The Classical Music Guide Forums

barney

I don't like any kind of government boondoggles that try to enforce conformity of speech, behaviour or anything else that impinges on individual liberty. I am not across the religious issues because I'm not part of a particular denomination to any serious extent; I'd call myself more of a 'cultural...

barney

The concept of a religious discrimination commissioner is worrying from a number of aspects, especially a freedom of speech perspective. This is possibly the first step in a process to restrict what the general public may think and say. We already have extensive libel and slander laws in Australia ...

barney

Well Sue, I am pleased for your son and you, and many friends who voted Liberal. I voted Labor, because I thought they had a vision for the country - which the people at large rejected, as is their right - which was more positive. Morrison's campaign was relentlessly negative - 'the Bill you can't a...

barney

It looks a treasure, Lance.

barney

I asked a conductor friend whether the opera had any merit, and he didn't know. I've never heard it, and like you know very little of Dreyfus' music. I don't feel this is a lack in my life.

barney

He seemed stubborn rather than aggressive - quite implacable. I was in Row N, about 13 rows back, and while he raised his voice it was declamatory rather than angry. He certainly has a chip on his shoulder, as your link points out. When the opera did begin, it was outstanding - it's the venerable El...

barney

Thanks for that explanation. It's always interesting to learn how others weigh up the various characteristics and priorities.

barney

Actually, I was in the audience! It was the opening night of Opera Australia's Melbourne autumn season. Dreyfus senior was in the very front row, with an electronic megaphone he couldn't make work. The ushers weren't game to touch him - probably rightly, as he is 91 and very frail - so had to wait f...

barney

I should be honest and point out that the SMH review was by me. Did you really like the D960, Rach 3? What did you like about it? I found some phrasing delicious, but the overall conception incoherent and missing the magic. Maestrob and I agree about Kempff, whom I cited in the review. I have 33 per...

barney

A minor memory. My father was assistant conductor when The Australian Ballet toured Canada, the US and South America in 1967. At the time I was collecting those small books of matches that companies, cafes and tourist places etc used to produce as a means of marketing and promotion. My father mentio...

barney

another review, in the Sydney Morning Herald Khatia Buniatishvili's Schubert-playing is revolutionary, and I can't decide whether it is courageous or utterly self-indulgent. The brilliant young Georgian pianist reminds me of Glenn Gould's Beethoven, where his highly idiosyncratic approach brought ...

barney

So it's today Belle. All the very best with it.

barney

Fascinating article. Thanks for posting it.

barney

Belle wrote: ↑
Sat May 04, 2019 5:16 pm
Thanks for your good wishes. The pressure is ramping up because my program is this Thursday.

Ah plenty of time. You will doubtless start preparing on Wednesday afternoon? Or don't prepare any comments, just questions, leaving the work to the audience...

barney

That Baker-Cotrubas-Bopwman-Cuenod-Leppard Calisto has just been re-released on the ultra-budget Australian label Decca Eloquence. It is sitting on my desk still in its cellophane. Also released was L'Ormindo,another Cavalli opera, also conducted by Leppard.

barney

Excellent anecdote. I did have that recording of which you speak on LP - but it was discarded when warped (along with many others) after being left in the car in the summer heat when we moved out of Sydney in November, 1979. Just over 3 years later along came CDs so I was able to resume talking to ...

barney

Didn't Andreas become principal clarinet of the BPO at 21? Even now, he's barely 30. I really enjoyed his collaboration with Wang. He's just been to Australia, but only to the "minor" cities of Perth and Adelaide for some reason.

barney

In Melbourne, another factor is that the concert-going population is increasingly elderly. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which usually does three concerts of each program has either Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, or Friday and Saturday nights (8pm) and 6.30pm on Mondays. My subscription i...

barney

Thanks, you are too kind. The Lugansky was a real highlight - superb performance by all forces and the hall, the Rudolphinum, is remarkable too. The conductor was Tomas Netopil, a new name to me, but very fine on the podium. Energetic but also sensitive and delicate as required. The wonderful openin...

barney

My wife and I are about an hour back from a month in Europe, one of the great highlights of which was Lugansky doing Beethoven 4 with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague. Amazing!

barney

I'm definitely a procrastinator when there's something important that has to be done. It's probably from fear of possibly screwing it up - though of course the chances of that are likely to increase as the amount of time decreases. Except perhaps if you're Mozart. As a journalist, deadlines have be...

barney

Absolutely. I look forward to following her up.

barney

Not composers but conductors: very interesting rticle about how women conductors are smashing the glass ceiling.

http://standpointmag.co.uk/music-norman ... 9a8131f7be

barney

Janacek is not performed nearly often enough. I've had the opportunity in Australia to see only two that I am aware of, both of which I took: Jenufa in 1998 and the Cunning Little Vixen in 2017. The latter had the same impact on me that you describe. I thought it was wonderful, rushed out and bought...

barney

But Barney, isn't that the point of "all female" collections, to feature a group that has been systematically ignored, regardless of merit? In favor of systematically favoring another group, also regardless of merit. "Based on merit" just hasn't happened yet. Collections like this are a way of nudg...

