tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post6704183565481454893..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: A fish-sermon transmogrifiedDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-44794718946911160032012-12-10T19:42:19.884+00:002012-12-10T19:42:19.884+00:00But the structure is Mahler's (since Berio nev...But the structure is Mahler's (since Berio never leaves his scherzo for long). I can't make out any perceptible structure in the surrounding movements at all.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59484039296232508652012-12-10T19:33:28.713+00:002012-12-10T19:33:28.713+00:00I have listened to the Berio Symphonia ( and read ...I have listened to the Berio Symphonia ( and read a little). Not sure I am qualified to make a comment. I like the music but not the structure - a "melange" ( David's word) in more ways than one. But when the structure of a Berio piece is better - Un re in Ascolto to my knowledge - then he is in my list of goodiesDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-54670038657104366432012-12-02T00:48:40.955+00:002012-12-02T00:48:40.955+00:00I've just begun to dip in to your newest post,...I've just begun to dip in to your newest post, but stopped by here to say: lest you think I'm not pursuing DQ, I did indeed make a note to self (even before you wrote, for once), have downloaded the score, and am reading the Grossman translation. Moving slowly (I am all too easily distracted), but find it thoroughly enjoyable so far. <br /><br />On other fronts, too bad the Berio isn't available on public domain—I would love to see that score! I had the thought that it works as well as it does because of what you say: he never lets “the Mahler movement go under for long.”Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-49486337683505980902012-12-01T03:10:32.334+00:002012-12-01T03:10:32.334+00:00Well Berio, very confusing. It reminds me of a din...Well Berio, very confusing. It reminds me of a dinner conversation where everyone speaks at once and you are aware of the din of the music in the background. No I do not dislike it but it is very distracting. Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59136218443594779672012-11-29T19:16:12.185+00:002012-11-29T19:16:12.185+00:00The tomb of Omar Khayyam also has a rose tree drop...The tomb of Omar Khayyam also has a rose tree dropping its petals on the grave, echoing the verse in the poem. A cutting from the rose tree over Omar's tomb was brought back to be planted over Fitzgerald's grave in East Anglia<br /><br />I will listen to the Berio !!<br /><br />David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-82317204210108495982012-11-27T12:17:24.049+00:002012-11-27T12:17:24.049+00:00Yes, the broadcast will be available to hear again...Yes, the broadcast will be available to hear again for seven days after the 2nd, which I believe you said works in the US.<br /><br />As I'm sure you know, you can even follow online/download the Don Q score on the Petrucci Library - it's Public Domain in the US, though not in the EU. The score should have headings at the top of each variation roughly outlining what's going on. This was the first miniature score I ever bought, in my mid-teens, I think, and I loved the way you had to turn the score sideways to accommodate all the lines in the big moments.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-75239778214114028792012-11-27T03:33:50.715+00:002012-11-27T03:33:50.715+00:00David: Thanks yet again, as the broadcast informat...David: Thanks yet again, as the broadcast information got by me. Now I have it noted (though am hoping they'll allow for replays, if I can't catch it live). I did also locate the program guide for Don Quixote. (I'm still getting used to the fact that program guides are available on line.) I'm pleased you prompted me on that and look forward to a listen with the guide in hand.<br /><br />I do also hope David Damant will comment on the Berio!Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-77418647195772805552012-11-26T10:20:20.372+00:002012-11-26T10:20:20.372+00:00I was very touched to see the reverence with which...I was very touched to see the reverence with which Iranians treated the tomb of Hafez/Hafiz in its rosy garden when we visited Shiraz. I believe there's a similar memorial to Rumi, though we didn't see it.<br /><br />Now, Sir D, do YOU make anything of Berio's melange?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-27961056808685897452012-11-26T08:28:38.951+00:002012-11-26T08:28:38.951+00:00When I was President of the Omar Khayyam Society I...When I was President of the Omar Khayyam Society I made some research into other Persian poets - Rumi, Hafiz etc. They were I understand greater poets than Omar, though he was in addition a very considerable mathematician, and found how to solve equations in x-cubed ( equations in x-squared having already been solved).What civilisation lost through the failure of Persian/Arabic culture to survive.....David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-52270386694680082252012-11-26T00:13:22.124+00:002012-11-26T00:13:22.124+00:00Sue - the answer is there in the Arts Desk review:...Sue - the answer is there in the Arts Desk review: the concert will be broadcast on Radio 3 on the afternoon of Sunday 2 December (with all the audience participation I mentioned edited out).