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Arts in residence Great Music in Wonderful Surroundings with Arts in Residence
A Rare opportunity: The University of Warwick Orchestra will be performing Rawsthorne's 'Street Corner Overture' and Alwyn's Symphony No 3 in a concert which also features Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast', on Tuesday 4 December 2001 in the Butterworth Hall, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. Box Office 02476 524524
Try this site if you surf during your lunchbreak
NEW and RECENT ARTICLES
Malcolm Arnold's 80th Birthday Celebrations
"Music Maketh Malcolm" by Paul Serotsky
Malcolm Arnold: The Scottish Dances by John FranceENCYCLOPAEDIA of Popular Music now on-line (nearly 4000 pages)
DICTIONARY of Classical composers now complete
WORDS, MUSIC AND COMPUTERS by Peter Grahame WoolfKenneth Hesketh in interview with Christopher Thomas
THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC Reflections of a music publisher by Ernst Roth
Contemporary British Music (1945-1970) by Francis Routh complete on-line book
Diatribes and Digressions:
Musings on Carmen by David Dyer
If you enjoy the sort of articles Arthur Butterworth and others write and feel you would like to write one yourself I would be willing to open a Public Forum where they could be presented. email Len
On-Line help sites: How do I do this, Where do I find this. Some free, some not
Did you know you could help sponsor a new recording for as little as £10 - a symphony for £25? Read on such as this one now reviewed here: GRAHAM WHETTAM Sinfonia Intrepida
BBCSO/Sir Charles Mackerras.
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HOFFNUNG for CHRISTMAS? an ideal Christmas present for yourself or your friends The Hoffnung little books
The Maestro, Symphony Orchestra, Music Festival,Companion to Music, Musical Chairs, AcousticsGet SIX for the price of FIVE
£7.69 each or 6 books £36 .79 incl P&PRecording of the Hoffnung Music Festivals: CDs
The Hoffnung Music Festival Concert 1956,The Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival 1958,The Hoffnung Astronautical Music Festival 1961A Last Encore cassette
BBC recordings of Speech Day, Oxford Union, December 1958 "Life begins at 38" with the famous Bricklayer story and the hotelier offering French widows in every bedroom.If you wish to flip between this page and the latest reviews use the button marked "Return to previous page" to get back to here
LATEST CD REVIEWS (last two days)
There were over 150 CDs reviewed for November. You can find these in the alphabetical index. [Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc]
BOOK REVIEW
ARNOLD BAX IDEALA: The Love Letters and Poems of Arnold BAX edited by Colin Scott-Sutherland Fand Music Press published September 2001 ISBN 0-9535125-3-3 320pp hardback [RB]
This is a prominent landmark in the Bax literature and another magus-key to one window into Bax's musical legacy: a magic casement indeed.
A CHRONICLE OF FIRST BROADCAST PERFORMANCES OF MUSICAL WORKS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1923-1996 Edited by Alastair Mitchell and Alan Poulton Ashgate 798 pp 9 illus. Published 2001 £75 ISBN 1 85928 239 3
Priced at £75, it is probably destined for the shelf of a public library, and regrettably only the major ones these days, but it is nevertheless a fascinating book to dip into, especially if you might be looking for ideas for concert programming.
SCORE REVIEWS
RECORDINGS OF THE MONTH
Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Orchestral Works, Volume 1 Enter Spring, Isabella, Two Poems for Orchestra, Mid of the Night (premiere recording)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox Rec 26-27 November 2000, Brangwyn Hall Swansea
With excellent sound, and repertoire which includes a real masterpiece and other music of much interest, this CD makes a compelling beginning to Chandos's new cycle of the orchestral works of this splendid British composer.
Antonio VIVALDI (1678 - 1741) Juditha triumphans 1716.
Recording in October 2000, Instituto de Musica Antica Adademia Montis Regalis, Mondovi, Italy.This flair for orchestration plus charging this oratorio with high drama makes this one of Vivaldi's undisputed masterpieces. It is not without reason that the record label, Opus 111, has chosen this work to lead off their announced project to record the entire works of this composer.
MIRRORS - SONGS BY CONTEMPORARY SWEDISH COMPOSERS
Jonas FORSSELL (b.1957) Hans GEFORS (b.1952) Kjell PERDER(b. 1954) [full track listing at foot of review)I cannot speak too highly of the whole enterprise. Don't let this be a CD that slips you by. A very remarkable recital by a remarkable singer.
BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
ESPAÑA ANTIGUA CD1 CANSÓS DE TROBAIRITZ, CD2 LLIBRE VERMELL DE MONTSERRAT, CD3 COURT MUSIC AND SONGS, CD4 SEPHARDIC ROMANCES, CD5 RENAISSANCE MUSIC FROM THE NEAPOLITAN COURT, CD6 ANTONIO DE CABEZÓN 1510-1566, CD7 CANCIONES Y DANZAS DE ESPAÑA (1547-1616),CD8 EL BARROCO ESPAÑOL
This is a beautiful set, containing 8 discs of masterpieces performed perfectly. I don't have enough superlatives to truly describe it, and, at such a low price (less than the cost of 2 full-priced CDs), there is no excuse if you don't go out and buy this right away.
Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809) Piano Sonatas complete
Not only are the performances by all the pianists very good, but the sound puts the instruments in a very flattering context. If you like Haydn's piano sonatas, you owe yourself to buy this set - it will certainly change the way you consider these works.
Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony No.4 in G major (1899-1900)
This is a leading recommendation for this symphony, now widely available in good sound at last.
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Lieder (7 CDs) Great Schubert Singers Die Schöne Mullerin [61.47] Peter Schreier, tenor; Walter Olbertz, piano Die Winterreise [76.26] Robert Holl, bass-baritone; Naum Grubert, piano Schwanengesang [51.38] John Shirley-Quirk, baritone; Steuart Bedford, piano 15 Lieder [56.26] Gundula Janowitz, soprano; Charles Spencer, piano Goethe-lieder [54.48] Arleen Augér, soprano; Walter Olbertz, piano 19 Lieder [74.05] Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano; Roger Vignoles, piano 16 Lieder [54.48] Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Hartmut Höll, piano Detailed contents listed at end of review Rec: 1974, 1995, 1977, 1989, 1978, 1989, 1987.
All in all, this bargain set is a wonderful collection of recordings of Schubert's lieder. As an introduction, it will allow you to discover seven of the finest singers of this music.
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Tristan & Isolde (1865)
Listening to this performance again, in this beautifully remastered version, it is difficult to argue with history. Despite wonderful performances from Böhm, Karajan, Knappertsbusch and both Kleibers the Furtwängler holds its own as one of the supreme achievements of the Gramophone.
[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc]
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