The CD connects with its inner child

The CD is fighting back by connecting with its inner child, the vinyl LP. Check out this wonderful list of budget-priced re-issues of vinyl classics from Everst which includes Carlos Chavez conducting his own symphonies , Barbirolli conducting Ravel and Boult conducting Hindemith, the latter CD playing for precisely 29 minutes 47 seconds; is that really a record? Cue a tale of two Chavez.
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That which colors the mind

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This recording by Owsley Stanley of sarod master Ali Akbar Khan featured in a recent post here . My further reading came across the following unpublished epitaph to Owsley Stanley - popularly known as 'Bear' - by his daughter Rhoney Gissin Stanley . It provides a refreshing contrast to today's social media influenzas : Bear was a man who walked his talk, who challenged the cult of personality and wanted the attention of others to focus on his work with sound, his art, and his philosophy, not on him.
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Berlin Philharmonic's first woman conductor

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In 2005 the appointment of a woman music director by a major American orchestra caused a storm of controversy . So, it is surprising to find that it was back in 1930 that the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was first conducted by a woman, and even more surprising to find she was an American. But the story doesn't have a happy ending. Despite receiving critical acclaim, Antonia Brico found doors closed to her when she returned to the US, and was forced to form her own orchestras to continue her conducting career. She is seen above conducting in New York in 1945. (Image credit Dr. Ralph Weizsäcker ). Antonia Brico was born Wilhelmina Wolthus in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 1902, and emigrated to California with her foster parents in 1908. She attended high school in Oakland where she gained experience as a pianist and conductor. She went on to study liberal arts at the University of California, Berkeley , and also worked at the San Francisco Opera as an assistant to the director,
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The Berlin Philharmonic's darkest hour

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Wilhelm Furtwängler was born on 25th January 1886. He was Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1923 to his death in 1954, and held this position for the twelve years that Hitler was in power. In January 1945 he was conducting in Vienna, and fled from there to Switzerland where he remained until the Battle of Berlin ended in the defeat of the Nazis. The musicians of his orchestra remained in Berlin during its darkest hour. Here is their story: On 28th March 1945 the Russian forces commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov were just twenty miles to the east of Berlin. A month previously Albert Speer had been replaced as Nazi armaments minister after trying to persuade Hitler that defeat was inevitable. Speer now turned his energies to preventing the musicians of his adored Berlin Philharmonic from perishing in the inevitable final battle. Reich Commisioner Dr Joseph Goebells, who was in charge of the defence of Berlin, had ordered the entire orchestra to be drafted into the Vol
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Classical critics need to talk sound sense

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Free Mozart MP3 downloads from Danish Radio

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After the outcry over the Beethoven Symphony files the BBC saw sense and didn't offer any free audio downloads in their Bach Christmas. But now Danish Radio are at it. As part of their Mozart celebrations Danish Broadcasting Corporation are offering free downloads of nine of Mozart’s symphonies played by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. The first downloads are available on January 27 with Symphony No. 15 in G-flat. This is followed by symphonies Nos. 41, 36, 40, 23, 15, 34, 39, 17 and 35. If you must, here is the link for the downloads . But be warned it is in Danish, and AltaVista's Babel Fish translator doesn't handle Danish! Presumably after the outcry in Denmark there will be no Mendelssohn downloads from Danish Radio for the 160th anniversary of his death in 2007. Then it is over to you New Zealand Radio ... With thanks to fellow blogger Jon Lund for this story Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co d
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