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I’m moving jobs at the end of the week and had a wonderful farewell party last night. One of the very generous gifts I received was The Bob Dylan Encylopedia. Its by the estimable Michael Gray, author of the superb Song and Dance Man III.
I got home late and sat down to browse with my tea. 30 mins later I had not touched my food and had to revive it thanks to how engrossing and addictive it is. Gray is a superb critic with superb taste and writes so well. The book comes with a complete text in PDF format on a CD too, which is great.
Gray also has an interesting blog here.
This is the DVD of the hugely in demand Salzburg Festival production from last year. Hugely popular because of the starry cast: . The reviews of both CD and DVD have been universally sniffy. There is a particularly curious one from Alan Blyth in September’s Gramophone which simply didn’t accord with my experience at all. In short: you have to see this. Willy Decker’s interpretation is the most thoughtful, intelligent and innovative staging of the piece to be put forward in a long while. La Traviata as Greek tragedy? La Traviata as horrific personal nightmare? La Traviata as claustrophobic Strindbergian chamber piece? You have to see this. And musically! Netrebko is a moving, deeply affecting Violetta. Villazón is perfect as the tormented, racked Alfredo and acts well.. Rizzi’s direction of the Wiener Philharmoniker exemplary. And yes, the CDs stand up very well as a musical achievement in their own right. I can’t remember that last time I was so enthralled by a Verdi production.
