A Lark Ascending

I have the reprints of 'The Essential Jazz Records' from the 90s (2 volumes). Very useful, though at times they adopt that imperious 'delivering the tablets of stone from Mt. Sinai' pretension about their judgments - Thacker is the worst offender, if I recall correctly. I loved Gioia's West Coast book because it overtly refused to do that - recognised that it was possible to interpret music with a range of reactions and responses dependent on ones context.

Should set you up nicely for Parsifal!

I hate to think what that chap is saying!

I love Saturday mornings. Especially when the sun shines.

Is soda what we Brits call lemonade? My parents had something like this in the late-70s/early 80s. Recall my younger brothers and sisters using it quite a bit. Went completely off carbonated drinks ten + years back. Give me a cup of tea (or a bottle of unfizzy beer!)

Almost!

The key words are 'H-bomb' and 'airborne'. Edit: Sorry - just saw JSngry's post after posting. The one I always think of is the 1954 test where a Japanese fishing vessel got caught: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_2781000/2781419.stm First H Bomb was 1952 (with the Soviets catching up the following year): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2388027.stm

The UK version of e-music promised us some major labels when they shifted to the US pricing system last Autumn. No sign yet. Not that I'm complaining - I have no trouble using up my monthy quota with what is there.

I like the look of that!

Afraid not. Though these programmes tend to get repeated within the year.

Fascinating, especially in the light of recent events.

Started series 1 of 'Spiral'. Laure seems much happier than she gets by series 3. I've decided never to go to Paris again. It seems even more violent than Oxford.

Almost a chair! Not just a chair but a full suite. [A rather good "I'm doing 'Art'" scowl on his face there] Think that's a bizarre sort of chair. Look at those shoes. Nick could have been in the Bay City Rollers.

Good to have my cynicism undermined by a reissue that genuinely improves on previous versions. Pity it wasn't easier to distinguish between real improvement editions and chocolate box sets. I suppose that's what a forum like this does!

Now airing - conversation with Alyn Shipton from Cheltenham. Nice stuff so far - Surman, Azimuth, Wheeler and of course, John himself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0112crt

No expert, but I really enjoy them. Given what I have is on some pretty ropey cheapo discs I might be tempted.

You can have my CD - at several point there's definite tape wobble (or whatever it is called), causing the music to change pitch unpleasantly. Maybe Columbia are so embarrassed they are sneaking into houses and reclaiming the product. I'd better check!

I wish it would stop glowering and just rain.

Tut! Tut! The Andorran version! ****** Series 3 of Spiral finished this weekend: Left lots of threads hanging for a fourth series. I've ordered Series 1 + 2 from the rental company to catch up. Do hope BBC4 keeps up using Saturday night for these continental thrillers. Makes a nice change from the usual British/American fare.

That's a fine book. Read it a few years back on Seeline's recommendation. Only just got it back after lending it to my sister who took it to Zambia with her for a few years! Will read it again.

I'm not getting at you, A.A. I've read enough of your posts (and benefited from them) to know that your love of music is as genuine as everyone else who spends time in posting in places like this. This comes out of a general disquiet with the way music is written about. I've no more time for professional use of 'deep', 'shallow' etc. Out of interest, how does a 'shallow' performance sound different from a 'deep' one when played by musicians with the training annd long professional careers of a Perahia, Hewitt or Gould? What does it actually mean? Here are a couple of listener reactions from Amazon to the Hewitt Goldberg disc (amidst a sea of equally subjective but largely positive reactions): You can play 'spot the unsubstantiated assertion' like billy-o there! The second is talking fluent parrot. Not saying anyone is denied the right to express such views. But to me, it's all projection.

I've only heard Gould in passing. What I've read suggests that either he, his management or record company were very good at developing a 'cult of personality' around him - something that is as strong in classical music as it is in jazz or pop. I've no doubt from the enthusiasm I've read that at the time he was an exciting player with a very original way of presenting the music (as in getting it out to the public). I can see why people who were listening at that time would hold him dear (I have my own loyalties to performers from the 70s which I stick to, regardless of more recent recordings). It's only natural to hold a special place for first love. It's the deification I wonder about. And it's not just a Gould issue. How many time do I read comments from people who clearly have only just touched on listening to classical music making the grandest claims for the brilliance of these ancestor-heroes. Does the brilliance of the performer really just jump off the disc to the virgin listener? Seems to me that any special qualities are going to come out over a period of time, in comparison with other performers. There's an element of parrotting received wisdom here. I don't doubt for a moment that there are differences in performances (I've heard them!) and that, over time, we evolve our own preferences. But I feel that there's a lot of voodoo involved in the marketing of classical music - both in the presentation of new arists (the "brilliant young geniuses" or the "octogenarian with a lifetime's experience that allows him to reveal hidden depths in his Bruckner") and in the approach that tries to persuade us that we haven't really heards Bach unless we have listened to X's 1938 version. Which is why I read classical reviews (and internet posts!) with some scepticism. Those that relate their judgement to extensive listening and particular references to why the judgement is being reached I find useful (though I frequently don't understand them!); those that just express their personal enjoyment (or disappointment) can enthuse me (or make me wary). But far too many talk in the wooliest terms about 'depths' and 'shallows' and the like leaving me none the wiser, and with the suspicion that the commentary is just being read onto the music. At that point the 'Writing about music is like dancing about architecture' cliche (attributed to all sorts of people!) becomes a reality.

I can see the Curse of the Valkyries has struck again!