tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post5389726305478960269..comments2024-03-12T17:53:27.753+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Lessons from the MastersingersDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-66863808681663219292015-03-06T09:37:15.378+00:002015-03-06T09:37:15.378+00:00My copy has just arrived at my desk.It has a dedic...My copy has just arrived at my desk.It has a dedication "To Nance Pflaum with the author's love."Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-64705881269561965712015-03-02T13:40:16.781+00:002015-03-02T13:40:16.781+00:00Already booked up for the first weekend at Goettin...Already booked up for the first weekend at Goettingen - got the flight and the hotel sorted so that the time is protected from the demands of the day-job.<br />Would love to see the Mastersingers ebut, unfortunately, other demands on my time right now. Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-34942466096605940732015-02-27T14:55:32.692+00:002015-02-27T14:55:32.692+00:00I thought there were still some not exorbitant cop...I thought there were still some not exorbitant copies on abebooks, Catriona, but I may be wrong.<br /><br />Hope you're heading south for the greatest of Mastersingers. I've persuaded the godson to leave his Glasgow studies to see and hear Wagner at its best. Before that I see him and the goddaughter on home turf when I give a BBCSSO talk at the City Halls next Thursday. Sadly won't be coming through to Edinburgh this time.<br /><br />PS - Victoria sent through the Goettingen Handel Festival booklet and it looks enticing so I hope to make it this year. You?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-60241664475516257422015-02-27T14:44:46.337+00:002015-02-27T14:44:46.337+00:00Coming late to this - the Wagenseil book looks abs...Coming late to this - the Wagenseil book looks absolutely fascinating and the temptation to track it down is getting stronger by the minute. What a joy to have found the 1927 book, even if it is disgustingly damp-eaten and smelly. Catrionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-22942830733705195792015-02-21T21:19:02.046+00:002015-02-21T21:19:02.046+00:00I don't know which genius is meant. I only hop...I don't know which genius is meant. I only hope to interpret, precis, the original thoughts of others. The little book, beautifully written, is so little known that I wanted to summarise a bit of it, and reproduce a few of its pictures. Maybe you're right, though, that there's not much more to add. And 'that's really interesting' isn't worth leaving a comment to note. So please carry on with your off-piste curiosities, much valued.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-83105320927567969532015-02-21T20:25:28.088+00:002015-02-21T20:25:28.088+00:00Dear David
If one is a genius, one so often has i...Dear David<br /><br />If one is a genius, one so often has insights that no one else has ( or anyway no one who appears in one's life). One has to recognise this - and go way to read an improving book, or to change to some other topic where one's genius is understoodDavid Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-75917446009270914372015-02-21T19:46:26.507+00:002015-02-21T19:46:26.507+00:00Fun in itself, and I can digress still further wit...Fun in itself, and I can digress still further with a Scots railway buffet story (colleague of J goes in to buy a tea and a pie, finds server glum, and asks for a kind word. 'Don't eat the pie' comes the reply).<br /><br />But, you know, I thought this Wagenseil stuff was really interesting and original and no-one but Sue notes that. Learn not to expect germane comments and you won't be disappointed (which is why I've given up 'what does anyone else think?' because the silence can be deafening).<br /><br />If I were really self-pitying, though, I'd have given this up long ago.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-32854148489694231222015-02-21T15:13:10.461+00:002015-02-21T15:13:10.461+00:00Some years ago our dear friend Andrew was in charg...Some years ago our dear friend Andrew was in charge of the concerts at the Edinburgh Festival. One of these included an act from Die Walkure and Andrew had to meet the nine from the train at Waverley station - where they arrived from London desperate for a cup of tea. So very shortly the sweet lady running the Wee Scottish Tea Shoppe was presented with the sight of one tall thin male surrounded by nine - um - not so thin Walkure. O that the scene could have been recorded for posterity David Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-17996412998744174492015-02-20T16:16:44.128+00:002015-02-20T16:16:44.128+00:00You are the lost soul, poor Sir David, like Eve sh...You are the lost soul, poor Sir David, like Eve shut out of Paradise (a ref made by Sachs, of course). And the first act of Meistersinger gives only the slightest hint of the riches to come. Try arriving for the third next time...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-10142027671789201662015-02-20T12:00:10.115+00:002015-02-20T12:00:10.115+00:00Dear David and all other Wagner lovers
