On An Overgrown Path

' ... in an age where talking about the deed is often bigger than the deed itself ' follow this link to the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures by Daniel Barenboim, and this one to BBC Radio 3's Morning on 3 which is featuring Barenboim recordings all this week, and name checking his record company Warner Classics every few minutes, before following this link to the BBC's ' Ring in a day' , conducted by, you guessed it, Daniel Barenboim, which links to MP3 downloads courtesy of Warner Classics, which has just released a new recording of Mahler's Seventh Symphony which was featured prominently on Saturday's CD Review on BBC Radio 3, the conductor of the new CD is, you guessed it right, Daniel Barenboim, and that new Mahler recording was played on Morning on 3 at 9.43 this morning with a Warner Classics name check ..... As Daniel Barenboim tells us in his BBC Reith Lectures - 'In the beginning was sound'. Then came Music-like-water . Opening quote ...

Antal Dorati was born in Budapest on April 9th 1906. He is best known today as a conductor, but he was also a composer of forty-five works including two fine symphonies , and a talented painter and author. The last work that the 82 year old Dorati composed was a setting of the Pater Noster . This was completed in 1988, a few weeks before his death, and is a moving a cappella work for mixed chorus (SATB). It is difficult to understand why this beautiful five minute composition is not better known, or more widely performed. We are very fortunate though to have a fine recording in the catalogue by the Kammerchor der HdK-Berlin conducted by Christian Grube on BIS where it is coupled with another of his works, Jesus oder Barabbas? Sadly parts no longer seem to be available from his publisher Boosey & Hawkes . Antal Dorati resources On An Overgrown Path include Antal Dorati the composer and Who am I - attaca? . CDs in this article are available from Prelude Records . Photo cre...

Nice lead story on page 19 of today's Eastern Daily Press ... Music Venue may fall silent after 400 years by Ben Kendall Live music at St Andrew's Hall, Norwich, could become a thing of the past, throwing the venue's future into doubt, city council bosses warned yesterday. A sound limiter and a deadline of 11.30pm on amplified music were introduced at the hall at the end of last year following complaints from a minority of residents.But it has now emerged that the limiter - which automatically cuts off electricity to the stage, is so sensitive that even the sound of applause can trigger it. If the conditions remain in place it effectively means any performance relying on electricity in any way will be out of the question at the hall, where the walls have echoed to the sound of music since Tudor times .... Read the full EDP article online here. Great to see this deserving story suddenly making the headlines. But hey, wait a moment, doesn't it sound a bit like yesterday...

A surprise avian visitor arrived in our garden this morning. We phoned the owners who live in the village. They told us that the bird's name is Percy, and that as it is the mating season he has been on the prowl for a few days. But sadly peahens are in short supply here in Norfolk.

The news yesterday that the deadly H5n1 avian flu virus has been found in a dead swan in Cellardyle in Scotland sent shivers down my spine. First, because we lived in the 1980's near the beautiful Fife coast , and know the damage to tourism and the economy that this news will cause. And secondly because our house here in rural Norfolk is surrounded by poultry farms , and in Germany the virus has spread from wild birds to poultry . But, if possible in this situation, let me offer a little humour. I was puzzled as to why there had been a sharp increase in visitors to one of my articles on Peter Maxwell Davies in the last few days. A quick investigation uncovered that it came out quite high on Google searches for dead swans in Scotland. To find out why follow this link. Staying in Scotland, and staying with positive news, I wrote recently about the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on a roll . The BBC Scottish players are currently on a South American tour, and you can read cellist An...

Dear Eastern Daily Press letters, How can such fierce noise restrictions be placed on Norwich's major concert venue, St Andrew's Hall ? As the orchestral manager of Norwich Pops Orchestra I have witnessed the noise limiter light flashing on and off throughout our performances depending on the volume of the piece and how much applause we receive. Nearly all pieces for symphony orchestra played in the Hall will go above the newly imposed limit of 85 decibels. This level is approximately the sound level produced by a vacuum cleaner at the position of the ears whilst vacuuming a carpeted floor. Very loud restaurants or noisy parties can get to levels of about 100 decibels and rock concerts typically attain levels of 120 decibels in the audience. If these restrictions are to be inforced then all concerts in St Andrews Hall will be affected, not just the amplified ones. In 1924 the young Benjamin Britten (aged 11) heard the composition 'The Sea' by Frank Bridge (left) i...

When BBC Radio 3 runs the whole of Wagner’s Ring on Easter Monday, Rhine Maidens to immolation, there will be free downloads once again – only this time with a difference. Unlike last summer’s Beethoven splashout, when all nine symphonies were reeled out over a fortnight and 1.4 million downloads were taken worldwide, the Wagner goodies are being strictly limited. What is being aired is the 1993 Bayreuth cycle conducted by Daniel Barenboim, this year’s Reith lecturer, and the BBC owns no further rights in the production. However, a freebie finger on www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 will point listeners to www.warnerclassics.com where they can help themselves to one track from each of the four operas, amounting in total to a Wagner happy half-hour. Warner are using the gift as a gateway to what it hopes will be a rush of web sales while the BBC is mending fences with the music industry which howled blue murder over Beethoven and acted as if Radio 3 was destroying its business when, in fact, ...