Tag Archives: Mahler

LPs: batch 13 – Dvořák is too loud

There was a problem disc in this batch: Kertesz and the LSO playing Dvořák’s 8th symphony, which was recorded at a high level and registered as too loud when I played it in. Will need to re-do at a lower … Continue reading

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LPs batch 4: Hungaroton

This batch started with another Karajan disc, a stately recording of Mozart’s Requiem which I must have played many times, to judge by the crackles. I followed this with King’s College Choir singing Britten (Ceremony of Carols/Hymn to St Cecilia/Missa … Continue reading

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City of Dreams

I was back at the Royal Festival Hall on May 28th for another programme combining Berg and Mahler, in this case the Violin Concerto (with Christian Tetzlaff as soloist) and the Sixth Symphony, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. I last heard … Continue reading

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the work I’ve waited ten years to hear

A few years ago I took a ‘Which major work of Alban Berg are you?’ test*, and came out as the Chamber Concerto. I’m not sure this was very flattering, as the Chamber Concerto has the reputation of being the … Continue reading

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a service and a recital

On the Tuesday of my visit to New York, I felt in need of a reminder of the old country and went to a service of evensong at St. Thomas’ Fifth Avenue, a church known to me from BBC evensong … Continue reading

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scrolling Mahler

I was startled on loading a new CD into the player tonight to see the words ‘Mahler – Symphony no. 9’ scroll across the display on the front. Not because the CD wasn’t Mahler 9 – it’s the newly released … Continue reading

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Proms 30 and 33

On Thursday my husband and daughter went to Prom 30 (Gothenburg SO, Dudamel, Von Otter). This was my daughter’s first so she probably now thinks that they all begin with an hour of sorting out feedback noise. It was worth … Continue reading

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Composers in the British National Corpus

I have recently come across this intriguing graphical representation of the frequency of words in the British National Corpus, a corpus of spoken and written British English dating from the early 1990’s. As it includes proper names, I tried various … Continue reading

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which composer are you sitting on?

We’re buying a new sofa and found that several models in a local shop were named after composers. (We think that it may have been the same shop which used to have on sale – quite without irony – an … Continue reading

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things I’d like to sing (2)

A sequel to my earlier posting of anthems etc. I feel overdue for singing. Now for some of the larger scale works. In some cases the reason I haven’t done them is clear; I’ve been in small chamber choirs rather … Continue reading

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