I have giv...Dear David and all other Wagner lovers<br /><br />I have given up on you. You are lost souls - though I am also lost for other reasons so we shall probably meet below ( actually might be more fun than entering the Pearly Gates - see Paradise Lost ) <br /><br />PS I did attend at some point both the Mastersingers ( London) and Lohengrin (Vienna)but left in each case after Act 1 - so I did try.<br /><br />David Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-88387448933630964552015-02-20T08:07:27.058+00:002015-02-20T08:07:27.058+00:00Well, I suppose that even staunch Wagnerians find ...Well, I suppose that even staunch Wagnerians find it difficult to take the afternoon of a working day off. Though that doesn't seem to stop them usually. <br /><br />I only hope that you, too, will take the chance to see your theory that 'Wagner is intrinsically' evil' disproved (though Mastersingers is a special case,I admit).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-88350050908630540762015-02-20T07:59:25.584+00:002015-02-20T07:59:25.584+00:00David, on a VERY superficial study, it seems that ...David, on a VERY superficial study, it seems that the less expensive Mastersingers seats have been in demand on Saturdays. The noticeable gaps are on other days. I wonder if the less rich and the non-retired find it difficult fit in or anyway feel ready for a Wagner evening except on the day when they can really relaxDavid Damanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18409591480349323761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-78794449694265355252015-02-19T22:44:45.322+00:002015-02-19T22:44:45.322+00:00To do him credit, he engaged great Jones twice las...To do him credit, he engaged great Jones twice last year, both times with spectacular results: Rodelinda and The Girl of the Golden West. He got Sellars to stage more fully The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the other great triumph of the year, and the revivals were all good to great. Autumn 2013 was the disaster zone: Christopher Alden's Fledermaus, Bieito's Fidelio, Complicite's Magic Flute (which one would have expected to be good, but it was dreary in the extreme).<br /><br />Whether or not JB is easy to work with is another matter. He's not very approachable in my experience but I haven't actually held a conversation with him.<br /><br />Tragically, ENO is NOT seeing good box office even for Mastersingers. I wanted to go again on the last night, encouraging my godson to come down from Glasgow to see it, and there were way too many tickets in the mid to cheap price range (stalls were well sold). What's going on when Wagner, let along raved-about Wagner, doesn't sell out immediately? So the ticket prices are a real problem that needs to be addressed.<br /><br />Paterson was also a gorgeous-toned Rheingold Wotan in Barenboim's Proms Ring. Seasoned Wagnerians disagreed with me, though. Not much dissent here.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-61182659190666170492015-02-19T05:10:11.171+00:002015-02-19T05:10:11.171+00:00One wonders if there is some subliminal criticism ...One wonders if there is some subliminal criticism of John Berry in all the praise that the ENO <i>Mastersingers</i> is receiving, in the sense that maybe Berry needs to get "back to basics" by hiring opera directors with known track records in directing staged opera, rather than filmmakers or other director-types with little or no experience in opera, but are just famous names in more "populist" media where that experience doesn't necessarily translate to opera. (The one exception on film directors might be Terry Gilliam.) Hopefully ENO is seeing good box office as a result of the strong reviews. There was even a strong review from the <i>New York Times</i>, taking up space for a production that almost nobody in NYC will be able to see in person, unless said American is already in London or hops on a plane to check it out. I remember being very impressed by Iain Paterson as Gunther in the Met's HD of <i>Gotterdaemmerung</i> several seasons back, in a role that is not dramatically meant to impress, and can imagine how well he would portray Hans Sachs.Geo.