Maybe it’s because I spend so much of my life writing about music, reading about music, listening to music and, whenever possible, making music, that I only very seldom actually watch TV about music. (Any opportunity to flop in front of the telly is usually accompanied by an overpowering urge
This week, my last full week of holiday before pushing my nose firmly against the grindstone once again, I seem to have spent a great deal of time watching Disney films. Whilst my brain refuses to retain specific dates of compositions, Bach Verzeichnis numbers, or a whole host of other
Well, here we are in the middle of the summer holidays. There’s time off to go walking, visit new places, watch too much telly, drink beer with friends… and start noticing things you don’t tend to pay much attention to the rest of the time. As I sat on a
‘We all want to research, to discover,’ Elliot continued, puffing lazily on his pipe. ‘When what we really ought to do is simply remind people. They seem to forget so much, so very quickly.’ No, it’s not a line from some extremely distinguished author. I wrote that. Maybe one day
Anyone who has ever organised an event will know that, however carefully and lovingly you plan it, someone will complain about something. You might have booked one of the greatest living artists to give a concert; or found the ideal combination of teachers for a course; even taken the time
News and drama. The two are, in modern terms, basically inseparable: stories hit the headlines precisely because they are dramatic, that things are at crisis point, that heads may roll. This is what makes for column inches. And also, as it happens, stirring opera plots. Appropriately enough, then, the New
I’m delighted to welcome Dr Kevin Malone to the site, who kindly consented to write the first ever guest post here! Kevin is Senior Lecturer in Composition, and former Head of Composition at the University of Manchester. He is writing here in a private capacity, in response (initially) to the
Last night, I went to see the musical Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre. I remembered the film very fondly, and if the songs turned out to be not all that memorable, the comic timing was superb (it’s worth it for Harold Wilson’s dance routine alone). Since I knew
In response to last week’s blog, I had a suggestion from a friend of mine, the creator of the fabulous Dave Conservatoire, to take on one of the big topics of music today: the relationship between ‘commercial’ music and ‘serious’ music. (No pressure there then.) So in true sticking-to-the-point style,
Some thoughts on opera, funding, and finding audiences… At the end of a week where the game of two halves rather lost its equal opportunities for both sides, newspaper and online debate has produced a raft of articles concerning a slightly different kind of inequality. When the 2015-18 Arts Council funding
