Random Jottings

Tenor - History of a Voice by John Potter

Because I love opera and have done all my life, Yale University Press very kindly sent me a copy of this book for me to review.   Very much a 'newbie'  as far as receiving books from this publishing house is concerned, but the thing that has struck me already is just how gorgeous these books are.  Beautifully printed, high production values, paper you want to stroke and the whole package just resulting in a book that you want to hold just for its sheer sensory pleasure even before reading its content.  I am currently half way through the  Dickens biography by Michael Slater also sent to me and, apart form being a simply magnificent book (of which more later), it is also gorgeous to the touch.

OK back to the Tenor.  I was married to one of these strange creatures, for they are a race apart I can assure you, for some 23+ years and over the years became used to the endless practicing, in music room and in bath (Patrick's rendition of Nessun Dorma one evening bringing riotous applause from all out neighbours who were listening in), the sucking of cough sweets, the panic when anybody with so much as a sniffle came within a radius of 100 yards (with two young children this was problematical), the warming up, the repetition of listening to the same phrase over and over again as he learned a new role/lieder/oratorio.  This was all part of my life and I just took it as normal - heaven knows why when it was anything but.  So I came to this book with the working knowledge of what a life of a tenor was all about.

I went to my first opera when I was about 12. It was the Barber of Seville sung in English and I saw it at the then Sadlers Wells opera.  Sung in English with the Almaviva short and fat I was somewhat disappointed (this year saw Juan Diego Flores in this role at Covent Garden - oh my goodness) and it was not until I was taken to see Aida at Covent Garden that the gloriousness and wonderfulness of this art form burst upon me and I have been an ardent fan ever since.

The tenor has all the best tunes, we know this already though I always rather liked a baritone and I could go on about hat but won't as I am reviewing this totally fascinating book.  I was expecting something a little learned and rather difficult to read and though, indeed, it has obviously been heavily researched and sourced it is written in a relaxed and informative style that enabled me to zap through this in one morning with huge enjoyment.

Difficult to pick out a part of Tenor to concentrate on as overall it is just such an interesting book.  Best to run through the chapter headings I think to give you an idea of the stages in this history:  Prehistory of the Voice; Handel, Mozart and the Tenor-Castrato connection (this always makes me wince); The Tenor as Artist; Caruso and the Italian Succession; France; Russia, Romantic Tenor Hero; Heldentenor.

These are just a few of the aspects of the Tenor voice covered and I had more interest in some than the others because of my personal interest.  The section on Heldentenors and Wagner was, of course, one of the first chapters I read.  One famous such tenor Melchior, who was brave enough to leave the Festival in Bayreuth because of its politicization, a very career risking move, appeared at Covent Garden and became a long standing favourite at the Met in New York.  Melchior became involved in radio, television and theatre work so the 'cross over' singer is not a new phenomenon.

Later in this section Cooper discusses Rene Kollo, who I saw sing and then Siegfried Jerusalem, who I remember well as a sexy and gorgeous Siegmund in a televised Ring shown on the BBC back in the seventies (yes an entire Ring on the BBC - can you imagine that now?  No need to answer that). 

Then James King, who I never saw in Wagner, but remember hearing him in a dreadful performance of Il Trovatore at ROH - I can assume he must have been having an off night as I have heard him sing beautifully on record and TV - this was the only time I saw him live, sadly.  Jon Vickers - magnificent voice and though I never saw him live I have his recording of Fidelio and Othello on my shelves.

I have concentrated only on the Heldentenor section of Cooper's excellent book, but of course I cannot possibly leave this review without mentioning the Three Tenors.  Difficult to emphasise just how much impact this one concert had on the spread of opera worldwide - I remember watching it with my husband and two daughters and as the evening wore on the excitement and sheer total thrill of watching Carreras, Pavarotti and Domingo producing sound after glorious sound was overwhelming.   While I deplore some of the current so called 'opera singers' promoted by record companies and a certain radio station, and who are nothing of the kind (you know who you are...), I have to rein in my snobbish tendencies and remind myself that I am just so glad that more and more people are listening to opera in any shape or form.  It is the greatest art form in the world, well in my humble opinion anyway) and the tenor voice, whether we like it or not, is the one that has a visceral quality that will grab you and thrill you. 

I have been present in an opera house and heard Carlo Bergonzi (elegant, honeyed phrasing, not a nasty sound anywhere, sublime); went to a dress rehearsal and then a performance of Verdi's I Lombardi when I heard Carreras for the first time and practically had to be carried out on a stretcher; Pavarotti and Sutherland in Lucia di Lammermore when the Sextet brought proceedings to a halt while the audience shrieked and screamed; Domingo in Verdi and more recently in Wagner, which I will never EVER forget; further back in time I have heard James King, Alberto Remedios (ENO Ring-magnificent), Charles Craig (long forgotten English tenor, mentioned here,  who had a wonderful voice - saw him as Radames in Aida), Juan Diego Flores in Barber - well I could go on and on and add to that television appearances and all the opera recordings I own.

