Is there anybody there?

IS there anybody there?

Happy Birthday Herbert

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert von Karajan; arguably the greatest and certainly the most influential conductor in the history of classical music.

I learned the mainstream orchestral, choral and operatic repertoire through both his recordings and later on his film and television productions and for that alone I am immensely grateful to him.   Through a combination of profound musicality and natural charisma, Karajan contemporized classical music, making it both open and accessible to a new generation of listeners around the world.  And he continues to do so today, appealing especially to younger people for whom the word 'classical' would otherwise have stuffy, elitist connotations.

As such, Karajan and his recorded legacy has done a great deal of good: The revived and generally positive interest his centenary year has generated will ensure things stay that way.

Thank you Maestro: Viva Eterna!

'68 on the South Bank

Last night's edition of The South Bank Show on ITV1 offered some hilarious viewing as Melvyn Lord Bragg hosted a documentary about art and politics in the year 1968.

Balanced and well-researched as always, Bragg's programme concentrated on the various protest movements of the period and how actors, writers and musicians of the time got involved.  Whether the intention was to demonstrate how trite and superficial most of these characters were - and are - I couldn't quite discern but allowing the likes of Vanessa Redgrave to sound off at considerable length about the Vietnam War only served to show her as the pompous, self-regarding, self-righteous hypocrite that she is.  Moreover, the old footage of her wailing protest songs at the first 'Happening' at the Royal Albert Hall and her incoherant preaching in Trafalgar Square had a distinctly hollow ring to it - compounded by more contemporary footage of her reading anti-government poems. ... (more)

Cheapskate Karajan cash-ins

A word of warning to those celebrating 'Karajan 2008'.  Alongside high quality CD and DVD releases from Decca and - most prominently - Deutsche Grammophon to mark the great conductor's centenary, other labels are trying to cash in on the anniversary with an altogether cheaper and tackier range of products.

EMI, a label who has become a byword for unreliablity in the trade, has - as usual - only done things by halves.  Their 88-CD box set of Karajan orchestral recordings has had to be withdrawn because a Sibelius disc had Gershwin put on it by mistake.  It's not that it was even a Karajan version, given that he never recorded a note of Gershwin (although he once gave an all-Gershwin concert in Berlin at the behest of Chancellor Schmidt - with unhappy results).

The set itself is poorly produced with cheap card-inlay CDs in the style of weekend supplement giveaways while the transfers are simply original CD masterings from the 1980s and '90s. ... (more)

Korngold overkill and the Sibelius No-show

What is going on, please?  At least three classical music magazines this month are banging on about the 50th anniversary of the death of Korngold, a Viennese-born 20th century composer who is best known for syrupy, over-orchestrated film-music.  Huge double page spreads, sampler CDs, on-line articles and altered concert schedules are all clamouring to jump on the Seahawk bandwagon.  Fair enough, I suppose... but what about the 50th anniversary of the death of a Finnish-born 20th century composer whose seven symphonies are among the greatest orchestral works ever written and whose style is the most progressive since Wagner? 

Yes, that's right.  Sibelius.  Barely a footnote.  Not a whimper.  A composer who speaks to both classical AND non-classical listeners; whose music has inspired and influenced musicians as diverse as Glenn Gould, Mike Oldfield and Bernard Herrman (who was a much better film composer than bloody Korngold) and who has been outselling all ... (more)

Older & Older New Years

While political parties currently prefer telegenic youth to elder statesman gravitas the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra waltzes off in the opposite direction by choosing the 83-year-old Georges Pretre to conduct the 2008 New Year's Day Concert; making him the oldest maestro to do so - if he makes it.

I'm afraid the decision to invite an elderly Frenchman to conduct what should be a light-hearted collection of traditional Austrian sparklers has a rather 'bottom of the barrel' feel to it.  I guess the conductors for these events are getting older and older.  The 2007 concert was conducted by the 70-year-old Zubin Mehta while 2005 was a soggy non-event under the 75-year-old Lorin Maazel, while preceeding years saw Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Seiji Ozawa, all in their 60s.  The only exception was last year's New Year Concert conducted by the relatively youthful Mariss Jansons, still in his 50s and looking for all the world like a man of 35. ... (more)

Announcers again!

Tried listening to a lunchtime recital of baroque flute music on Radio 3 (as I was washing the kitchen floor at the time it seemed easier to just turn the dial on rather than trail through several feet of duraglit to find a CD) only to give up after five minutes thanks - once again - to those innane and highly affected BBC announcers.

Lisping and simpering with a great deal of self-appointed grandeur in the morning slot, the likes of Petroc Trelawney (I mean, is anyone actually CALLED that?) and the only slightly less pretentious ex-Gramophone grandee James Jolly are not, in my opinion, a patch on the quiet authority and natural warmth of past masters Peter Barker and Michael Oliver.     By lunchtime, a female announcer took over for the flute recital and tried - maybe because it was a recital by students - to be 'with it' by resorting to out-dated 'Radio Oneisms' in her delivery.

"This umah flute sonata by er, Handel, wasa composed abouta 1712",  she burbled(it ... (more)

Haitink on Cloud Nine

Bernard Haitink's 'Indian Summer' continues to blossom - and if last night's Prom with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra was anything to go by, the harvest is an exceptionally good one.

Featuring works by Wagner and Debussy, this was classic Haitink: core repertoire with which he has long been associated played by the orchestra of which he was principal conductor for 25 illustrious years.  Now their Conductor Laureate, the old magic of the 1970s was rekindled as a packed Royal Albert Hall was treated to a quality of playing and conducting which is now - alas - in short supply in the world of the classical orchestral concert.

Beginning with the Prelude and Good Friday music from 'Parsifal',  Haitink's quiet authority secured playing of exceptional warmth, discipline and dedication from a now young-looking Concertgebouw, whose newer members will have something to tell their grandchildren about. ... (more)