Classical Music Archives

Technological advances throughout history have both inspired artists to develop new skills (for example, mastering the incredible Spirograph) and allowed us to appreciate their work in increasingly sophisticated, more accessible mediums.

The slow-yet-steady adoption of HD across the UK means more people are able to take advantage of the vastly improved picture clarity and sound quality offered by the technology. Of course, this is great for fans of the arts as it means our favourite documentaries, concerts and films look and sound better.

In the UK, Sky has been one of the biggest investors in HD programming and our sponsor, Sky Arts, broadcasts selected shows in high-def. ArtsWom will be making a point of highlighting the channels’ HD offerings, starting today with a pair of classical concerts from some gorgeous locations in Scotland – read more.

You may not have heard of Sviatoslav Richter, but if you have you would probably recognise him as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. The notorious recluse was a mystery in his time, but a film produced shortly before his death cast a new light on the genius. Want to know what makes brilliance tick? – read more.

What would happen if Girls Aloud, Katherine Jenkins, and Jamie Cullum joined forces to perform a selection of great compositions of Mozart? Fortunately, we’ll probably never have to find out, although I admit I’m quite intrigued about how Cheryl Tweedy and company would interpret Tamino from The Magic Flute. For a far more likely selection of musicians from pop, jazz, and classical backgrounds performing Mozart’s best, click here…

Recent statistics show that more Brits are sitting down to eat later in the evening to suit their hectic work schedules. If you’re reading this blog, however, I’m assuming you’re of an arty persuasion and so couldn’t be persuaded to work hard even if a free bottle of Absinthe was guaranteed. Therefore, you might be around to enjoy the critically-acclaimed performance of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise this afternoon – read more.

If you were to ask fifty passers-by on the street what their favourite orchestral composition would be, they would either stub their cigarette out in your face or say something like Beethoven’s 5th. Either way, they’d be wrong. The right answer is The Planets by Gustav Holst which is being shown in mind-blowing-o-vision on a TV near you – read more

Daniel Barenboim: Mozart Piano Sonata No 5 K283

Wed 12 Sep 12:50 PM - 2:00PM

It is fitting that Barenboim be the one to bring us this series of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas, as he too was a child prodigy, giving his first recital at the age of seven. Much maligned by critics, Mozart’s sonatas go largely unperformed, probably due to the fact that they were written with the intent of being performed in the close quarters of the parlours of his patrons, not huge concert halls. Opting for clarity instead of over complicated finger movements, a young Mozart delivered what he was paid for, leaving us with pieces that are simple, graceful and charming, without being the hugely layered complicated orchestral works of his later years.

One immensely talented musician brings us the music of another, both who started early and grabbed the attention of the music world in their teenage years. The parallels are quite astonishing. Both learned to play at the age of five, and remarkably quickly. Mozart’s father reported that the child prodigy learned his first piece in half an hour, and his first public performance followed soon after, just as did Barenboim’s. They even played in the same cities at early ages; London, Paris and of course, Vienna. Both toured extensively, Barenboim’s sphere extending rather further than Mozart’s, obviously. Both became known as the most versatile musicians of their generations. Maybe this is why Barenboim understands the music of Mozart so well, resulting in a breathtaking performance.

If you want to contribute your thoughts on what makes a child prodigy, join in here.

For those poor Brits floating Noah-like upon a pool of muddy water where their house used to be, it can be difficult to remember that it’s summer. But against all evidence to the contrary, it is, which means that a certain infamous Scottish arts event can’t be far behind. Yes, with the Fringe kicking off on 5th August and the official programme launching on the 10th, it’s time to seriously consider booking some tickets and a bed for the comprehensively cosmopolitan, caber-tossing cultural conundrum that is the Edinburgh Festival.

The official site shows you all the opera, dance, theatre and music on offer in six major theatres and concert halls across the city, as well as smaller niche venues. Looking at the offerings, ArtsWom suggests that unmissable gems will include Alan Cumming, back on the Scottish stage for the first time in sixteen years in The Bacchae; Benjamin Bagby, harpist and storyteller, with his Old English rendition of Beowulf; and Jordi Savall playing baroque classics on the little-known viola da gamba.

Over at the Fringe there is the usual bewildering array of the sublime and the ridiculous. From the Kaiser Chiefs to Auto Auto, a ‘crash musical’ involving the decimation of a Vauxhall Astra Mk2, making decisions about what to see can be pretty difficult. Of course, you can follow the strategy of spontaneity, and go unbooked and ready to follow the flyers wherever they may lead – and hey, there are worse things than watching acrobatic Polish dwarves interpreting Pinter through ballet.

Whatever your plans, Artswom will of course bring you any hot tips as we hear them, but in the meantime get yourself in the mood for the mayhem at the Fringe MySpace page with their blog, videos and this nice little game involving cakes.

ArtsWom favourite Jessica Duchen has posted a link on her blog taking you to her interview with classical singer, Angelika Kirchschlager, published in yesterday’s Independent. Click here for the link.

Angelika Kirchschlager has become one of the world’s most sought after mezzo-sopranos, performing with many distinguished composers such as Christopher Hogwood, Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle, after debuting in 1993 with the role of Cherubino in the Marriage of Figaro.

The interview offers a delightful insight into the character of the artist, sharing her thoughts on her career, success and personal life - discussing her son and what she does for relaxation.

After writing the article, “The highs and lows of classical music”, that spoke about our thoughts on Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s speech made at the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ conference and regarding the future of classical music – ArtsWom wondered what other observers would make of Maxwell Davies’s rather negative perspective.

To find out we headed over to Frederik Magle’s International Music forum to ask the clued-up bods there. Since then we’ve received some great (and, thankfully, reassuring) responses along with some interesting links which we thought we would share with our readers.