I cannot finish without mentioning Giuseppe di Stefano an Italian tenor who smoked too much, drank too much and womanised too much and who wrecked his voice in the end, but for ten glorious years was THE Italian tenor.  It was the recordings of Italian opera with Di Stefano, Callas and Tito Gobbi that I played over and over again as a teenager (played the records so often they resembled lace doyleys at the end) and I have never forgotten his full bodied and totally committed approach.  When I first heard the young Carreras I was struck how his phrasing was similar to that of Di Stefano, and then read that he had been his hero ....so the tradition goes on and on.

I am straying wildly form the main reason for this post which is to review this book, but then I do tend to get carried away when I discuss opera as I love it sooooo much but back to Tenor - the History of a voice..

And what do I think of it?

Totally fascinating, meticulously researched, a book covering the history of the tenor voice up to date, can be kept on your shelves as a book to be taken down and referred to at any time, flowing style, total honesty about past and present singers and, in short, a simply marvellous book. And, as I mentioned above, the tradition continues with new and exciting singers coming to the fore.  We may have lost Pavarotti and Carreras now retire, we still have Domingo but even this superb singer cannot go on for ever, and it is a comforting thought that the tenor voice will never die, the chapter Post War Losses and Gains makes this very clear.  I gather that John Potter is a tenor himself so he knows all about his subject.

I close with this rather touching anecdote about Francesco Tamagno who was of the first tenors to record. Nowadays when all singers can hear their own voices at the touch of a button of the click on an iPod, it is difficult to realise how a singer must have felt to hear himself for the first time:

".....but to watch Tamagno as he stood by machine, at times leaning lovingly over it, listening all the while with profound enjoyment to the tones of his own robust, colossal voice. From time to time he would ejaculate with a broad smile "Che bellazza" or "Com e bello, non e vero?"

Isn't that lovely?

MGM Musicals Prom at the Albert Hall

Last Saturday night I plumped myself down on the sofa full of anticipation, tv up nice and loud (neighbours upstairs were out and even if they were in I would have had it full blast to get my own back for their wretched dog yapping and barking all the way tthrough the Friday prom on BBC4.  Mendelssohn symphony with orchestra and terrier it should have been billed), ready to enjoy the Prom from the Albert Hall celebrating the MGM musical.

I have read a couple of reviews which have been snooty and patronising, yes well it was a FUN concert, so not really culture at all and the purist critics have been a bit snotty, the Guardian review here is the least damning with faint praise and I am cross, because this was a really great evening. OK, so there were drawbacks, no dancing and Singing in the Rain is not much of a song unless you have Gene Kelly leaping about, and Clive Anderson, who is proving one of the most inept presenters of the Proms the BBC has managed to produce (come back Alan Titchmarsh all is forgiven) was irritating and didn't know when to shut up and actually talked across some of the music for crying out loud, but ignoring all minor irritations,  Oh the music!  Lush, gorgeous, the entire orchestra which was huge, giving it some serious welly and judging by the smiles and the grins on their faces, the musicians were having a ball.  In the huge sweeping violin loaded moments, the players dipped and swayed like they were at the Vienna New Year's Day Ball, and when the individual soloists stood up and played their bit (one trumpeter being particularly stunning), the audience cheered and yelled and gave them thunderous applause.  It was like a huge jazz concert.

The soloists were good and included Sir Thomas Allen who I thought was slightly self conscious at the start, but loosened up later on in the evening and sang Gigi beautifully, and then really let his still gorgeous baritone voice rip in I'm a Stranger in Paradise from Kismet.  For me though the star of the four singers was Kim Cresswell, a lush red haired lady with a voice that would knock your socks off, who did a beautifully intimate rendition of Over the Rainbow, then a sassy Sing Alleluia, come on get happy from Summer Stock (this is a Judy Garland number) and I got Rhythm from An American In Paris.

Every single number had me shouting Oh I remember this and singing along and dancing around the living room and brought back the happy hours I spent in the darkness of the cinema as a child watching all these glorious movies.  Back in the 1970s a compilation called That's Entertainment, of gorgeous moments from all these films, really reminded us all of how fantastic these Golden years were, and introduced the songs and music to a new audience.  With the advent of video and now DVD, the vast majority of these musicals are available for home viewing.  I think I probably have most of them but WHY isn't Take me out to the Ball Game, a totally silly but disarming musical with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin and Esther WIlliams (who makes her entrance in a swimming pool, natch) not available over here? 

