Monthly Archives: May 2010

the Navarra quartet in Chew Magna

The late Miles Kington once passed an observation made to him that many Somerset village names could be those of lawyers from American TV mini-series. I can’t however imagine a lawyer called Chew Magna, one of my favourites, where I … Continue reading

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LPs: batch 18 – a tasteless sleeve

This batch was largely orchestral music again. It started with an old LP of mine: James Galway ‘The Man with the Golden Flute’ playing assorted pieces which showcase the instrument. One track is a bit notorious: a Moto Perpetuo by … Continue reading

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merging recordings

In my endeavours to put our LPs onto CD I am very much aware that while a typical LP lasts some 50-55 minutes, the CDs I’m using can hold 80 minutes of music. It should therefore be possible to fit … Continue reading

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LPs: batch 17 – carols and folk poetry

Half of this batch was the rest of the 9-CD Arrau/Chopin box. After the great wodge of Chopin I moved on to Stephen Bishop Kovacevich (as he then was) playing Beethoven’s third piano concerto with Colin Davis and the BBC … Continue reading

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LPs: batch 16 – Chopin on election night

This batch began with Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony with Rattle and the Philharmonia. It was now election night and I interspersed checking on the progress of the election results with recording the single largest item in our LP collection: a nine-LP … Continue reading

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a missed anniversary concert

I was prevented by illness from joining the Erleigh Cantors for their 20th anniversary concert. So I can’t write about the concert itself but I had rehearsed the programme with the other singers and at home which allows me to … Continue reading

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LPs: batch 15 – halfway with psychedelic Popp

Back to a mixed bag. The first two were Hungarotons of the Takacz quartet and a friend playing string quintets by Mozart. Then orchestrations of Brahms’ Hungarian Dances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and a further inroad into Schubert: the … Continue reading

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LPs: batch 14 – Beethoven symphonies

This is a simple batch to describe as it consisted of a trawl through Beethoven’s symphonies. We have two recordings of the Eroica one of which (Sanderling and the Philharmonia) is about half as long again as the other (Karajan … Continue reading

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In the stalls at the Lord Mayor’s Chapel

I finally achieved my ambition of sitting in these, sadly not for a service, but as part of the audience at a talk given to a meeting of the Friends of Cathedral Music in Bristol. It came after a concert … Continue reading

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Carmen at the Hippodrome

My daughter and I went to WNO’s Carmen at the Bristol Hippodrome – her first visit to an opera performance. The theatre was full (which caused some rather noisy air-conditioning to be turned on in the second act) and she … Continue reading

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