Hatches, Matches & Despatches

[rob]

Sad to report the death of Sir Charles Mackerras.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment+arts-10646000

I was due to sing in three Beethoven 9s (London, Madrid & Valladolid) under his baton just after Easter earlier this year, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightement. In the event Sir Charles was too ill, the Madrid concert was cancelled, and the London & Valladolid concerts went ahead with Ilan Volkov instead. Volkov was excellent and inspiring, but I regret that Sir Charles didn't conduct - everyone in the chorus spoke fondly of him.

[Op. XXXIX]

A shame that Mackerras' Telarc project of the G&S operettas never got past five installments. They were great fun and I really enjoyed them. Does anyone know if more were originally planned?

[Timtin]

Authur Bliss was born 119 years ago today.
On Wednesday it will be the centenary of William Schuman's birth.
On Thursday it will be exactly 316 years since the birth of Leonardo Leo.
(Guess what his star sign was!)

[rob]

Authur Bliss was born 119 years ago today.
On Wednesday it will be the centenary of William Schuman's birth.
On Thursday it will be exactly 316 years since the birth of Leonardo Leo.
(Guess what his star sign was!)

Thanks for that Tim. I must listen to some late Bliss (I know and love all the early stuff) and one of the few pieces of William Schuman I don't know very well - maybe the Tenth Symphony. I know nothing of Leonardo Leo...

[WCosand]

Mitch Miller obituary
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/ ... iller.html

[davida march]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/arts/ ... ss&emc=rss

Thought this most appropriate here - although, do we have a thread for recent research and curious aspects of composers lives?

Davida

[rob]

Geoff Burgon RIP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11393354

Nice man - I met him during the rehearsals for his ballet Persephone about 1983 at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. We chatted about contemporary music and his work with I think the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. A very gentle but memorable lyricism is my most abiding feeling about his music. Self-efacing perhaps but solid craftsmanship. Sad loss at only 69.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Burgon

[Timtin]

158 years ago tomorrow saw the birth of the entirely excellent Charles Villiers Stanford.
It's a shame that he didn't write lots more piano music. (It's also a shame that Jeremy Dibble's
book about him is so ridiculously expensive - over a hundred quid, when I last checked on Amazon.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford

[Timtin]

I forgot to mention that it was the 250th. anniversary of the birth of the
great Luigi Cherubini on the 14th. of September.

His set of 6 String Quartets and Symphony in D are all of the highest quality.

October's children include Berio, Billings, Crumb, Dukas, Galuppi, Ives
Lortzing, Liszt, Reich, Saint-Saens, ScarlattiD, Schutz, Szymanowski,
Vaughan Williams, and Verdi.

[Timtin]

Hungarian born mezzo soprano Vera Rózsa died last weekend aged 93.

She'd been living in the UK since 1954. Her first husband, composer and conductor
Laszlo Weiner was murdered by the Nazis, despite pleas to spare his life from both
her and Zoltan Kodaly. Apparently, she herself later only survived two Gestapo
interrogations thanks to her acting ability.

The world of opera will mourn her passing.