 

A few Gene Kelly musicals from my collection

As well as the MGM musicals of course, I have plenty of Ginger and Fred and Fred and A N Other, including Rita Hayworth, and buy musicals more up to date, if I love them.  Last one was Chicago a few years ago, but not many are made nowadays, sadly.  Probably because nothing could be as good as these glorious movies and so they don't try... which makes sense.

This Prom could not have happened without the conductor, John Wilson, who painstakingly reconstructed the scores of the original orchestral parts by listening and watching all of these films.  No scores were available because it would appear that MGM's music library was lost when the studios were demolished.  Now for sheer fat headed stupidity that takes some beating though of course we have to remember when lamenting this fact, that the BBC the producers of this concert, are equally guilty of such crassness, having wiped the tapes of hundreds of programmes made in the 1960s and 1970 and lost huge treasure troves of wonderful plays, concerts and interviews.  These would have been worth keeping as in those days the Beeb actually produced high class programming.  Now of course, should you really really want to, you can keep copies of Graham Norton, Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross to name just three of the luminaries currently gracing our screens, well not mine, I don't watch them.

Goodness me, I am off on a rant again and will stop myself before I really get going and forget the reason for this post which is just to say what a glorious evening last Saturday at the Albert Hall turned out to be, packed house, audience having a whale of a time, standing ovation at the end (so where did these miserable b******s who dissed it sitting I ask myself), and almost reconciled me to the BBC keeping the licence fee.

Almost...today I see that the BBC have got rid of yet another female over 35 years old from Strictly Come Dancing.  Having ejected Arelene Phillips from the judges panel, Karen Hardy one of the most popular dancers on the show, is also leaving.   Arlene is 66, Karen 39.  Len Goodman, head judge and Bruce Forsyth, the show's host are 67 and 80 respectively and they are still there.  They do have a huge advantage, however. They are Men and Men on the Beeb are allowed to age gracefully, but women? Oh no. Get a few wrinkles and lines and you are out the door baby and no use moaning about it to them, which I and thousands have done I gather, as they will ignore you and...

Sorry I am off again.  I shall try and concentrate on the glories of Saturday's Prom instead.

"Sing alleluia come on get happy, chase all your cares away, sing alleluia get happy, get ready for Judgment Day"

Summer is here - the Ashes and the Proms

Yes, I am talking about the Clashes for the Ashes, so if you are not interested in cricket then go and do something useful and put the kettle on and make yourself a cup of tea because you will not want to read this post.

First test at Cardiff, England were so bad it was embarrassing and for once I was thankful that I did not have Sky as I knew that I would torture myself by watching every ball.  I just had the one hour highlights in the evening on Channel 5 and thank heavens for that channel for taking it.  I will not start here about my feelings on the Beeb allowing Test Cricket to be lost by them as it is pointless.  I have written as have others and the BBC, as usual, don't take any notice of what the viewers and licence payers want, and arrogantly ignore us.

OK I Must Not Rant.

The amazing thing about the first Test was that, despite being awful and despite all our so called leading batsmen being bowled out, we managed to hang on for a draw.  Now I know that some people say 'Hey you played for five days and didn't get a result, what sort of mad game is this?" and yes, I agree that is sounds barmy but this is where Test Matches are so wonderful.  Holding on and not getting out was, in this context, as interesting and nail biting as a superb win.  The Aussies were furious and made all sorts of comments about time wasting (which we did and so have they in the past) and also various snide remarks about England celebrating a draw as if it was a win.  Well, they  have pretty short memories as in 2005 when the position was reversed and Australia hung on to frustrate England, McGrath and Warne and the rest of the team were high fiving and yelling and shouting with joy - goes without saying that the Press have reminded them of this fact...  lots of gleeful comments on all the forums and noticeboards as well along the lines of 'whingeing Aussies'. 

What it boiled down to was that Australia did Not Win the Match, and we did not lose it,  and this was because having out bowled and outplayed us comprehensively, at the end of the day they were unable to bowl out Monty Panesar and James Anderson, two tail enders who doggedly defended for 11 overs.  And out of those two, they were bowling at someone who really is the Worst Batsman in the World.  Sorry Monty.  No wonder they were mad.

Anyway we are now in Test Two and as is the norm the England team started off brilliantly and then came the inevitable middle order collapse which follows as surely as night the day. Once more this morning we had James Anderson and another tail ender who managed to hang on and add another 40+ runs to bring us up to a respectable 425 and then the Aussies came out to bat.

  

No need for me to go into a match report - at close of play Australia were 158 for 8 (Stuart Broad above taking the most sensational catch and diving full length to get it) and need another 70 runs to avoid the follow on.  Oh what joy it would be if we could enforce this and bowl them out twice.  They would then be in the same position as us in Test One and I can tell you now, if the Aussies manage to force a draw in this Test, they will be rejoicing and leaping around and the boot will be on the other foot...

