Monthly Archives: January 2012

W.A. Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte – Royal Opera House, 30th January 2012

Cosi Fan Tutte W.A. Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte Last night I was very lucky to see once again Jonathan Miller’s considered, affecting and touching production of Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte at the Royal Opera House. Time has been kind … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Some reflections on the politics of poverty and the poverty of politics.

Poverty, Charity and Obeisance   I heard the word Rickets used on the Today programme this morning. Fifty years ago when I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s Rickets were, like unemployment, something that belonged to the past…admittedly it … Continue reading

Posted in Politics and related subjects | Leave a comment

Robert Parsons c.1530 to January 1572

Robert Parsons c.1530 to January 1572 Thomas Tallis and William Byrd are the Tudor composers that most come to mind and music of the court and chapel are thought of generally in terms of the reigns of Henry VIII and … Continue reading

Posted in History and related subjects, Religion and related subjects | Leave a comment

Shirley Verrett RIP and Don Carlos

I discovered this in an idle moment …. Shirley Verrett was one of the greatest mezzo sopranos of the twentieth century who sadly died last year. Here she’s singing Princess Eboli’s great aria from Act IV Verdi’s Don Carlos….O don … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, TV and Radio and other media | Leave a comment

Letters to America

These will now appear in their own section….I think I’ll wait out South Carolina Primary before I put up the next one…though the debates have turned against Romney the polls continue to favour him….

Posted in US Presidential Elections 2012 | Leave a comment

Sleeping With Straight Men…..The Stag, Victoria

Sleeping with Straight Men – a dark comedy inspired by true events. Tonight’s play had odd flashes and moments but it put me in mind of Gwendolyn Fairfax’s words over tea in ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ On an occasion … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

F. J. HAYDN The Seasons…. The Barbican Saturday 14th January 2012

F.J. Haydn: The Seasons…..Gabrieli consort & Players, Christiane Karg;Allan Clayton and Christopher Purves….conducted Paul McCreesh The Seasons is Haydn’s last oratorio and he struggled to complete it. There would be one final glorious mass –  the  wonderful Harmonienmesse with its syncopated Benedictus. Otherwise … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment

Professor Kevin Sharpe 1949 -2011 RIP

I was extremely sorry to learn of the death of Kevin Sharpe. He had a recurrence of the lymphoma for which he had earlier treatment. That makes his death particularly poignant to me as that was something we shared. He had a … Continue reading

Posted in History and related subjects | Leave a comment

Letter to America….. III after New Hampshire

Letter to America New Hampshire has spoken…. And, as the American Indians in the Westerns of my childhood used to say, this predominantly white, middle class and unrepresentative state spoke with forked tongue. Mitt Romney did as well as the … Continue reading

Posted in US Presidential Elections 2012 | Leave a comment

Wigmore Hall 12th January – Early Opera Company

Early opera Company: Charpantier Acteon and Purcell Dido and Aeneas Genius will out. Last night the genius of Baroque Opera came out and for those who heard there will be no going back. Music of the High Baroque had long … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment