About CMG's contributors!

[jbuck919]

Greetings to all !

I'm Clive. I'm English...haven't seen a great many countrymen in a quick scour of posts ! Is there anybody out there from ENGLAND ?
Member of a few Forums, and particularly keen on music from (Post-)Romantic till, well, anything where a non-expert can identify that it's definitely got a tune/rhythm/purpose and isn't just a billion monkeys let loose in the hope that one....!

Currently listening to Casella's Concerto Romano, attending a concert of Denisov, Shchedrin, Myaskovsky & Rachmaninov in London on Saturday, singing(and loving) Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Janacek Otcenas & Peeters Missa Festiva with my enlightened Choral Society, but still 'soppy' enough to be attending my umpteenth Vienna Boys' Choir concert next week in Birmingham.

Some idea of how I 'tick' musically there - anyone at all like minded, love to hear from you ! Thanks for reading.

Welcome to the Classical Music Guide! Once and a while I happen to be the one hanging around when a poster's name first appears, but I'm sure you will be heartily welcomed by other members whether they post so or not. Our frequent poster absinthe is English, and let me be embarrassed in advance if I have forgotten others. Mark Harwood is a Scotsman, we have several active Irish members, and Australia is well represented--so at least we are not failing to cover the English-speaking world.

Yeah, what's that about the Vienna Boys' Choir anyway? I only heard one of their concerts in my 20s and was underwhelmed by the road show.

Please post frequently and I look forward to reading them.

[Ricordanza]

Greetings to all !

I'm Clive. I'm English...haven't seen a great many countrymen in a quick scour of posts ! Is there anybody out there from ENGLAND ?

Welcome to CMG, Clive! I'm not from England...but my (late) father lived in England in his teen years and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, so I do feel a connection to that place across the pond.

attending a concert of Denisov, Shchedrin, Myaskovsky & Rachmaninov in London on Saturday

Sounds like an interesting program (although I must admit I've never heard of Denisov). Please be sure to give us a report in the Classical Concert Reviews forum.

[JacksButler]

Hello to everyone! Just joined here so thought I would introduce myself as requested. User name:
JacksButler. Name: John. Pictures of Jack can be seen here:
http://s1136.photobucket.com/user/jacks ... rue&page=1

Live in England, in Ely, north of Cambridge. Always loved music, playing the piano when I was five. Went to music college. Main loves are Baroque (Vivaldi and Handel more than Bach); Classical and some 20th music (especially Britten). One of my great passions is the music of Vaughan Williams, of which I now have about 90 "live" cds. I hardly ever buy studio recordings. I also love opera, mostly Bel Canto. My favourite composer of all is Beethoven. When you hear the Eroica, you understand, if only dimly, just why it caused such uproar. I don't think any other piece of music quite did that to the same extent (not even "L'apres-midi d'un faun" or "The Rite of Spring").

I'm in the process of buying scores as well, as I love to follow a work with the full score. My "live" cds go from Bach, via Bax and Bantock, to Vivaldi. I love to hear works that I know nothing about. So I have a live performance of Faure's last string quartet and quite ethereal it is too.

Enough said.................hope to get some discussions going soon. If anybody wants to chat on Yahoo Messenger my id there is: my_jack1

Cheers,
John & Jack.

[alan c. davis]