OK so a great day and I am now sitting here watching the First Night of the Proms with the knowledge that there is another six weeks ahead of music to listen to.  I may not attend any more, but each time I see or listen to any of these concerts, my mind goes back to my teenage days when I used to attend each concert and stand in the arena, just about ten feet await from the orchestra.  The Albert Hall is where I learned my classical music, where I heard my first Mahler symphony, stood through Act 3 of a concert performance of Tristan and Isolde, stood behind Stokowski when he conducted the first UK performance of Shostakovitch 5th symphony....I could go on and on and in fact I probably will in a later post.

So another lovely day today - cricket and music - what a glorious mixture.

Oliver!

Got to London yesterday eve to find that Rowan Atkinson was alive and well, had not fallen downstairs or thrown out a splinter and was doing the performance so that was a relief.  First hurdle out of way.

However, we had another one to face. I only discovered yesterday that the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane has No Lift.  It is a listed building and so English Heritage had said that we all have to hike ourselves up endless stairs to get to our seats (I am reliably informed that there are 35 steps to the Grand Circle where we were sitting) so multiply that by about four, sling the odd ups and downs into the bars and loos etc and you will realise that the hoi polloi up in the gods are punished even more for their poverty by denying them oxygen and finishing them off.  My friend Rosemary is very arthritic and cannot do stairs so we had a problem here and after I let fly with a few verbal volleys about discrimination and access for the disabled, I was informed they did indeed have this access but it was only in the stalls. AH HA! shrieked I, so if you are disabled and POOR and cannot afford the stalls it is well toodle pip, goodbye and off you go (well I did'nt quite put it that way but you get the drift). 

To cut a long story short, a charming young manager called David then came along and led us through a way that cut out half the steps and let us into the auditorium before anybody else.  He also detailed two nice young things to keep an eye on us and could not have been more helpful.   Turned out that this was his bread and butter job and what he really wanted to do was to be a singer and he was a tenor with an audition the following week for a bit part in We Will Rock You.  Never fails to amaze me how interesting people are behind what looks like an ordinary exterior.  Last time Ro and I went to Covent Garden we got into a taxi driven by a man who used to be a chorister and a child singer and actually sang in the children's chorus in Act 1 of Carmen at the Opera House. True.

 

I am rambling, ok don't say it (nothing new there then).  The show was simply wonderful.  My two daughters loved Oliver and knew, and still do know, every single word of every single song, as do I and Rosemary threatened me with dire consequences if I joined in while the show was on.  I managed it but it was hard and I finally gave in at the very end when practically the entire audience was singing Consider Yourself at the tops of their voices.  It was a joyous evening, Rowan Atkinson quite quite brilliant, the Nancy not quite so, the chorus and boys marvellous but the the star of the evening was the set and production.  Simply stunning. 

 

The stage at Drury Lane is 80 feet deep and with the perspective and St Paul's in the distance looked even more so, each scene shifted and changed and it was magnificent. 

Audience on their feet at the end yelling appreciation.  Magical evening.

Oh and as well as going into Lady Brackcell mode at the theatre, I had to do the same at the restaurant where we had arrived early for a meal before hte show, waited 50 minutes for our starters, they then got them wrong, had to wait for replacements and we did not have time to eat our main course.  I made my displeasure felt and heard by the entire restaurant and we swep out, my final words being 'And please don't even think of charging us for anything we have eaten or drunk...."

Of course by the end of the evening we were a tad clemmed so sat on the train going home eating the biggest ham and cheese baguette I have ever seen, purchased at Liverpool Street. It was pretty revolting as well but needs must.  I do hate eating on trains but as we were surrounded by late night revellers on their way back to the sunny climes of Essex stuffing their faces with Macdonalds, hot pasties, Whoppers, sausage rolls and one man eating sushi, all washed down by pints of Coke, Red Bull and Fanta, we were not out of place.....

Great evening but gosh I am tired today.

Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 - The Final

I have said before that it all depends on the performance on the night and it was true again in this year's final.  I am putting my thoughts down here at 19:38 before the judges make a decision so I cannot pretend I knew who was going to win all along.  You have to admire my honesty. Well, you don't have to but it would be nice if you did.......... 

Japanese soprano - my favourite but she pushed a bit tonight and not sure she is going to do it; Italian tenor, terrific fun but at 21 a bit unremitting and feel he needs more colour in his voice though he was wonderful and I shall keep an eye out for him, a Pavarotti in the making (and no, he did not sing Nessun Dorma thank heavens, that would have been too much of a good thing); bass did an aria from Don Carlos and I felt he was good but he did not thrill me (I gather he won the Lieder prize).  Then the Russian soprano (I apologise for using nationalities instead of names but I cannot spell most of them) came on and did a complete performance and was brilliant.  I thought she was the weakest of the five even thought she did a wonderful letter scene from Onegin in her round, but tonight she was spot on.  The counter tenor simply sensational and the audience adored him.