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-68032269041573230632015-02-13T23:31:51.007+00:002015-02-13T23:31:51.007+00:00The Ivashkin memorial was certainly the best possi...The Ivashkin memorial was certainly the best possible of reasons to be elsewhere. Your point about complaints on any "Rattle overkill" is perfectly put. Fine performers and performances of serious music should be all over the papers far more often than is the case. On the Sibelius Cycle 3, yes about the 6th, and not only that, but the 7th certainly deserves its own space. While I can guess at it, I don't really understand the choice. But, that said, I was nonetheless very grateful to have the opportunity to see the Berlin performances on the digital hall.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59255613527265467742015-02-13T22:59:56.560+00:002015-02-13T22:59:56.560+00:00Yes, we're hugely lucky to have this rapport w...Yes, we're hugely lucky to have this rapport with Richard, who usually doesn't like talking and giving interviews much. He was even, to my surprise at one obviously used to taking charge in the theatre, rather nervous the first time. Now he knows some of the familiar faces, and (where did I write this elsewhere?) has a teasing charm that comes from a warm heart carefully guarded.<br /><br />And yes, everything flies by. Normally there's a point where my brain and heart need to switch off in Wagner. Especially when a singer lets the side down, as the Tristan did more than a bit in Act 3 of the Royal Opera production back in December. But here, no slack, no weaknesses. It's the genius that also had people coming out of Acts 2 and 3 of Rosenkavalier unable to believe that they'd been sitting through an hour of each.<br /><br />The third Sibelius instalment I had to forego because I wanted to hear my great late friend Sasha Ivashkin's memorial concert. As I wrote in a comment to Gavin Dixon's review for TAD - I felt I was too closely involved, as speaker and note-writer, to do it - I think I would have chosen that concert even if there I hadn't known Sasha. The elusive Dmitri Alexeev's Brahms Op. 119 would have been enough. But Nicolas Altstaedt's Bach has now set a benchmark which had me dipping into several sets I own for something similar, not finding it and even putting one (Wispelway's) on the regifting pile. Such riches we had, and Sasha's widow Natalia was so warm and affectionate, I had no idea that he respected me as I did him until Natalia asked me to introduce the concert. Anyway, will blog about it when I get new pictures.<br /><br />I think I would have hated the follow on from Six anyway: the dying of the light needs silence and then a break. Peter Quantrill wrote it up and though mostly enthusiastic thought the Seventh was very messy in places.<br /><br />Even so, I'm on a Berlin Phil high and went to hear the Octet tonight - stupendous. Some folk in the biz are sick of what they call 'the Rattle overkill' in all the papers, but I'm so delighted a conductor and orchestra are becoming names in the wider world. And the cause is good - unlike the endless hype for the pathetic Fifty Shades of Grey, which TAD has managed to avoid mentioning (though of course there will be a review, an amusing one, I hope).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-14621862434975157312015-02-13T20:22:39.826+00:002015-02-13T20:22:39.826+00:00The images finally did load, I'm glad to repor...The images finally did load, I'm glad to report. The engravings (which I assume are from the book?) are priceless, and how good that the map, at least, came through unscathed.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-60434458871326405382015-02-13T20:17:10.245+00:002015-02-13T20:17:10.245+00:00What a find that book had to be! (To my frustratio...What a find that book had to be! (To my frustration, the images aren't loading, so I'll have to come back for that later.) From the TAD review images, I can get some sense of how attractive this production is--and how lucky your students were to hear from Jones three times. I only wish the ENO production might come our way. This is not an opera with which I'm at all familiar, and your description, together with this delightful "back story," makes it one I'd really like to see, despite its length. In a great production like the one you describe, I suspect the time would fly by. (By some accounts, in contrast, the Met production lagged at points.)<br /><br />PS: I enjoyed your review of Cycle 2 of Sibelius. If you do hear Cycle 3, I’d love your view on Rattle’s idea to perform the 6th & 7th without a pause.Susan Scheidhttps://prufrocksdilemma.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com