"I LOVE THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS"
------- Gordon Brown, Chancello of the Exchequer, interviewed on BBCTV's Sunday Morning by Andrew Marr
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Still here....
I'm still here, kind of, but frazzled in the midst of a lot of diffferent trips. Lucerne last week. Rome this week, to interview another wonderful singer. Then home for four days, during which time I have to interview Yet Another Singer - what's going on with all these singers?!? I'll have met something like six of the best, so to speak. And I am trying frantically to finish the first draft of Novel No.2 before going on holiday to France the week after. So please forgive lack of blogging at the moment...
...and don't forget to tune in to the Last Night of the Proms tonight - it will feature KORNGOLD, no less, with the second half beginning with the suite from The Sea Hawk. Oh yes! Yes! Yes! About time too. Also, watch out for wonderful Paul Lewis playing Lambert's The Rio Grande, something one doesn't hear every day (though after reading Meredith Daneman's fantastic biography of Margot Fonteyn and seeing Tony Palmer's South Bank Show two-parter about her a few weeks back, I'll never view Lambert in quite the same way again...).
...and don't forget to tune in to the Last Night of the Proms tonight - it will feature KORNGOLD, no less, with the second half beginning with the suite from The Sea Hawk. Oh yes! Yes! Yes! About time too. Also, watch out for wonderful Paul Lewis playing Lambert's The Rio Grande, something one doesn't hear every day (though after reading Meredith Daneman's fantastic biography of Margot Fonteyn and seeing Tony Palmer's South Bank Show two-parter about her a few weeks back, I'll never view Lambert in quite the same way again...).
Saturday, September 03, 2005
That cat...
A nice surprise yesterday, when BBC Radio Ulster invited me to be interviewed by phone on their 'Sounds Classical' programme with John Teale. They wanted to trail next weekend's Proms in the Park - there's a good big event in Belfast - and someone had stumbled across my Indy article on the nightmares musicians experience during outdoor performances.
So at a quarter to eight John phoned, we chatted over some Venezuelan guitar music and then the interview began. It was just long enough to bring out the story about the harpist and the birdshit and to explain what can happen to valuable musical instruments in extreme temperatures; and long enough, too, for Solti the cat to decide that since he's the resident conductor, he ought to be included. Solti has a miaow loud enough to be heard through the piano and violin being played together, so if he's in the room while I'm on the phone, winding round my ankles and protesting at full volume, everybody gets to know about it. I think that yesterday evening, the whole of Belfast met Solti.
So, any musicians who have trouble with birds at open-air concerts should stop and reflect: it could be worse. It could be cats.
So at a quarter to eight John phoned, we chatted over some Venezuelan guitar music and then the interview began. It was just long enough to bring out the story about the harpist and the birdshit and to explain what can happen to valuable musical instruments in extreme temperatures; and long enough, too, for Solti the cat to decide that since he's the resident conductor, he ought to be included. Solti has a miaow loud enough to be heard through the piano and violin being played together, so if he's in the room while I'm on the phone, winding round my ankles and protesting at full volume, everybody gets to know about it. I think that yesterday evening, the whole of Belfast met Solti.
So, any musicians who have trouble with birds at open-air concerts should stop and reflect: it could be worse. It could be cats.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Ciao tutto...
My blog stat measurer tells me that we've had a mysterious rush of hits in Italy, all looking at the photo of the Vuillaume Octobass.
Che cosa sta accadendo?
I hope that's correct. I got it from altavista's Babelfish translator...just wanted to ask what's going on?
Not that my stat counter is particularly reliable. It's under the opinion that Zakinthos is in the UK, that Hyderabad is in Italy, that anyone using AOL is in America even when they're in Europe and that I live in York (north of Watford? Moi?!). Still, it's enjoyable to do the detective work: pondering why some total stranger would be musing over Faure's quoted thought, who's looking for me in the BBC (a phone call solved that one) and how disappointed certain seekers will be when their search on a famous musician's name and the word 'gay' returns them a "no" somewhere from cyberspace.
Che cosa sta accadendo?
I hope that's correct. I got it from altavista's Babelfish translator...just wanted to ask what's going on?
Not that my stat counter is particularly reliable. It's under the opinion that Zakinthos is in the UK, that Hyderabad is in Italy, that anyone using AOL is in America even when they're in Europe and that I live in York (north of Watford? Moi?!). Still, it's enjoyable to do the detective work: pondering why some total stranger would be musing over Faure's quoted thought, who's looking for me in the BBC (a phone call solved that one) and how disappointed certain seekers will be when their search on a famous musician's name and the word 'gay' returns them a "no" somewhere from cyberspace.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Blogday!
According to the wonderful Drew McManus, 31 August 2005 is Blogday - a chance for bloggers to recommend other bloggers to our readership. Having been tapping away on Blogspot for a year and a half, I'm still amazed that we've invented a uniquely 21st-century medium with astounding international potential. Today alone I've had hits in the UK, US, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Morocco, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Over the months, regular readers have popped up in the Philippines, Lithuania, Mexico, Argentina, Denmark, Spain, the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden and many, many more. Even the occasional hit in Iran, Urugay, Peru, Venezuela, India, Pakistan, Armenia and once (but once only, and my tracker may have made a mistake) Afghanistan. It's something extraordinary.
All my favourite blogs are listed on my blogroll (in impossibly haphazard order, I fear - I WILL put them in alphabetical order one day soon!). I was about to cite a select few, but don't want to upset any of the others, so I'll leave you with a plea to experiment with the list over to the left. To all my fellow bloggers - if you're on that list, it means I love you. Keep up the good writing!
All my favourite blogs are listed on my blogroll (in impossibly haphazard order, I fear - I WILL put them in alphabetical order one day soon!). I was about to cite a select few, but don't want to upset any of the others, so I'll leave you with a plea to experiment with the list over to the left. To all my fellow bloggers - if you're on that list, it means I love you. Keep up the good writing!
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