Archive for September, 2010
Frans Brüggen
Posted in Music with tags frans brüggen, telemann, treble recorder, youtube on September 28, 2010 by Robin GosnallBritish Cheese Week
Posted in Food with tags british cheese board, british cheese week, cheese, independent, lancashire, manchester, matilda battersby, mrs kirkham’s, piccadilly on September 27, 2010 by Robin GosnallI would find a life without cheese barely worth living I think.
I spent a few mouth-watering moments at the stall of Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheeses in Piccadilly, Manchester at the weekend, and now Matilda Battersby (what a fantastic name) of the Independent reminds me that it is British Cheese Week.
Visit the British Cheese Board (ha!) website for more cheesy information and recipes.
Brown Bread: Geoffrey Burgon
Posted in Music, Obituaries with tags brideshead revisited, composers, films, geoffrey burgon, itv, john le carré, monty python, nunc dimittis, terry jones, tinker tailor soldier spy, tv on September 23, 2010 by Robin GosnallFormer Python Terry Jones has written the composer’s obituary in the Grauniad.
Ever since John le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor” used Geoffrey Burgon’s Nunc Dimittis to introduce each episode I have loved this piece of music.
He also wrote the very attractive theme music for the ITV production of Brideshead Revisited. I have a tape of it somewhere – if I can just find something to play it on …
Good grief! I have just stumbled upon an EMI CD of Burgon’s vocal music recorded in 1988, featuring James Bowman, Charles Brett and the City of London Sinfonia under the late Richard Hickox. Completely forgot I had this!
Ashamed to say that I haven’t played it in years – I really must give it a try.
R.I.P. Geoffrey Burgon, composer, born 15 July 1941; died 21 September 2010
Save the Arts
Posted in Culture with tags government, petition, save the arts on September 14, 2010 by Robin GosnallDon’t let the new government risk destroying our vibrant arts culture!
100,000 signature are needed – don’t sit back and wait, do it NOW!
Paul Lewis
Posted in Music with tags 1970s, alfred brendel, daily telegraph, ivan hewett, john denver, liverpool, music libraries, paul lewis, pianists, piano, piano lessons, record collections, recordings, records, school, wilhelm kempf on September 13, 2010 by Robin GosnallWith no piano lessons on offer at school and only John Denver records at home, it was against the odds that Paul Lewis rose to become our finest young pianist. He tells Ivan Hewett of the Daily Telegraph how it happened.
So how did he get into music? “Well, I grew up in Liverpool, and in the Seventies there were still proper public music libraries with big record collections. We had one just round the corner, and I spent most of my life there, picking out the piano records. I really loved Wilhelm Kempf and also Alfred Brendel.”
Royal Opera Japan tour diary
Posted in Music with tags anna netrebko, covent garden, japan, la traviata, led zeppelin, opera, royal opera house, singers, tour, uk, yokohama on September 13, 2010 by Robin GosnallNicholas Wroe joins “Britain’s best opera company” as it begins a whistlestop Asian tour. “It’s not quite rock ’n’ roll – but nearly,” he writes:
While the tour is not quite analogous to, say, Led Zeppelin’s jaunt round the US in 1972, it does have its moments. In a what might be an exquisite extended joke – or maybe because it’s the closest bar to the hotel – the company has chosen a tiny karaoke joint as its late-night meeting place of choice. No sightings of any professional singers in there so far, but to be honest they’re not much missed.
Everyone from stage crew to company managers is in fine voice, banging out Carpenters, Tom Jones and Sex Pistols numbers. There is time yet for a pro to take them on, I suppose, but in the meantime it’s off to Yokohama for La Traviata.
Who knows, one day the Royal Opera may tour the UK.