Rojo hands us a link to an article about composer John Adams who personally pays little heed to the whole “death of classical music” argument suggesting that it would probably be easier to forget the term ‘classical’ and just get on with it (to paraphrase slightly!). This in part echoes the opinion of ArtsWom, and we were particularly taken aback with Maxwell Davies’s pointed distinction between “serious” music and contemporary music. Marking classical music as noticeably separate from what is popular is almost self-fulfilling in it’s defeatism. To then term classical as “serious” music further paints an erroneous picture of the art and the varied mix of people who enjoy listening to a wide variety of genres, including classical, and the contemporary artists whose work is inspired by classical.

We really hope you read the responses to our thread and offer your own thoughts (either here or in the forums) and, if you would like to see further insight into people’s views on the future of classical music follow this link to another discussion in Magle’s Forum, entitled “Where is classical music headed?”, or read this article in The Times Online asking, “Can classical music escape the noose?”

Glass’s music was pretty much everywhere already and now it actually is.

The prolific composer’s recognisable sound and style accompany the new trailer for the videogame GTA IV. Controversy has surrounded the GTA franchise since the release of its first incarnation in 1997/98. Taking on the role of a street tough, the player must work his way up through the criminal ranks by committing a variety of crimes from, as the title suggests, car-theft to the gangster staples of drug-running and murder. Despite this reputation the game has always been critically acclaimed and this success looks set to continue with the fourth installment.

Music has always featured prominently in the game, used to promote the cinematic qualities of the game-play and story-telling. As the Ludologist points out on his blog the game has previously featured kitsch pop and hip hop, he is now hoping the latest version will explore the world of minimalist classical accompaniment.

The article was re-posted by CMB at the Magle International Music Forum and if you want to watch the rather excellent GTA IV trail follow this YouTube link.

If you want more Glass then SkyArts Philip Glass Night is for you. It will air tomorrow, Saturday 14^th April from 9:00pm.

Jessica Duchen of Jessica Duchen’s Classical Music Blog fame was recently granted the esteemed position of judge for this year’s BBC Music Magazine CD awards and has written a blog about her experience, including this year’s winners. It seems as though she had a fantastic evening and, after working her way through what equates to roughly 187 discs worth of material, she has certainly earned it!

Jessica also includes an interesting link to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s speech for the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ conference. Maxwell Davies has a lot to say about the current state of classical musical appreciation and paints a rather bleak picture of the future. ArtsWom take some exception to this attitude and would like to point to the thriving communities of classical music fans across the net. Jessica Duchen’s blog itself is a fantastic example of the quality of resources available to people willing to look. As the popularity of digital radio increases, dedicated stations are becoming more widespread and on digital television, Sky Arts offer classical music programming daily and there are several other channels offering similar possibilities. With such support, it is hard to envisage the culturally dystopian future Maxwell Davies warns of.

ArtsWom would like to hear your thoughts on the speech and, to follow on from Sir Maxwell Davies’s message of successful education, we would like to hear about any initiatives happening in your locality for future features.

Recently, ArtsWom have been spending a lot of time getting to know those classical music afficiandos over at the Magle International Music forums. After having a good look around, we are bringing you some links to just a few of the conversations that caught our eye.

Geographic composer ABC game – This compellingly difficult game has been going on for years and is now on its seventeenth page! Fancy yourself as a walking encyclopedia of classical composers? Put yourself to the test here!

Are CDs destined to the same fate as cassettes? - Fascinating discussion here, and the attitude is somewhat defeatist for the poor (potentially endangered) compact disc.

Tchaikovsky’s heterosexuality – ‘Bilbo47′ raises a serious point by discussing the composer’s sexual orientation and how he is remembered (celebrated?) as being homosexual in the West and yet considered heterosexual in Russia. ‘Bilbo47′ asks for clarification on the issue which leads to an informative conversation.

Snow White, Alien Hunter – Granted this isn’t really a conversation, and it has nothing to do with classical music, but we found it impressive nonetheless!

Frederic Chopin is considered by many to be the greatest and most significant composer for the piano. At the age of twenty he left Poland for France and lived in Paris where he taught, composed and performed.

Being such an important figure in relation to the piano, the instruments he played are exceptionally rare and held in high regard. With only a few pianos confirmed as being owned by the legendary maestro and even fewer of these actually functional, the recent discovery in an English country house of a Chopin owned, working Pleyel piano is quite an event.

This most recent Chopin instrument was sought out by the scholar, Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger who tracked it to the English antique collector Alec Cobbe. He had apparently bought the Pleyel for $3880 having no idea of its history.

To read some more on this go to these blogs; CrazyAussieBastard and PolishToledo.

Tip of the hat to 2blogmusic.com who points us in the direction of Magle International music forums, the community messageboards that cover a wide range of genres but seems very classical-centric – after all, classical composer Frederik Magle is one of the contributors. Although ArtsWom haven’t had a lot of time to look around and get stuck in, the site seems very welcoming and has an active membership.

While you’re visiting 2blogmusic.com, scroll down the page and take a look at the Annie video. Bone-chillingly terrifying or just eerily cute? Let us know.

Click here to see this very useful thread over at the Talk Classical classical music forums. The site administrators have set up the ‘Identifying music’ thread to help their members…well, you can probably guess the function. Head this way to tag a title to those troublesome tunes.

Although still only in a preview release, ArtsWom could not wait to test-drive Songbird - the open source project being billed as the Firefox of media players. Considering that the quality of our writing is in direct proportion to the volume of the music we’re listening to, the fate of the entire ArtsWom blog rested in the small, feathery hands of this ambitious, little media player.
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