Category: Reviews

The former TV-producer in me tells me the following conversation took place between producer and director (in German as this is a GDR (East-Germany) product).

Benjamin Brittenís identity as a decidedly ìnationalî composer is formed in part by his well-known engagement of pre-existent English music, old English texts, and subjects rich in the English legacy, as a glance at works like the Purcellian The Young Personís Guide to the Orchestra, the Chester mystery play, Noyes Fludde, or the Elizabethan opera, Gloriana, all confirm.

Sorry my friends, but since I retired as a TV-reporter I forgot a lot of technical know-how, which to be fair never interested me very much.

There are countless artists whose legend survives on their supposed fame, others leave a substantial legacy of their achievements.

Tastes in music for Christmas are quite personal. One individualís beloved tradition may be anotherís annoying jangling that just wonít go away.

So much has been written about the notorious scandal of May 29, 1913, the scandal of the reception of the premiere of Igor Stravinskyís ballet Le Sacre du Printemps, that it is easy to forget that the music itself was less the cause of the riotous activities than the subject, the dÈcor, and the dancing.

If anyone had played the soundtrack of those first numbers of the 1955 telecast, I would have looked up in surprise at first and would have wondered if an electronic wizard had cleaned up the acoustic recordings of that giant of French singing: Jean-Emile Vanni-Marcoux.

Originally issued in LP by Voce (100), this unfairly neglected work by Gaetano Donizetti is now available on the Bongiovanni (GB2386/87-2) label.

This version of Leh·rís second most popular operetta is not one for purists. By the mid-seventies, it was already clear that one of the biggest tragedies of Western classical music was taking place ó the disappearance of operetta with its tons of wonderful music.