<br /><br />Did you have a guide to the variation-episodes of Don Q as you listened? I agree it has to work first just as music; its themes and their workings out are magnificent. But just how well Strauss visualises his Cervantes is also worth knowing about.<br /><br />I didn't know about the Madonna connection re Rumi, but I'd heard about her interest in Sufism. Ah well, whatever it takes.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-44764501961979015332012-11-25T20:58:28.556+00:002012-11-25T20:58:28.556+00:00David: Thanks for the tip-off on Arts Desk review ...David: Thanks for the tip-off on Arts Desk review & the Hinds piece. Now the question is how to get a listen. (I've written Hinds to see about that.) The Don Quixote is a beauty--you have definitely filled up my listening list for today!<br /><br />Enjoyed all the comments as well, as always. As to that, I think David Damant's speculation is bound to be right. Over here, without Madonna, would Rumi even be "on the screen"? I wonder.Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-34901907788268349952012-11-25T16:42:25.835+00:002012-11-25T16:42:25.835+00:00Inserted that message before Sir David's secon...Inserted that message before Sir David's second response - with which I disagree heartily re the Ponnelle Figaro; I love that film, and even enjoy Maria Ewing's Cherubino. Interesting that they do the recits in the studio, but mime to the arias and ensembles.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-45211806728500015302012-11-25T16:33:37.250+00:002012-11-25T16:33:37.250+00:00Did you know that Rumi was Madonna's favourite...Did you know that Rumi was Madonna's favourite poet - and (if I remember correctly) America's biggest selling poet (maybe as a result)?David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-44908021683829350332012-11-25T16:26:00.536+00:002012-11-25T16:26:00.536+00:00And I'm excited because you are: the ideal lis...And I'm excited because you are: the ideal listener as ever (dear folk, if you find this too much of a love-in, you can always join the dialogue).<br /><br />I put up an Arts Desk review last night, of a concert in which you're sure to be interested because there was an often compelling new piece by pianist-composer Rolf Hind. I think you'd especially relish its connection to some wonderful poems by Rumi and Kabir. <a href="http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/crabb-bbc-symphony-orchestra-hr%C5%AF%C5%A1a-barbican-hall" rel="nofollow">The piece is here</a>. I suppose you could always bookmark TAD and take a quick look every day - I find it treasurable for the other arts, and usually quick off the mark, too.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-52589870081826127162012-11-25T16:02:12.624+00:002012-11-25T16:02:12.624+00:00Yes I was referring to the Ponelle film. In fact a...Yes I was referring to the Ponelle film. In fact all the performers overplayed their roles in a childish way, like a pantomime. I suppose they wanted to sell the production. Pity<br />At the RoH production of Dido, Aeneas walked onto the stage like another singer. No body language by him or the chorus etc. One might as well have a concert performance. They should think - how would we act if suddenly the Queen or the US President was in the room ?David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-56901064633764823212012-11-25T14:25:32.524+00:002012-11-25T14:25:32.524+00:00David: So excited I had to come back and leave a n...David: So excited I had to come back and leave a note as I start my listening tour. Last night, I set up playlists for myself of the music you've written about here and on the Arts Desk. I've just finished listening to Mahler's "fish" song (Quasthoff), then the Scherzo from S2, and finally the Berio movement that quotes it. Wonderful to listen to all three in sequence like that. In the Berio, I recognized Der Rosenkav, but must go back to hear La Valse (and so much more!). <br /><br />Now I’m on to Don Quixote, and almost the first thing I thought is, well, that does it, I've got to read this book—and here you are reminding me that it's essential re-reading for you. (War and Peace is one of a very few books I've re-read and likely will again. It has everything, doesn't it?) Thank you so much for yet another marvelous gift of a post that keeps on giving!<br /><br />PS: I hope you'll always let us know when you have an Arts Desk piece up. I subscribe, but I can't seem to subscribe just to the classical bit and have not so far been successful in spotting your pieces when they come up. I hate to miss a one, for I always enjoy them, as I hope you know.Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-63038463379470988142012-11-25T12:56:48.794+00:002012-11-25T12:56:48.794+00:00Anon. - I had fun with Picasa, though the Mahler i...Anon. - I had fun with Picasa, though the Mahler is one of several treatments done rather more artistically by my other half.<br /><br />Laurent - DFD has such character, though I find that the voice quickly lost its beauty and became a bit barky later on. Yours (anyone's) fresh reactions to the Berio movement would be welcome - do try it! A student's daughter found it 'weird': that's an understatement!