A blog rec: Eighty Days Of Toscanini

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For anyone who loves classical music (except Norman Lebrecht), this is by a professional player in a minor American band, who, unlike many of his fellow professional musicians, has not been embittered and has not forgotten why he got into music in the first place. An enthusiast about music and a pleasant, amusing personality, not afraid of

Comments

[shezan]

Linkety-link?

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Didn't think you were that much into old AT. Here: http://stephenswanson.blogspot.co.uk/

[shezan]

I am not but I never know when something will make me see the light.....

[joetexx]

Why is Mr. Lebrecht excluded?

[fpb]

For writing this kind of thing: http://standpointmag.co.uk/music-may-12-vinyl-revival-causes-discord-norman-lebrecht-lps-mp3s-valentina-lisitsa

Meddle not in the affairs of passionate music lovers...

[joetexx]

I have no strong opinion on this, but, having physically separated close friends who got wired up on CD v. LP, I, er, choose to retire discreetly from the room.

Re: Meddle not in the affairs of passionate music lovers...

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It's not about the vinyl, it's about the passage where he says that Chailly is better than Toscanini. Why? Because he is more modern. Music and performance inevitably improve with time... a viewpoint which will endear itself to anyone who cares to compare, say, Paul McCartney or the Rolling Stones with a newer band.

OT but perhaps of interest

[joetexx]

The Royal Mint has struck a series of coins to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics. Each depicts a sporting event and a Roman god. No, you have not misread that last sentence, nor have I mis­typed it. The Royal Mint doesn’t know its Mars from its Ares. The howler is cast in 22-karat gold for all to see. The Mint has not issued an apology or expressed embarrassment. There has been, however, a retrospective explanation: As the motto of the revived Greek Olympics is in the Latin language, it is right for the gods of those who spoke it to appear on Olympic coins.

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2012/07/20/synchronized-grinning/

Don't know enough about Brit sports or education to comment on the rest ofthe article, but that pargraph cracked me up.

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To be fair, the Romans were allowed to compete in the ancient Olympics because of their claim to be of Greek descent.

So was Virgil trying to have it both ways?

[joetexx]

I mean, Aeneas and Co. were Trojans.

Re: So was Virgil trying to have it both ways?

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But did Virgil ever say that the Trojans were not Hellenes? I can't remember him doing so, and I read him from cover to cover. Anyway, the idea that Rome was a Greek colony was widespread and widely accepted, thanks in part to the fortunate agreement between the city's name and the Greek word "rhome", physical strength.