So in my opinion it comes down to the Russian soprano or the counter tenor and my choice would be the counter tenor - just.  I wonder if the jury will agree with me - my gut feeling is they will go with Russia but we shall see.

I will let you know in about half an hour if I was right...or more likely, wrong.

LATER - Well, I was right. The Russian soprano won and on the performance she gave tonight the correct decision though I do wish the counter tenor had done it as I think that would have been a bold award.  However, as soon as Ekaterina had finished, I thought 'she's got it'.

The audience prize, voted for by everyone watching in the theatre throughout the week and on TV and listening on radio, was Giovanni Lucca, the Italian tenor, and he was beaming all over his face.  Lovely young chap and he is going to be a great singer, if, and it is a big if, he is not pushed too far, too fast.

The trophy was presented by Dame Joan Sutherland who made it, though she has recently had a fall and hurt her leg I gather.  There she was and it is a sobering thought to realise that she is now 80 years old.  I remember seeing her when I was just eleven  in Lucia at Covent Garden and meeting her back stage afterwards.  A kind and gracious lady who signed my programme for me. Needless to say as soon as she walked on the stage the audience leapt to their feet and simply yelled. Magical moment.

So, wonderful competition as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed the leisure and time that is now mine to sit and watch every single round.  I have had hay fever back again the last few days so have spent a lot of time indoors and delighted that there was decent TV available.  Oh and to add to it all of course, Andy Murray won the tennis championship at Queens today, the first Brit to do that for over 70 years.

So a good day - as I said in my previous post Tennis and Top Notes.  Great mixture.

Cardiff Singer of the World - Round Two

Tonight's round illustrated perfectly the comment I made in my first post on this competition and what makes an artist stand out.  Five singers tonight, all obviously good as they made it through to the 25 chosen contestants, and yet none of them set me on fire, had that X factor that is so important.

And then in the last ten minutes of the evening it happened. Ekaterina Shcherbachenko from Russia was on the platform.  She had just performed an aria from Cosi fan Tutte an opera to which I have a great resistance.  I have seen it several times and by the end of act one am usually climbing the wall and by the end of the evening am bored to extinction by the awfulness of the main characters and the tedium of the music. And yes I know it is Mozart so no need for all Mozart fans to excoriate me - it has all been done before I can assure you.  I hasten to add, I love other Mozart and Magic Flute is one of my top favourite operas, I just cannot come to terms with Cosi.

Anyway, Ekaterina sang an aria from this opera which I thought did not suit her personality or voice and I felt that it stretched her vocal technique and did not show her at her best. Oh dear, I thought, who am I going to choose?  Then out she came and sang the Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin and was transformed.  Of course it helps she was singing in her native language, but the rich creamy glorious tone just poured out of her, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I choked up. There it is I thought, she will go through - wonderful.

And she did.

So I have a 100% success rate  but three more rounds to go.

Oh and I don't suppose for a minute it was all down to me, pretty sure I was one of hundreds to bellyache about it, but the result of tonight's round was not on the website before the concert was broadcast. There was, however, a gallery from pictures from Concert Two and at the end a picture of, yes you have guessed it,  the Winner.....I will give the Beeb the benefit of the doubt and hope that it just went up but but but I wonder....

 

Cardiff Singer of the World 2009/ the BBC and Dumbing Down

 

This is a bi-annual competition and seems to come round quicker and quicker each time and it was with a sense of shock at how fast the months vanish that I picked up this week's copy of the Radio Times and saw it was back.   When this competition started back in 1983 which, let's face it, is a lifetime ago in the way we view television, it was hyped big time.  Pages giving us pictures of all the contestants, potted biographies, each heat given  two hours broadcast time each night and all on BBC1, yes folks BBC1.  The grand finale more or less took over the schedule for the Sunday night and it was regarded as a Jewel in the Crown of BBC broadcasting.

Then of course the rot set in and over the years since its inception it has received less and less coverage and I remember one year it was not broadcast at all, only the final and then it was given a measly two hours. Same thing has happened to Young Musician of the Year.   Big  Brother and shows of that kind reigned supreme in the agendas of TV directors and anything remotely to do with classical music was more or less ignored.  During this period we still had the Prom concerts but only the first and last nights were given much attention and other occasional recordings of the Proms were put on late at night.

Of course, now we have the digital channels and the BBC were thrilled to bits that they could hive all this intellectual rubbish over onto these stations that, in the beginning, hardly anybody could receive, but by saying they were broadcasting these programmes, the BBC could pretend that they were still committed to high class broadcasting.

