Classical music and the visual



A reader has written in response to my thread Why not take classical music to the visual? He says this 1970 film by Hugo Niebeling of Herbert Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Beethoven's Sixth Symphony is the 'gold standard' which other music videos should be judged against. There is an interesting video (in German) about Hugo Niebeling here. But how much was Niebeling and how much Karajan?

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Scott Ross and the paradox of genius

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On that sleeve for his 1985 recording of the Goldberg Variations , Scott Ross is seen standing in the grounds of Château d'Assas in Languedoc. It was here that many of his great recordings were made. Then, as today, the château dwelt in the twilight zone between grandeur and dereliction, and thirty years ago the recording sessions were regularly interrupted by the sound of rats scurrying across the floor. Scott Ross was born in Pittsburgh in 1951, and moved to France with his mother following the death of his father in 1964. He studied at the conservatoires in Nice and Paris, and first came to Château d'Assas in 1969 to give music lessons to the grandson of its owner Mme. Simone Demangel . When an early music academy was established at the château, the harpsichordist gave masterclasses and became a frequent visitor. At first he stayed in a room in one of the towers, but from 1983 he rented a small house across the road from the château. The photos below were taken by me on a
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Fruitcakes do provide food for thought

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There is much more to Malcolm Arnold than his Fifth Symphony

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