barney

The Australian Broadcasting Company has just released a double CD of Australian women composers: Miriam Hyde, Dulcie Holland, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Margaret Sutherland and another 8 or so. I have it, but have not opened it yet. I know I am an entitled white male who is patriarchal, colonialist, het...

barney

Good choice, Brian. I really enjoyed this one, mainly for the clarinettist, but Yuja Wang brings a lot too.

barney

PS: I had no idea that Mozart employed 40 violins. That is really interesting, thank you. But it doesn't mean he would always want 40 violins in each orchestral work. For example, it would really hamper the piano concerti on fortepiano. And the wind! Did he double the winds? Mozart himself did not ...

barney

Ottensamer is a brilliant clarinetist. Still not 30, he has been principal at the Berlin Phil for 8 years. This is a really fine CD.

barney

PS: I had no idea that Mozart employed 40 violins. That is really interesting, thank you. But it doesn't mean he would always want 40 violins in each orchestral work. For example, it would really hamper the piano concerti on fortepiano. And the wind! Did he double the winds?

barney

This discussion just confirms for me what the rest of you already know: I'm an imbecile. As I read each comment, I think "that seems pretty fair". And you can't all be right - or can you? In one sense you certainly can: you can each present accurately your own opinion. Actually, I think Maestrob sai...

barney

It says premiered April 5 2019. Have you added time-travel to your many skills, Len?

barney

The strike continues. More evidence of American philistinism: Trump's Budget Plan Cuts Funding For Arts, Humanities And Public Media Brian Naylor March 19, 2019 President Trump's proposed budget calls for big cuts in a wide array of domestic programs — among them, agencies that fund the arts, human...

barney

I'm pretty well informed about today's composers and musicians and their work, and have heard quite a few of them in person. The thing is that unlike some others here, I'm also familiar with performers and performances over the last 60 years or so, and recordings covering more than a century. From ...

barney

it was the Gramophone Recording of the Year for 2018. In other words, the critics heard nothing better all year. They can't all be as dumb as me. Of course they can, even dumber. :) As for it's being the Gramophone's recording of the year, even if we agreed to that it wouldn't signify much, conside...

barney

it was the Gramophone Recording of the Year for 2018. In other words, the critics heard nothing better all year. They can't all be as dumb as me. Of course they can, even dumber. :) As for it's being the Gramophone's recording of the year, even if we agreed to that it wouldn't signify much, conside...

barney

"Les Troyens" in this set is anything but stellar. It's taken from concert performances in Strasbourg, conducted by John Nelson, and the only name artist in the cast is Joyce DiDonato as Didon. Other principles are Michael Spyres as Énée and Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Cassandre. Nelson conducted "Troy...

barney

Didn't I see above that the CSO rank and file are on $160,000 a year? That's a heck of a lot more than rank and file musicians in Australian orchestras, and should be a living wage. Arts support in Australia is negligible. Top tickets for Opera Australia are $300, and the company plays 11 months a y...

barney

One example from the first season of "Die Walküre," which had Bryn Terfel as Wotan and Deborah Voigt as Brünnhilde. In Act 2, Wotan's long monologue confides to his daughter, who is his alter ego, how things have gone so badly that he will have to sacrifice his son's life. This is one of the key sc...

barney

maestrob wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:14 pm
Barney! What a good memory you have.....

Thank you Brian. Just part of my general genius!
Actually, the first 6 CDs in my catalogue.

barney

lennygoran wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:42 pm

John F wrote: ↑
Sat Mar 09, 2019 8:26 am
That's just silly. All this is about getting money for La Scala, nothing more high-minded than that.
Wonder if Jared Corey Kushner is invilved! Regards, Len

Well observed Len. Of course he is! The silent middle man, via Russia.

barney

I have everything Kleiber junior ever recorded for labels now owned by Universal. Yes, disappointly few, Sue. I bought my first CD player on November 27, 1987 - I know that because I bought my first six CDs from the same shop the same day. I'm pleased to say the same shop is still thriving. 1. J.S. ...

barney

I did love that Morecambe and Wise Grieg piano concerto - watched it twice! Sadly, didn't get to the part where the banjos have to play quietly.
Thanks.

barney

Din Giovanni. How utterly wonderful! My opera-rejecting children would agree.

barney

The protagonist was sung by John Packard who was a semi-finalist in my competition. Brian don't remember Packard-only Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen-my memory is shot. Regards, Len We'll also be seeing this while down there: SCALIA/GINSBURG, composer Derrick Wang's comedy about the unlikely friends...

barney

My question was pertaining to the individual boxed sets of the "Century Editions" were all included in the big 91-CD set. There were FIVE individual boxed sets within the LP-sized box and were the same periods sold separately for those who did not want- or could not afford to have the jumbo set. I ...

barney

Belle wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 21, 2019 4:44 pm

barney wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 21, 2019 3:19 pm
so what was the question?
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them.

Very quick, Sue.
All threats over for now?

barney

so what was the question?

barney

I've been impressed by Yundi Li.
Both Lang Lang and Yuja Wang are highly gifted musicians, and I have enjoyed live concerts by both, whereas I haven't heard Li live. But a couple of CDs are impressive.

barney

I'm not going to bet against you on that.
Which oratorios have you most enjoyed so far? To my shame, I know only a few of them.

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