Category: Journal
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Benedetti’s chart-topping Elgar, socially-distanced concerts back on, the Southbank, and a tweak to the career?
This week’s update from (near) the English Riviera – Falmouth Without live events there seems to be little impetus to write. Since the £1.57 billion pledge to the UK arts scene, it feels a little as though the fire has gone from the fight. Nicola Benedetti stoked the grate a considerable amount a week last…
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Live music, pilot events and hopes dashed
I’ve had an inkling of what it’s like to be a political journalist this week. Or at least what i think it might be like, starting the week thinking the angle on live performance was documenting the first tentative post-COVID steps and the hope that emanates from attending DCMS ‘pilot events’ at St John’s Smith…
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Amid confusion and misinformation: Dvorak from Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
They are broadcast moments – so far – that remind me of the only thing which appears to make sense to me right now: someone’s musical intent articulated by a team of musicians who themselves create a spectacle that moves not only me but a whole crowd of other people I don’t know.
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First Night of the BBC Proms 2020
Finally. Amid a global pandemic, the audience gets the credit it deserves.
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LPO Brass at Henry Wood Hall
I was at Henry Wood Hall this afternoon to interview brass players and percussionists at the LPO rehearsing and recording for the band’s Summer Sessions available on YouTube next week, many of whom hadn’t seen each other in real life for four months. Also weird to see actual people in real life doing ‘work things’.…
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BBC Proms 2020 details announced and highlights selected
A summer of concert broadcasts to listen to. It’s basically how I consume the Proms anyway.
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Borlotti Buitoni’s deft piece of comms
An unexpected delivery today through the letterbox. A spongy brown envelope in which was a tote bag and a face mask. Inventive marketing I thought. Arresting communications, as I retrieved the Borlotti Buitoni Trust branded mask and bag. I’ll admit that I still don’t like wearing a mask. It’s dehumanising. I hate not seeing other…
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James Recknell
A member of my musical family has passed away; an opportunity to take stock presents itself.
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UK orchestras in a post-lockdown world: a warning shot from The Guardian, and a hint of resilience and determination from The Times
The story we tell about how classical music adapts is vital to its very survival in the short, mid and long term.
