You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2007.
Last night I was lucky enough to see in Southampton Peter Brook’s production from the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord of five Beckett shorts. Catch it if you possibly can. Brook and Beckett is an irresistible combination and the acting is extraordinary. For example Brook and the wonderful Kathryn Hunter effectively recreate Rockaby in a manner you won’t have seen before to mesmerising effect (for one thing because Brook appears to have been given much more licence with Beckett’s stage directions than other contemporary directors, although that’s only part of the reason).
Neither is also part of the bill. But poem only (which does stand on its own), without Feldman’s score. Which means part of the experience is a work lasting 5 minutes rather than 55…
Until Wednesday you can catch here a fabulous Prom given by Simon Rattle and the CBSO in 1984. I grew up in Birmingham in the early 1980s when Rattle had just taken the helm and unsurprisingly have many many happy memories. It’s great to hear a concert like this and receive the confirmation that for once one is not casting back to a golden era that never quite took place.
It was around this time, perhaps it was even after this Prom, that I really remember the national and international focus that Rattle’s leadership created. The Chicago Symphony were due and I vividly recall Paul Griffiths in The Times making serious comparisons with the respective string sections.
My own fondest memory is of an earlier concert in the Town Hall when Rattle conducted one of the earliest UK performances of Lutoslawski’s Concert for Oboe and Harp with Heinz and Ursula Holliger. After the interval there was an incandescent performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, which must have been one of the very earliest times Rattle had conducted any Beethoven. The Holligers both came and sat in the auditorium and were as gripped as the rest of the audience that night.
On a more recent note, do get hold of Rattle’s new Haydn Symphonies disc if you can. It’s one of the best recordings he has ever made.
In case you haven’t heard by now The New Republic have just published a long review by Richard Taruskin of a number of books lamenting the ‘death of Classical Music’. I think he’s mostly spot on and often very funny to boot. Taruskin watchers will now what to expect. I love the exaggerations and hyperbolic language without which no piece by Taruskin would be complete. So the Joshua Bell busking on the subway experiment was ‘disgusting’, Norman Lebrecht is ’sloppy’ (hey – that’s no exaggeration!) etc. Amusingly he at one stage of the article picks himself up for his choice of ‘diction’.
It’s been interesting to see the reaction of bloggers. I particularly like the outrage shown here at the one book on the subject Taruskin does admire (which of course he is not officially reviewing).
Do read it. All credit to TNR for putting the whole thing online. Yes it is long (although it comfortably fitted my hour long commute to London) but by no means impenetrable as some have implied.
Radio 4 is celebrating the 70th birthday of Alan Howard, one of our greatest actors (less well known internationally than Ian McKellen or Patrick Stewart but arguably a greater Shakespearean than either) by having commissioned 5 eminent writers to produce a short story for him to read. The first four are available now on the BBC Radio Player and well worth a listen.
Just noticed that some ECM CDs are appearing on the iTunes UK store. Some good back catalogue representation for artists like Jan Garbarek and Keith Jarrett (both his jazz and classical discs including his underrated Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues) and some new CDs. The new Silvestrov disc, Bagatellen is there, which I’ve played a lot since its release.
I’ve been fascinated by the Booker ever since I was old enough to read so called adult books. The first year I really remember was I think 1977 when Staying On was a worthy winner. It has stood the test of time. Since then I’ve been variously baffled, exhilarated and exasperated by the outcomes, enough to prove the very obvious point that there is no circumventing the subjective when it comes to contemporary literary taste.
Having read the shortlisted books and a lot of other eligible novels this year, I suppose I feel all three emotions again. Exhilarated by three of the books on the list: Darkmans, The Gathering and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Of these fine books my own favoutite is Darkmans, which is the sort of truly sensational book that only comes round every few years and if there is any justice should see Nicola Barker recognised as a truly immense talent.
Baffled by Animal’s People. I liked parts of this book. Variously funny and moving but as a whole it just didn’t quite add up for me and I came away feeling curiously unengaged.
Exasperated by both On Chesil Beach and Mister Pip. The first of these in my view and like Saturday represents McEwan at some way below his considerable best. I suppose the only other book of his apart from those too I feel the same about is Amsterdam. Which er.. won the Booker Prize. Exasperated and baffled then.
As for Mister Pip. Words almost fail me. Twee, sentimental, hugely flawed technically. What, as the sports commentators say, were they thinking of?
I’d take half the shortlist then and replace it with three other excellent novels from 2007. Between Each Breath, Men in Space and Diary of a Bad Year, all of which I’ve written about previously. Then I would be truly content. Happy with whichever book won, although even in this reinforced field the Barker book still stands out for me.
Roll on Tuesday. I have a wry smile ready for when Lloyd Jones is declared the winner.
* Bruce Springsteen: Magic
Enjoyable although has a feeling of being padded out to album length but some great songs (Radio Nowhere, Magic)
*Manchicourt: Missa Cuidez Vous Que Dieu (Brabant Ensemble – Hyperion)
* Gombert: Tribulatio Et Angustia (as above)
Newish ensemble singing rare repertoire. The polyphony is ravishing and precise but the singing of the plainchant is unduly rigid and accordingly strikes one as non liturgical and therefore distracting.
*Pletnev: Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 3 (DG)
Sensational playing if not exactly following every performance direction in the score. I’ve heard others say it won’t stand up to repeated listening. It does for me.
*Uchida: Beethoven Piano Sonatas (Phillips) (First 2 CDs of cycle)
Comparatively little attention has been given to these discs compared with the Schiff and Lewis cycles, which is a shame. Whilst being a huge admirer of Lewis I would not want to be without Uchida’s abundant musicianship here.
Just to go back to my earlier post. Things have moved on a bit in the world of classical music downloads and there are a variety of sites worth looking at for those living in the UK.
The best of these to my mind remains eMusic, especially now that a substantial amount of the Harmonia Mundi back catalogue and new releases seem to be available.
Of the record companies, I visit the Chandos site occasionally but the process of downloading music surely wins the prize for worst user experience of the year.
It’s good that NMC and Onyx releases are pretty well all available.
And yes, Apple’s iTunes Plus for EMI recordings is a step in the right direction. Was it my imagination or do Rattle’s recent brilliant Haydn Symphonies sound even better given a higher bit rate.
I can’t understand why Hyperion don’t do more than offer a selection of DRM protected recordings via iTunes though. Given their catalogue and constant critical acclaim they would clean up I’m sure if they provided a wider library of higher quality DRM free offerings.
Incidentally my favourite user interface for downloading music remains Bleep. Not much classical there but some great music nevertheless. Take the Warp catalogue for example…
Duly ordered my discbox from a very fast, simple and responsive site. Wondered what it will be like on October 10th. Idly looked in Netcraft to see the robust open source infrastructure the site was running on. Not many clues. Anyway, roll on Wednesday.
I recommend Alex Ross’s Radiohead playlist by the way. In fact I pretty well recommend everything he writes.
There’s a more than slightly stilted post on Techcrunch today about DRM freeness, which I agree is a really welcome trend in 2007. Fantastic move by Radiohead, although my immediate reaction is to think this is yet another reason to purchase a turntable for when the boxed set arrives.
