behind the concert - "Nachtmusik barock" - is that you listen to lovely baroque music late at night in a relaxed state, this being achieved by taking your shoes off and lying on yoga mats, with your head on a soft and squashy pillow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzj53_xTpB2UcYFNNIrmcEFPOb7xtu5sjqtOeGDhh1aBjaFFX4U-3JOEgw0XRJm7irBPB5q2VbaQBSLNFjZ14PHji4yajcx1l_h4F4SqoqXNOa2AJe1rQldBi8NoLwWt8xm77AzyfPowQ/s1600/radial1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzj53_xTpB2UcYFNNIrmcEFPOb7xtu5sjqtOeGDhh1aBjaFFX4U-3JOEgw0XRJm7irBPB5q2VbaQBSLNFjZ14PHji4yajcx1l_h4F4SqoqXNOa2AJe1rQldBi8NoLwWt8xm77AzyfPowQ/s400/radial1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sitting up from our yoga mats to clap at the end of the concert</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The musicians were Ensemble Hippocampus (violin, viola da Gamba, and harpsichord) and they played a variety of music by Bach and composers who had influenced him including Froberger, Krieger, Schenck, and Biber. The violinist, Kerstin Linder-Dewan, spoke before the concert about Bach and his times. Fortunately her German was simple enough for me mostly to understand.<br />
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My favourite part of the concert was the <i>Chaconne for Gamba and Harpsichord </i> by Schenck during which I completely drifted off into a trance like state.<br />
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Getting back to Charlottenburg in the snow after the concert woke me up again quite quickly.<br />
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<br />Richard in Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06622647185527708298noreply@blogger.com0