As I'm listed as the newest member of CMG, I'd better take the time to introduce myself (by the way thank you Lance for approving my membership.) I'm a 61yo male resident of Happy Valley (a suburb of Adelaide) in S. Australia. I have a wife, 3 daughters, 2 grandsons and 2 dogs, all much loved. My love of classical music extends back about 30 years. My initial interest was in opera, in fact the first CD set I bought was Herbert Von Karajan's La Boheme with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti, still a favourite recording. It cost $48. However my interest has now broadened to encompass all genres. My most recent purchase was the Westminster Legacy Chamber Music "big box" and in between I've amassed a collection of, let's just say I stopped counting at 3000. Other than having a good ear, I had no formal music training, in fact one of my stock corny jokes is for much of my life I've played a "poor second fiddle". I suspect like many other members here I enjoy reading books about music related subjects also; composer, performer, conductors biographies for example. I've been a subscriber to State Opera Of S. Australia for nearly a quater of a century now and am very proud of our little company which with 6 full time employees has managed to stage 2 "Ring" cycles, Parsifal, Tristan, Electra and Samson and Deliah amongst others in that time. Besides music, other interests include hiking (or bushwalking as we call it Downunder) in which I am still very active and photography. Delving into one of the threads here about Wagner recordings prompted me to seek membership. There seems to be such a huge well of knowledge about music that I'm very keen to tap into plus add my occasional insights. So an initial "Greetings to All".

[jbuck919]

As I'm listed as the newest member of CMG, I'd better take the time to introduce myself (by the way thank you Lance for approving my membership.) I'm a 61yo male resident of Happy Valley (a suburb of Adelaide) in S. Australia. I have a wife, 3 daughters, 2 grandsons and 2 dogs, all much loved. My love of classical music extends back about 30 years. My initial interest was in opera, in fact the first CD set I bought was Herbert Von Karajan's La Boheme with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti, still a favourite recording. It cost $48. However my interest has now broadened to encompass all genres. My most recent purchase was the Westminster Legacy Chamber Music "big box" and in between I've amassed a collection of, let's just say I stopped counting at 3000. Other than having a good ear, I had no formal music training, in fact one of my stock corny jokes is for much of my life I've played a "poor second fiddle". I suspect like many other members here I enjoy reading books about music related subjects also; composer, performer, conductors biographies for example. I've been a subscriber to State Opera Of S. Australia for nearly a quater of a century now and am very proud of our little company which with 6 full time employees has managed to stage 2 "Ring" cycles, Parsifal, Tristan, Electra and Samson and Deliah amongst others in that time. Besides music, other interests include hiking (or bushwalking as we call it Downunder) in which I am still very active and photography. Delving into one of the threads here about Wagner recordings prompted me to seek membership. There seems to be such a huge well of knowledge about music that I'm very keen to tap into plus add my occasional insights. So an initial "Greetings to All".

Welcome to CMG! I am not one of our recording aficionados (that sound you just heard was the laughter coming from our other members because of my understatement), but yes, you'll find much here for sharing in both directions.

Your "second fiddle" remark made me think of a story about Mozart (true or not I don't know; I read it in childhood). When the second violin for one of his father's musical evenings failed to show up, the boy Wolfgang picked up the instrument and started playing, perfectly, without at that point having had any formal instruction. He said to his astonished father, "Surely one doesn't have to study to play the second violin."

[Tarantella]

I'm back on CMG after some time spent in the message-board wilderness. Hoping for some excellent discussions to come here on CMG - where the adults hang out!!

Since I was last here I've continued to run lectures on music appreciation to retirees at our local university conservatorium, along with others in the group and on a rotating basis. We have amongst our retirees: an associate professor of mechanical engineering, two music academics (PhDs), a doctor, half a dozen teachers, an economist, a chemical engineering professor (he's still working) and two or three active musicians including a trombonist, pianist and saxophonist. Our oldest member is 92 years young and he has a phenomenal brain and profound knowledge of music.

[lennygoran]

I'm back on CMG after some time spent in the wilderness of a couple of other music message-boards, where many of the contributors behave in an infantile way (at one in particular) and will do anything to garner attention.

You mean like me and my garden photos! Regards, Len [fleeing]

PS Welcome Back

[Tarantella]

Good morning!

Nothing at all like you and your garden photos - those are for grown ups!! Incidentally, what DID happen to that snake which ate your fish (see, I've been lurking!)?

Thanks for the welcome back! I have two sisters winging their way, via LA, to The Big Apple as we speak!!

[lennygoran]

Good morning!

