Crackpots in Concert
Concert-going in the UK is a fascinating experience - for all the wrong reasons. I never cease to wonder (put that in the past tense:never CEASED because I don't go to concerts any more) at the behaviour of the audience on these occasions.
Orchestral concerts in particular seem to suffer the most. Usually, an evening symphony concert will begin at 19.30 - officially. However, it always amazes me how so many people mistake this time for 19.45. I can see them in my mind's eye now: there they go, creeping awkwardly in during the first movement and taking the entire length of the exposition to find their seat which always seems to be right in the MIDDLE of a row. Then the coughing starts...
WHY, for example, when the movement has finished does the entire audience have to erupt into this bronchial explosion of hacking, sneezing, snorting and farting? Same thing after the second movement, third movement etc. And then, despite this communal ... (more)
Vienna Le Bon
A recent survey in the French periodical La Monde de la Musique has awarded the Vienna Philharmonic the somewhat fawning accolade of Europe's Finest Orchestra. While there is no question that this ancient and august institution is not only one of Europe's greatest orchestras but one of the WORLD's greatest orchestras, La Monde's survey is a bit hard on the likes of the Royal Concertgebouw and the Berliner Philharmoniker (who came in second and third place respectively).
It could also be argued that while the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the few orchestras to maintain its distinctive 'goldene klang' character, in purely technical terms just about any American or British ensemble can run rings round the Austrians every time, let alone more immediate European rivals (and what about the Dresden Staatskapelle? No mention of that fine body of players in the French survey!)
Like many of the great European orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic is only as good as the man who happens ... (more)
I bought it on the Web
Ah, how lazy I have beeen....
Over a MONTH since I last blogged in. Time to make amends and fan the flames of controversy with a fresh target....who - or what?- shall it be?...
Ah. Classical record shops. Finished. Off the boil. Down the pan. Why? Well several factors, not least of which is the diamond growth of internet shopping but there is more to the game than that.
I think for some years now the independent classical retailer has had to battle with the increasing quantity and demands of the record industry. One proprietor I knew often complained how company reps tried to force him into buying in excessive duplicates of a particular title as part of an excessive promotion campaign. He simply didn't have the budget for 50 copies of Russell Watson's latest yell-in and another shop manager wouldn't buy any copies at all because he knew his regulars wouldn't be interested (Those who wanted it bought it on the Web).
Then rose ... (more)