Tag Archives: Schoenberg

Breaking Free

I was one of those who were concerned about the ‘dumbing down’ of Radio 3. (My personal pet hate being the long life stories of listeners that are phoned in during the morning drivetime slot. I’m just not interested in … Continue reading

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30 years of the Bath Camerata

I dashed back from Gloucester on the train to get to the Bath Camerata’s 30th birthday concert in the Pump Room. Ten years ago the 20th birthday was celebrated at a Good Friday concert which I sang in. This time … Continue reading

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Schön and Schoenberg

The cinecasts from the Metropolitan Opera have moved beyond the safer options into more daring repertoire, and I made sure to catch the transmission of their new production of Lulu. Lothar Koenigs from WNO replaced James Levine as conductor. The … Continue reading

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Hier ist Friede

If I want a fix of Second Viennese School round here, I’m most likely to get it over at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford. Over the years I’ve heard several performances, most recently from the Britten Sinfonia, who are … Continue reading

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2014 and 2015’s resolutions

2014 certainly had some very high points – comparable to if not better than the annus mirabilis of 2007. These include, in approximately chronological order: singing Messiah in Bombay and Goa with the South West Festival Chorus performing the Glagolitic … Continue reading

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Trwy’r anialwch

One of the most famous poetic evocations of the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness is in Welsh (look in your hymnbook). So it seemed appropriate to see Moses und Aron in Cardiff, complete with Welsh surtitles. Really though I was … Continue reading

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Prom 66: Mahler’s 11th

One of my great regrets with regard to singing came back in 2002 when I was for a short time in the Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) chorus. Members were invited to join a performance of Mahler 8 later that … Continue reading

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the LSO Chamber Ensemble

The day after my trip to the South Bank, I was back in Bath to hear Nikolaij Znaider and the LSO Chamber Ensemble play two string sextets: Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Brahms’ first sextet. I heard the Schoenberg when it … Continue reading

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100 years of atonality

After the centenary celebrations for Messiaen and Elliot Carter, another centenary has passed unremarked: that of the first performance of Schoenberg’s second string quartet, which fell today. Surely a notable date in musical history, and worth commemorating unless you reject … Continue reading

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Prom 45

I went with my daughter to this Prom (BBCSO conducted by Knussen) and I think we chose well. We enjoyed Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces the most. I don’t know these as well as I should; they’re a bit less in-your-face … Continue reading

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