Tag Archives: Mahler

a workshop on The Eighth

Four years on from Berlioz, the South Cotswold Big Sing Group is reconvening, this time to perform Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Sadly, the advance workshop in Gloucester was all I’m going to get of this, as I’m not free to sing … Continue reading

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Mahler meets Mr Profile

The recent work on our church organ was shown off in an inaugural recital by David Briggs, who also performed on it after a major rebuild a few years ago. The first part consisted of the well-known Toccata and fugue … Continue reading

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my top 10 big choral works

January is always a quiet month for performance (although I have one new venture I’ll write about fairly soon) so time to write some more general posts I’ve been saving up for a while. Singing Mahler 2 near the end … Continue reading

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the asbestos symphony

The texts of Mahler’s 8th Symphony can be problematic. How do the two parts fit together? And can one take Part II at all seriously in an age when gender differences are played down? A further potential problem with Mahler’s … Continue reading

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taking part in Prom 11

I’ve often been told of great occasions Bristol Choral Society members have taken part in before I joined, such as a Prom performance of the Gothic Symphony. Without a doubt joining the BBC National Chorus of Wales (and the BBC … Continue reading

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the harpsichord playing of my dreams

I didn’t want to miss the Bath Bachfest lunchtime recital of Mahan Esfahani and Michala Petri, either of whom would be a draw on their own. They came to the Guildhall with a programme of music by Handel, Bach, Telemann, … Continue reading

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Cheerful Mahler: dodging cymbals in the 2nd Symphony

I’ve almost lost count of the times I’ve passed up opportunities to sing Mahler 2. When I first came to Bath I was invited (via the Chantry Singers) to sing it in the Bath Phil’s Mahler cycle, but I declined … Continue reading

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Gloomy Mahler (2) – Kindertotenlieder

The Bath Philharmonia and Jason Thornton brought Mahler back to St Swithin’s Church. For the conductor, Jason Thornton, this marked the point at which he had conducted all of Mahler’s orchestral works We had Mahler’s orchestration for strings of the … Continue reading

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Gloomy Mahler (1): Prom 72

I happened to have a ticket to London on the day the Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Harding were performing Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Just that – the need to fit a 2-hour concert later in the evening meant that even with … Continue reading

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what’s top of the bucket list now?

Like many singers I have a ‘bucket list’ of the works I would like to sing and have never done. For as far back as I can remember until 2008, the work at the top of it was Bach’s B … Continue reading

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