Thankfully, these channels are now more widely available and with the advent of digital TV, the choice has widened and I am grateful for BBC4 which is showing each heat of the competition every evening this week and I gather the final will be given prominence on BBC2.  However, it still means that the Beeb will not give this sort of programme time on the more mainstream channels and they should be ashamed of themselves.     So while I am happy to be able to see this wonderful operatic week, my feelings towards the BBC remain the same, irritation at their persistent dumbing down of their output.  This feeling was also confirmed by the trailer show on Sunday, half an hour at 4.30 pm (on a nice day beautifully timed so nobody would see it), with Petroc Trewlawny (always good) paired this year with a female presenter who being young, black, chirpy and ignorant ('I am new to this and have a lot to learn'), presumably ticks all the right diversity boxes, as well as the one marked Irritating.  I look forward to the penetrating questions she will ask.  And in case you think I am being a tad harsh, I would like to mention that at the First Night of the Proms last year they had in the BBC studio a lady from Dragon's Den, an sub-Apprentice type show, called Deborah whose sole qualification for being there appeared to be that the had Grade 6 piano.  I am not joking.  Lot of letters and complaints about this but needless to say all brushed aside with the usual BBC arrogance.  I tell you, nobody does arrogance like the Beeb.

Have just nipped over to the 2009 website, and note that the first heat has already taken place but was shown only on BBC Wales.  WHY?

OK well if you have made it this far and have read this rant, my congratulations.  I suppose I should be glad that Cardiff Singer of the World is being shown at all and I am very much looking forward to watching it.  In the past I have managed to pick the winner more or less immediately, much to the irritation of my then husband (himself a musician an opera singer) who dismissed this as amateur's luck.  This may well be, but you can hear all the most wonderful singers in the world, they will all perform beautifully and sing magnificently, and then one will come along, open their mouths and that is IT.  That is The One.  They will have that extra something that is impossible to describe, impossible to put your finger on and yet you will feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and know that you are in the presence of something special.  Happens every time.

One winner of a few years ago, Marius Brencui, had left me fairly cold.  Lovely tenor voice, nice bloke, but I did not think anything special and then in the final he came out and nailed it with a simply wonderful performance of Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky which brought tears to the eyes.  Another year, Lisa Gasteen from Australia did the same with a performance of Pace Pace from Verdi's Forza del Destino which another soprano had sung earlier in the evening, equally beautifully, and yet Lisa had that extra something and she won.  No need to mention Bryn of course, though he did not win the title, he won the Lieder prize that year as Hvorostovsky beat him to it in a brilliant competition entitled the Battle of the Baritones.

Anyway, I have ranted and waffled enough.  I shall be sitting down in an hour or so and watching and seeing if I can spot the winner of each heat.  It can look straightforward but sometimes the jury can make unexpected choices, and as they are all opera singers, teachers and conductors, they obviously look for different things than me sitting on my sofa in Colchester.  Just to make things even more tricky, winning your heat is no guarantee you will make the final either, so it is all to play, or to sing, for.

Needless to say, if I am right I shall be letting you all know...

LATER - Well sorry to rant again but the BBC takes the biscuit.  First concert was shown last night but it is only appearing on BBC4 tonight and though it has not been billed as 'live' the impression given is that this is how it is.  I had thought that the first concert had not been broadcast at all and tonight's was the second.  In fact, we are 24 hours behind and the BBC in their infinite wisdom have put the result on their website thus robbing watching each concert of its tension as the winner is already out there.  I have (well of course I have!) fired off an email to the complaints department saying it was only sheer luck that I did not read the result beffore watching tonight. Why oh why oh why do the BBC behave in this crassly stupid way?

Be that as it may, I am going to stick my neck out here big time and say that the winner of this evening's concert will be in the final. Winning each heat is no guarantee of a final place, it is the best five singers over the entire week but Eri Nakamura who won tonight, was simply sensational and she had the IT factor, big time.  Huge voice, totally in control, her characterisation and performance spot on and the sound she made brought goosebumps up all over.  I think she could win it and I am aware that there are others to hear, but it is going to take somebody special to beat her - my opinion only, of course...

Andre Previn at 80

I have just watched a fascinating programme on BBC4 all about Andre Previn, the famous conductor, musician, jazz pianist, classical pianist, writer of Hollywood film scores, well you name it, he has done it.  He is celebrating his 80th birthday and this was a celebration of his musical life so far.

To find that Andre Previn is 80 comes as a profound shock to me as in my mind's eye he is always the charismatic, floppy haired, cool player who hit the London music scene in the 1960s when he, most unexpectedly, became the new conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.  To say he shook up the classical music world was putting it mildly.  The sixties may have been swinging but classical music was locked in a time warp with an aging audience until Andre came along.  He did not go in for gimmicks, no need to, he was such a brilliant musician but this was the era of the Beatles and here we had a conductor with a similar hair style, married to a Hollywood movie star, Mia Farrow and he was just so, well, glamorous.