<br /><br />Sue - I forgot to wish you Happy Thanksgiving (another student, American, brought cakes to the class in advance, so we were at least reminded of it).I've loved Strauss's most elaborate score since my teens, when I was rather obsessed by it. One of the few cases where hearing a piece made me read the book, which I've now done twice and should revisit every decade. Alongside War and Peace, it's probably my favourite (the book, that is, and though I have such a soft spot for Sinfonia Domestica, DQ is probably Strauss's orchestral masterpiece. But then again there's Till Eulenspiegel, the purple passages of Zarathustra etc etc).<br /><br />As for comments, sorry if that sounded tetchy, but neither the iPad nor the PC like loading Wordpress...<br /><br />Sir D - I don't remember a great deal about Un Re in Ascolto, though one flyaway passage has lodged in my brain, not bad for one hearing only. Poor old DFD - not patrician enough for you? I love his Count on that Ponnelle film, which is the performance to which I suspect you're referring. Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-56088273621340151092012-11-25T08:37:40.107+00:002012-11-25T08:37:40.107+00:00One cannot think of Berio without thinking of his ...One cannot think of Berio without thinking of his Un Re in Ascolto - "highly charged" says Kobbe (P)- and I find it one of the most artistically gripping of recent operas. A magnificent 90 minutes (to be followed by a magnificent dinner of course) though if I remember correctly the RoH disgracefully had an interval - no doubt for the bar profits<br /><br />Can I put in a word against Fischer-Dieskau - not his voice of course, but his inability to act. His Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro was cringingly middle class and embarrasing. OK sound-wise, but one cannot watch it. Gielgud said that young men today cannot play princes and F-D certainly could notDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-36446237223404257912012-11-25T03:38:40.982+00:002012-11-25T03:38:40.982+00:00The seemingly endless meal that is Thanksgiving ov...The seemingly endless meal that is Thanksgiving over here has put me behind in essential reading, so I’ve only got here for the first time today. And what a feast (of a different kind, to be sure)—enough music here to keep me occupied for at least a month! I’ll confess that I’ve so far shied away from Berio (it’s that Darmstadt ethos), but, as always, you pique my curiosity. Yet I’ll have to say the piece I most want to pursue is Strauss’s Don Quixote, another piece I know of but haven’t heard. (It’s not for the first time I am the remedial student here.) You’ve often commented on the prescience of 19th-early 20th C masters vis-a-vis more recent classical music (your Arts Desk piece on Shostakovich Symphony 4-Zev Gordon comes to mind), so I am particularly eager to go through Strauss’s “lunatic looking glass.” <br /><br />(A side note: I’m so sorry you had trouble posting comments over my way—if it happens again and you’d prefer to send comments by email, I’d be glad to post them for you. I appreciate your persistence and value enormously our ongoing conversations both here and over there.)Susan Scheidhttp://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-1124737550767388822012-11-24T18:17:02.826+00:002012-11-24T18:17:02.826+00:00What a beaufitul voice that of the late Fisher-Dis...What a beaufitul voice that of the late Fisher-Diskau.<br />As I was reading your post, news came on the radio that Justin Bieber had received the Jubilee Medal from our PM. Another photo op, I thought. But a strange coincidence. Not in the same league. Laurenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297393116796129135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-74401647512942644482012-11-24T12:39:17.198+00:002012-11-24T12:39:17.198+00:00Yes, I love your psychedlic treatments!Yes, I love your psychedlic treatments!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59306599098598427542012-11-23T14:31:59.045+00:002012-11-23T14:31:59.045+00:00I thought the psychedelising of Veronese, Mahler a...I thought the psychedelising of Veronese, Mahler and Berio was in line with the hallucinatory quality Berio brings to what is already a very weird piece. Glad you approve. And thanks for the clarification re 'Bishop' Bunyan.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-72678226863757999192012-11-23T14:01:56.097+00:002012-11-23T14:01:56.097+00:00I had no idea there were quite so many musical ref...I had no idea there were quite so many musical references as well as Mahler in the Sinfonia, another absolute favourite seminal 20th C work for me, and another in my collection of old radio broadcast recordings with Electric Phoenix and Simon Rattle (and the CBSO I suppose). This one is sadly not surviving so well due to excessive play, although I prefer it to the Jard van Nes CD version I have. Perhaps the yuletide holiday is the time to get around to digitising these? (been saying that for a decade or so).<br /><br />"Bishop" was Bunyan's nickname for the unlicensed preaching which got him jailed.<br /><br />Have your blog images been infused with magic mushrooms? They've become quite psychedelic, not unpleasingly so.Howard Lanenoreply@blogger.com