Nothing at all like you and your garden photos - those are for grown ups!! Incidentally, what DID happen to that snake which ate your fish (see, I've been lurking!)?

Thanks for the welcome back! I have two sisters winging their way, via LA, to The Big Apple as we speak!!

Sue the snake is still there-2 koi have disappeared--the initial one--our largest and favorite because of its color and a more recent incident--the last one could be from a Louisiana Heron we spotted about 3 weeks ago and maybe not the snake--many other fish still survive and the pond looks good--you might say its one big happy family over there! Why is it always your sisters coming to NYC and not you! [sigh] Regards, Len

[Tarantella]

Good morning!

Nothing at all like you and your garden photos - those are for grown ups!! Incidentally, what DID happen to that snake which ate your fish (see, I've been lurking!)?

Thanks for the welcome back! I have two sisters winging their way, via LA, to The Big Apple as we speak!!

Sue the snake is still there-2 koi have disappeared--the initial one--our largest and favorite because of its color and a more recent incident--the last one could be from a Louisiana Heron we spotted about 3 weeks ago and maybe not the snake--many other fish still survive and the pond looks good--you might say its one big happy family over there! Why is it always your sisters coming to NYC and not you! [sigh] Regards, Len

Glad to hear that there are remaining fish stock in that pond!! My sisters wanted me to accompany them to NY but I have things going on here which prevent me getting away and, besides, 4 weeks isn't long enough to justify the cost and that arduous air journey. They are also doing a lot of driving from Oklahoma along the old Route 66, I think it is. I will eventually get to NY and then it will be ABT, NYPO, etc.

[lennygoran]

I will eventually get to NY and then it will be ABT, NYPO, etc.

Great--don't wait too long! Regards, Len

[ayevey]

Greetings, fellow CMG-ers.

My sign-on name is ayevey, reflecting my past as a Jewish sailor. My friends call me David.

I am male and live in Pennsylvania.

I studied musicology and long ago gave up on playing classical guitar.

However, I spend most of my free time listening to classical music and have a record collection far beyond what my income should (does?) allow. I am guessing 2,000 - 3,000 CDs. I am thrilled and delighted to have joined this board, as it just isn't easy being a young guy with a passion for something the mere mention of which to most of my peers inevitably elicits a yawn, followed by a glassy-eyed stare and perhaps a shrug of shoulders. Luckily, I know some of you people on this forum will understand (i.e. pretend) that I am not certifiable for having two dozen versions of Mozart's K466.

Happy listening!

[jbuck919]

Greetings, fellow CMG-ers.

My sign-on name is ayevey, reflecting my past as a Jewish sailor. My friends call me David.

I am male and live in Pennsylvania.

I studied musicology and long ago gave up on playing classical guitar.

However, I spend most of my free time listening to classical music and have a record collection far beyond what my income should (does?) allow. I am guessing 2,000 - 3,000 CDs. I am thrilled and delighted to have joined this board, as it just isn't easy being a young guy with a passion for something the mere mention of which to most of my peers inevitably elicits a yawn, followed by a glassy-eyed stare and perhaps a shrug of shoulders. Luckily, I know some of you people on this forum will understand (i.e. pretend) that I am not certifiable for having two dozen versions of Mozart's K466.

This is now very late, but welcome to CMG! I don't always notice what is going on with this thread, but today another new member made his very first post elsewhere and that made me think to look here to see if any other new members had posted recently. You'll find a lot of company among people who have multiple recordings of many works, and although I am not one of them, on behalf of the, I look forward to your posting as often as possible.

[Lance]

I somehow ran into this post which started a long time ago. Many who contributed are already deceased or have left us for one reason or another. But WE are still here. You might take a gander at some of these when you have nothing better to do at a moment!

[Rach3]

I review classical music CDs and DVDs at amazon.com; have written about 1800 reviews so far

I have enjoyed your perceptive Amazon reviews for 15+ (?) years, relied on, acted on , many.Thanks for taking the time and careful attention to details.