There were reservations in certain quarters but he soon routed the critics.  He was a wonderful conductor and under his leadership the London Symphony Orchestra thrived.  He not only played the usual repertoire but he revived and brought back into the public eye, the music of Vaughan Williams, Britten, Walton and Tippett.  His Vaughan Williams was particularly fine and I remember a few years back visiting my daughter Helen, then at Harvard, and she and James (now son in law) took me to Symphony Hall for my birthday where Previn was conducting the Vaughan Williams 5th symphony.  A quite beautiful performance with the strings particularly remaining in my memory as I recall their silken sound.

The programme made mention of the fact that Andre Previn's Music Night ran on BBC2 on Saturday nights for seven years.  Yes, that is right SEVEN years.  Seven years of classical music on prime time TV, totally unbelievable when you look at the BBC now and the dross it produces (no coincidencethat dross rhymes with Ross...) and compare it to then.  And yes I know, I am sounding like Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells who is always moaning about things not being what they used to be.  Well they are NOT.

I recall one Music Night when the subject of a particular programme was composers, popular in their day, who were now never heard of any more and Andre opened the show by crying tothe audience I bet you have never heard of this one - Fidelio Finke where are you now? And I was watching it at home in my little bedsit in Finchley and leaping to my feet and screaming I have heard of him, I have I have as that particular week by a stunning coincidence I had heard a violin piece by that very composer. Could not believe it.

And of course, we must never ever forget, the glorious appearance on the Morecambe & Wise show when Eric and Ern called him Andrew Preview and he and the London Symphony Orchestra joined together in a performance, and I use the word loosely, of the Grieg piano concerto.  Watching bits of it tonight I was rolling around laughing, it was still as funny and as fresh as ever and it is now over 30 years old.  To see the orchestra in the background falling off their seats in mirth at the sight of their conductor being manhandled by Eric Morecombe is a joy and Andre's dead pan face as he played it totally straight.  Quite quite wonderful.   For that alone, Andre Previn will always be remembered and loved by the British public.

All these happenings were part of my musical life in London as a teenager, I was constantly at the Festival Hall, Albert Hall and at the Proms, he was in the papers all the time, on television and I saw him perform often.  Such a joy to see him talking so knowledgeably about music and listen to his voice and admire him all over again. And quite stunning to see him jamming with Oscar Petersen as well - knocked me out. Sensational stuff.

Happy Birthday Mr Preview.

Small is Beautiful

I have posted on Random on many occasions about my love of opera, choral singing, going to the Proms, listening and seeing Wagner and how I love huge orchestras playing their socks off and how much I enjoy a big sound.  When I go to a concert I like to get my money's worth, all the players sawing away like mad on the strings, brass blowing, drums drumming, great stuff.  As I am very fond of Berlioz, this more or less comes with the territory, Wagner operas, though they have quiet passages of exquisite music, have more grand and stirring music than any other composer I know.  Ok Beethoven is different altogether and will never be compared to anybody else as I think, for me anyway, he is the supreme composer.

However, over the last year or so, in between all this opera going and listening to choral music and attending proms, I have found that I am turning to quieter, smaller, music.  I think this has a lot to do with my acquiring an iPod which has revolutionised my travel and commute time.  No longer need I listen to the inanities of Oh I am on the Train, or Where are you? I am in the second carriage down...oooh I can see you...I am waving blah blah blah.  I can now plug in my litte blue slender slim line elegant little piece of modern design (thank you Apple) and shut all this out.

And yes, I listen to a lot of my beloved Beethoven on the commute in and Mozart and Schubert and I also have downloaded some opera and choral pieces and yet, I am finding increasingly over the last few months that I am turning to chamber music.  This is where an iPod comes into its own.  With decent ear phones, I abandoned those given with the iPod as they do not block out sound enough and are   pretty poor quality, and bought a more expensive pair which fit very closely into ones ears and it is a revelation.  Listening to a Schubert octet or the Trout quintet you can hear each note on each instrument as clear as a bell and appreciate all the subtleties and nuances that have hitherto passed me by.  And also, what I have noticed but never did before, what wonderful tunes are weaving in and out and as each instrument is so exposed, you have to be a master of your violin or 'cello or piano, nobody to hide behind, no huge orchestra to lose yourself in.  I am really loving this discovery.

I now have a new iPod with more space and have been busy downloading extra music over the last month and have three new CDs which are proving to be gems.  First up is a recording of Brahms String Quartet No 2 and a piano quintet, a Christmas present from my son in law and this takes some listening to as I have always found Brahms a composer who has to be really concentrated on as I, personally, find him difficult to grasp.  So to have this available to listen to every day on one of my train journeys is brilliant and I am able to concentrate. Taking me a while to get hold of this one, but will get there.

