Author Archives: vhk10

no more anachronistic absinthe

Posted on June 4, 2019 by vhk10

I haven’t been to the Royal Opera for a while, and took the opportunity to break my return journey from Cambridge to catch the opening night of the revival of their production of Andrea Chénier. The closing days of the … Continue reading →

Posted in going to operas | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shostakovich’s afternoon in Corpus

Posted on June 3, 2019 by vhk10

Still in Cambridge on the Monday, I had the Rare Books Room of the University Library almost to myself while I consulted back numbers of the Letter of the Corpus Association for information about Corpus chapel choir. I am trying … Continue reading →

Posted in choirs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Confirmation bias

Posted on June 2, 2019 by vhk10

A late-night series of trains got me to Cambridge from Reading a little after midnight, ready for my godson’s confirmation in King’s College Chapel on the Sunday morning, part of a group from King’s College School. The presiding Bishop was … Continue reading →

Posted in going to services | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

an Anglo-Spanish concert in Caversham

Posted on May 27, 2019 by vhk10

The Erleigh Cantors’ May concert this year reunited a number of pieces from recent Cathedral visits, by English and Spanish composers. It wasn’t all familiar territory to me, however. Having missed last July’s weekend in Hereford, I hadn’t previously sung … Continue reading →

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

in praise of …. Supraphon

Posted on May 7, 2019 by vhk10

Supraphon is generally agreed to have been the best of the labels originating behind the Iron Curtain. It is very well represented in the LP collection I’m putting on CD, and only partly because of the former owner’s devotion to … Continue reading →

Posted in recordings | Leave a comment

two Requiems in Winsley

Posted on April 28, 2019 by vhk10

This spring is a time for rediscovering Requiems that I haven’t sung in ages. First it was Mozart, now Howells, which I have only sung once before, in my Cambridge days. (There are other Requiems that have long awaited another … Continue reading →

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

one-recording ensembles

Posted on April 16, 2019 by vhk10

I’m slowly working my way through putting another collection of LPs on to CD. Most of them are by famous names, but there are a few recordings which seem to be the only ones, or almost so, made by those … Continue reading →

Posted in recordings | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

in praise of … the hire score

Posted on April 2, 2019 by vhk10

I have a rule of thumb that if it costs no more than twice as much to buy a score as to hire it, I’ll buy. (This seems to happen increasingly often.) There are advantages to singing from a score … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Leave a comment

A Badminton racket

Posted on March 29, 2019 by vhk10

The title was chosen for the sake of the pun, not because of the sort of noise I think we made! I sang at the funeral of a former assistant priest at a church in Bath, who had earlier been … Continue reading →

Posted in funeral | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

this blog’s first Mozart Requiem

Posted on March 21, 2019 by vhk10

It was gratifying to sing once again to a full Cathedral for Bristol Choral’s most recent concert. Our first half was a piece I’d never sung before: Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum. I recall this being quite popular on concert programmes … Continue reading →

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

a view of the marina

Posted on March 5, 2019 by vhk10

The song room at Christchurch Priory must have one of the nicest views of all: across to the inlet of the river Stour where there is a marina full of yachts. I’d never been to the Priory (or indeed the … Continue reading →

Posted in singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a coachload come to the Bachfest

Posted on February 25, 2019 by vhk10

Stile Antico’s concert at the 2019 Bach Festival in Bath was very well attended. I noticed a coach outside St Mary’s Church afterwards to take people away, and have learned that some local tour companies block-book at popular concerts. This … Continue reading →

Posted in going to concerts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment