mint

Bravo, that man![:D] Other thing I noticed whilst in NY was how much cheaper concert and opera tickets were than in the UK.  And the UK places get public subsidies!  All I can say is, it works well if you give big tax incentives for private individuals and companies to subsidise the arts. The cost of tickets must be a big factor in keeping the arts "elitist" because only people with money can afford to go.  I was amazed that I could just ring up the theatre, concert hall, and book tickets, even on the same day!!!  And it wasn't pre on-line booking either.  If I remember rightly, the tickets were less than a quarter of the prize I'd expect to pay. When I got back to the UK, I could boast that we went to the theatre and the opera every night during our stay in NY[:D]

[quote user="richard51"]"The first time I heard his St Matthew's Passion (I was going to say in its entirety but that wouldn't have been true) was in the Avery Fisher Hall in New York". Now called the "David Geffen Hall". Like most things in New York, named after the highest bidder![/quote] Isn't it strange that if you learn of something new, you nearly always hear it again soon afterwards? Today I read that DG, a media mogul (whatever that is) has sold his Malibu property for 85 million dollars. I suppose I'd never have noticed the name before, until you told me.  Oh well, a mere concert hall in NY, albeit a very large and prestigious one, is small change for him?

[quote user="NormanH"]I sent you a pm in reply to one of your 'sosh' messages as I can't initiate pms... It is a link that you may have to open then leave a bit so it doesn't keep buffering... I love that Harnancourt recording and I listen to it often ar Christmas [/quote] I plan to open a new google account as it didn't recognise my password and, when I requested a new password, they wanted to send it to my old Neuf address.  I will have a go though but I was disappointed. Richard51, thank you for telling me the new name of the Avery Fisher hall.  Thank goodness, we shan't be calling the Royal Albert Hall something else ...........!  But I musn't speak too soon, maybe if the coffers are empty (post Brexit), a Russian oligarch might come along and offer us some money if we'd change the name?

This is not the usual offering but I was sufficiently intrigued to listen: [url]https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/16/st-john-passion-review-mark-padmore-britten-sinfonia-simon-russell-beale[/url]

Pat, I knew you love Bach and that is why I told you about the funeral. The first time I heard his St Matthew's Passion (I was going to say in its entirety but that wouldn't have been true) was in the Avery Fisher Hall in New York.  To my eternal shame and engrossed as I was by the music, I was overcome by jetlag and slept fitfully through parts of it!  To this day, I have never admitted to anyone else what happened............. Here it is: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P21qlB0K-Bs[/url]  

Yeah, that's OH...........I'd never understand the man!  He has very good musical taste but he does hark back to these old Hollywood musical numbers[:'(] Was at a funeral service yesterday (seem to have been attending a few lately) and to my pleasure the organist, a son of the deceased, played Jesu Joy of Man's desiring and he played it rather well too.  I hadn't even realised there was a proper organ in that church, as it'd always been guitars or an electronic organ. He was next to me in the queue on the way out and I said thank you for the Bach.  He said, madame it is very good always to have un petit Bach.........a sad occasion but there were a few smiles too.

Pat, I'm sorry, the link wasn't clickable but here it is again, specially for you! [url]https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/camelot/beforeigazeatyouagain.htm[/url] It's a bit soppy but I like the words all the same[:$] And, you see, it HAS brought Norman out again from his barrel[:D]

Hope it's not ill health that is keeping you away from the Forum. So, how about this catchy little number though I have only provided the lyrics because I can't find a sung version that I like: https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/camelot/beforeigazeatyouagain.htm Perhaps you could find a singer that does it justice. OH has been humming this for days and I have been trying to avoid him, not wanting to be rude by saying please hum something else! Also, don't forget that we won't have to wait long now before Cardiff Singer[:)]

Norman, I am back under my old identity!  Phew, I was worried that I'd lost access to all those links you have provided over so many years. I'm going back to that rondo of Rameau's.  I always had to be persuaded that scales had to be practiced to death.  A bit of Rameau, a bit of Czerny and I was good to go though the teacher was never actually impressed[:(]

Hélas, can't access that but just tell me which piece and I'll bet I've got it somewhere[:D]

OK, I forgive you[:D] I had a coffee and I saw Perlman at a table tout près[:D]

Did you go to La Scala?  Asked in a tone dripping with envy and suspicion........... I went there but there was NOTHING on at the time[:(]

Last night's Suzy Klein's programme of music and revolution was more enjoyable than last week's:  BBC TV 4. Both French revolutions touched on.  Besides the music, including some satirical French songs about Napoleon, the programme was also a venture into the history of European revolutions and also part sumptuous travelogue. Oh, to get the chance to visit the galeria in Milan again!

And here is the FT's review of the programme immediately following the previous one.  The FT often provides very good arts pages. [url]https://www.ft.com/content/5a411dba-0521-11e7-aa5b-6bb07f5c8e12[/url] Edit:  Mince! no ruddy good.............can't be read unless you subscribe but the programme is called Dazzling Duets; a mixed bag but enjoyable pick and mix selection all the same.  

You might like Revolution and Romance BBC TV4 this evening 19.00 GMT

Yes, delightful.............AND, I have replied to your last PM[:)] PS  forgot to tell you that it's one of my favourite operas

BBC tv 4 this evening, a programme about te Kanawa, with bits of appearances she has made on the BBC.  Made me feel very old as I remember some of those performances the first time round! Other thing is, I don't think she should sing Handel...........

Here you are then, have a bit of Harold in Italy: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JygNitEIizM[/url]  I am re-reading Ruffin's Immortelle Randonée which then puts me in mind of this

You are my heart's delight, amongst others, by one of my favourite tenors: [url]http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/051610-000-A/jonas-kaufmann-chante-le-berlin-de-1930[/url]

[quote user="Rob Roy"]  Come and visit me Mint and you can hear that each of my three donkeys has a different range and its own distinctive bray! :)[/quote] Don't care if someone wants to rap me over the knuckles for not sticking with toads!  I just HAVE to tell you, RR, that I am fascinated by what you say about donkeys having their own distinctive bray. I don't want to offend anybody but that sounds a bit like some English tourists in supermarkets and restos during holiday season.........tin hat off now! RR, I just love their ears; they are so beautiful and furry and look like they will feel lovely and soft though I haven't been near enough to stroke donkey ears! One question, RR, is it true that donkeys are very sociable and musn't be kept on their own?  A couple of French people have told me that you need to keep them with other animals, even if the other animals are not donkeys? When I happen to see donkeys, I always say bonjour, Martin, on the basis that a lot of French donkeys seem to be named Martin[:D]

No need to appoint yourself as the forum police, Richard. We have perfectly good moderators who do all that kind of thing. I started this thread for Norman when he was recovering in a nursing home and I hoped it would cheer him up but, of course, that first post is hundreds of posts ago but I do remember saying that it wasn't meant just for Norman and that anybody could join in[:D] And, yes, conversations in real life do carry on just like that!  Have you never eaten with a group of people at a table and there's nearly always more than one topic of conversation going on? Can't imagine starting a new thread for each piece of music that we have touched upon here.  So, why don't YOU start one?  Except, if it's about George Michael, I shan't be joining in, as I don't know anything about him or his "music"![:)]

richard, over 134 thousand viewings and still counting.............so we are all wrong then?

I caught about the last 5 seconds of that programme and can't get iplayer. But I do like Bernstein's music in this film and, years ago, I saw something about this musical with Bernstein himself and with te Kanawa and José Carreras singing like angels. On the whole, all of the Christmas period has yielded an appalling scarcity of music programmes and I seem to remember decades of concerts, operas and ballets in the past or is my memory playing tricks?

Sorry, Gluey, OK, all read!  I know about that link you provided; have a very wealthy American friend who has put in megabucks. Back to music, I had the most uncanny experience this morning.  I was just thinking I'd like to hear a Handel organ concerto and I was just getting the CD out of the shelving unit, when it was announced on the radio that the English Chamber Orchestra would be playing Handel's organ concerto in G minor! Norman, did you get to hear that Arte programme I told you about and, if so, what did you think of the singing?

If you didn't see, Soirée lyrique à l'Opéra de Paris on Arte this evening, you simply MUST watch it! Wonderful soloists, choir and orchestra! So many best loved arias, nothing you haven't heard hundreds if times before, but it's about doing all the basics very, very well. I just sooooo enjoyed it[:D][:D][:D] Happy Christmas!