Then I decided it was time I got to know the Beethoven String quartets and have started with Nos 4 and 5 and as Beethoven is THE composer as far as I am concerned, these are proving to be totally wonderful and the more I listen the more there is to discover in them.

However, my find of the last few months, a CD I picked up in Cambridge and have not stopped listening to since, is Schubert for Two.  This CD has arrangements of Schubert's Sonatas, German dances, Landlers and the Ave Maria, for violin and guitar.  Sounds weird but I tell you it is sheer magic and ravishing to listen to.  I do not know the guitarist at all, Goran Sollscher but he plays with such beauty and delicacy, but I certainly knew of the violinist, Gil Shaham.  Several years ago when my daughter and her boyfriend (now her husband) were at Harvard, I visited and for my birthday which fell during my stay, they took me to Symphony Hall in Boston to hear Andre Previn conduct the Boston SO in a Vaughan Williams symphony and in the first half, Gil Shaham played the Sibelius violin concerto.  I like my violinists to have a big, full bodied sound, and sometimes this can come with a lack of sweetness of tone, but not in this case and I remember that evening with great fondness.  Now on this CD I listen to him again and I am just blown away by his playing.

It is odd is it not that it has taken modern technology to show to me just how wonderful this style of music can be. I have also started listening to more early music and am even finding myself with a growing affection for Bach which I never thought I would live to say, but once again, it is easier to listen to the contrapuntal melodies and intricacies of Johann Sebastian on my little iPod.  There is hope for me yet.

Mark you, I still think that I will never ever learn to love a Bach cantata.  Musical mogadon as far as I am concerned and No you need not write and tell me I Am a Philistine.  Others have already done so.

But just think of all the wonderful music I have yet to discover.  This is why loving books and music is such a wonder and a joy.  One will never get to the end of it, there is always something new and maravellous to discover.

What larks!

Maestro

Anybody watching this on BBC2? 

It was trailed for weeks and I began to sigh and think Oh dear here we go again, another reality programme but could not resist giving it a whirl and found myself totally taken over with its humour and fun.  'Celebrities' - (I really hate that word), including Jane Asher, David Soul, Peter Snow, Katie Derham, Alex James (both Classic FM presenters, they must be giggling at being on the Beeb), Goldie (a DJ with a mouthful of gold teeth who turned up in an old James Bond movie on Sunday prompting one of those dreadful punning lines from James 'I see you've put your money where your mouth is) and a couple of others whose names elude me at the moment.

First week they were each given a mentor to teach them the art of conducting and if there is one thing this programme is doing, it is dispelling the notion that all a conductor does is stand in front of the orchestra waving his arms about while they play.  It is very hard work indeed, both mental and physical as one celeb complained of shooting pains in her arms after hours of practice.  The star of the first show was Peter Snow and his total inability to beat in 3 or 4 or 1 or 2 or anything reduced his fellow contestants to tears of laughter.  At the end of the first show, they each had to conduct a short piece and Peter Snow's conducting of The Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet was totally awful with speeds ranging from funereal to off the scale and one violinist laughing so much he had to stop playing.

Most of the celebs conducted with various degrees of success or not and then on came Goldie and conducted a beautifully judged and timed performance of In the Hall of the Mountain King which brought his rather staid looking mentor to his feet yelling and hollering, and thunderous applause.  Sir Roger Norrington, on the panel of judges was amazed 'It's not fair, this man is a natural conductor and he can't even read music' which I think was meant to be funny but as it was said through tight lips, I am not totally sure.

Second programme the other night and they had all come on by leaps and bounds and doing really well. The joy of Maestro is that I can sit at home with my knitting needle conducting away like mad in front of the mirror (this is in between singing and dancing round the room to Waterloo of course) and making like I was Muti or  Abbado.  I find I get a tad impatient when they are conducting too slowly for me and I am beating the tempi and yelling at them to get a move on and to stop being so wooden and to loosen up and that is not a down beat and good heavens what are you doing with that brass, but then it is ok for me.  I am at home with no audience, I am not standing in front of a 100 strong orchestra all looking at you and waiting to be brought in and led through a piece of music.  It must be totally nerve wracking and I am amazed at the aplomb with which some of them are managing it all.

Do check out the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/maestro which has videos of the performances and good moments from the shows (watch Bradley Walsh have hysterics watching Peter Snow beat time).  Various forums seems to have sprouted up for this as well and it has been very interesting and amusing to read all the comments posted, but this programme seems to have caught the imagination of non-classical music lovers as well who say it has grabbed their attention.

The winner of the series ends up conducting the orchestra at one of the concerts in the park on the Last Night of the Proms - now that will be truly terrifying.

BBC have got a success on their hands it seems.  Next week they are conducting a choral work, now that will be intriguing, not only will they have to bring in the orchestra but also watch the singers.  Must be like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time...