A tale of two Guardian headlines


Michael pays penalty for driving while unfit - Singer given 100 hours' community service - Judge's best wishes to star before Wembley concert ~Guardian June 9 (above).

Conductor jailed for groping youths - An orchestra conductor was jailed for nearly four years after using his "god-like" status to grope a string of gifted teenage musicians ~ Guardian Unlimited June 4 (below).


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David Munrow - more than early music

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What stunning sound the BBC engineers achieved for their live broadcast of Valery Gergiev's Mahler 8 with the London Symphony Orchestra this evening. Yes, the close miking of the instruments necessitated by the very long resonance of the building was evident. But St Paul's Cathedral is one of the most difficult spaces in the world both to perform and record in, and the BBC Radio 3 technicians produced some of the best sound I have heard from my B & W Nautilus 803 loudspeakers for a long time. Valery Gergiev's operatic approach to symphonies is not usually to my taste, but it worked a treat with Mahler's flawed but exhilarating Eighth. Quite unmissable radio, catch it for the next seven days here. One of the talking heads introducing the performance recounted how the work fell out of favour after Mahler's death and how surprising it was that the work was considered for a time to be lacking the genius of the composer's other symphonies. Well that is a view t...
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