Dear Friends
Welcome to January on Planet Hugill, a month when we recovered from the overindulgence at Christmas by savouring such rarities as the music of Pelham Humfrey and John Eccles' Semele.
In A Life On-Line we covered events as various as David Webb and Friends in Winterreise at Wigmore Hall in aid of mental health charities, Opera Holland Park's Holocaust Memorial Day concert, English Touring Opera's stunning series of films of its performances of Britten, Shostakovich and Tippett, Mad King from Opera2Day in the Netherlands, Joseph Boulogne from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Allegri from the Marian Consort, Jamie Barton as the operatic incarnation of television cook Julia Child, rare Rossini operas at the Metropolitan Opera, Christmas with Bach and New Year in the Roaring 20s.
Our interviews this month include Iranian-born German composer Arash Safaian on his latest Beethoven-inspired project, Luxembourg-born pianist Sabine Weyer on combining a contemporary French and early 20th century Russian composers on disc, French pianist Vincent Larderet on performing Liszt, composer David Matthew's talking about the symphonic form and his eighth symphony, and conductor Julian Perkins on reviving John Eccles' opera Semele.
Features this month include a look at 17th and early 18th century concert-going in London, how Lotte Lenya re-invented her husband's music after his death, and charting the story of Rinaldo and Armida in opera.
Interviews
▪ Researching the mathematics of emotions: composer Arash Safaian on his recent fantasy about Beethoven's music, This is (Not) Beethoven
▪ Mysteries: Luxembourg-born pianist Sabine Weyer on how combining music by a Soviet Russian composer and contemporary French one made a satisfying new disc
▪ The performer is a mirror who should serve the text and the composer: French pianist Vincent Larderet discusses his approach in the light of his recent Liszt recital Between Light and Darkness
▪ Obsessed with the symphonic form: composer David Matthews on the symphony and the recent recording of his eighth on Signum Classics with Jac van Steen and the BBC Philharmonic
▪ Reviving early English opera, staging Baroque opera: I chat to conductor Julian Perkins about his recording of John Eccles' Semele and staging Handel's Tamerlano
| ▪ | Researching the mathematics of emotions: composer Arash Safaian on his recent fantasy about Beethoven's music, This is (Not) Beethoven |
| ▪ | Mysteries: Luxembourg-born pianist Sabine Weyer on how combining music by a Soviet Russian composer and contemporary French one made a satisfying new disc |
| ▪ | The performer is a mirror who should serve the text and the composer: French pianist Vincent Larderet discusses his approach in the light of his recent Liszt recital Between Light and Darkness |
| ▪ | Obsessed with the symphonic form: composer David Matthews on the symphony and the recent recording of his eighth on Signum Classics with Jac van Steen and the BBC Philharmonic |
| ▪ | Reviving early English opera, staging Baroque opera: I chat to conductor Julian Perkins about his recording of John Eccles' Semele and staging Handel's Tamerlano |
Features
▪ The pocket watch and the news periodical: how the public concert developed in 17th and 18th century London
▪ Re-inventing Kurt Weill: How Lotte Lenya's performances of her husband's music in the 1950s, born of expediency, came to define how the songs were performed
▪ Rinaldo and Armida: from Monteverdi to Rossini to Dvorak to Judith Weir, composers have been inspired by Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata
| ▪ | Re-inventing Kurt Weill: How Lotte Lenya's performances of her husband's music in the 1950s, born of expediency, came to define how the songs were performed |
| ▪ | Rinaldo and Armida: from Monteverdi to Rossini to Dvorak to Judith Weir, composers have been inspired by Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata |
Record reviews
▪ Influence at Court: the sacred music of Pelham Humfrey explored in a new disc from the choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal on Delphian
▪ After Purcell and before Handel: a delightful new recording of John Eccles' Semele from the Academy of Ancient Music does full justice to this unjustly neglected work
▪ A beguiling disc: Aberdene 1662 from Maria Valdmaa & Mikko Perkola on ERP explores songs from the only book of secular music published in Scotland in the 17th century
▪ Bach & the art of transcription: Benjamin Alard's survey of Bach's keyboard works reaches the late Weimar period and the composer's discovery of Vivaldi's concertos
▪ If Haydn went to Scotland: the Maxwell Quartet continues its exploration of Haydn's London quartets alongside 18th century Scots traditional tunes
▪ Donizetti on the cusp: never a success in his lifetime, Opera Rara reveals much to enjoy in the composer's 1829 opera Il Paria
▪ The missing link: romances by Alexander Dargomyzhshky, a friend of Glinka and an influence on a later generation of Russian composers
▪ A surprisingly complex work: Puccini's late Verismo classic, Il Tabarro, in a new studio recording from Dresden
▪ Latvian soprano Inga Kalna's debut disc: Der Rosenband intriguingly combines songs by Richard Strauss with his Latvian contemporaries Jānis Mediņš and Alfrēds Kalniņš
▪ K: Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes and her new ensemble in Borodin, Debussy, Copland, Villa-Lobos and Lacaze
▪ Dowland transmuted: Time Stands Still from Portuguese composer Nuno Côrte-Real
▪ Chemin des Dames: premiere recording of New Zealand composer Gareth Farr's cello concerto, written in memory of his great-uncles killed in the First World War
▪ Sacred Ayres: Psalms, Hymns and Spirituals Songs by contemporary composer Paul Ayres from the chapel choir of Selwyn College on Regent Records
▪ Virtuosity and Protest: Frederic Rzewski's Songs of Insurrection receives its first recording
▪ A snapshot of the time: Sound and Music(Vol. 1)
▪ Allow yourself to float: Orchestra of the Swan's mix-tape compilation, Timelapse
| ▪ | Influence at Court: the sacred music of Pelham Humfrey explored in a new disc from the choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal on Delphian |
| ▪ | After Purcell and before Handel: a delightful new recording of John Eccles' Semele from the Academy of Ancient Music does full justice to this unjustly neglected work |
| ▪ | A beguiling disc: Aberdene 1662 from Maria Valdmaa & Mikko Perkola on ERP explores songs from the only book of secular music published in Scotland in the 17th century |
| ▪ | Bach & the art of transcription: Benjamin Alard's survey of Bach's keyboard works reaches the late Weimar period and the composer's discovery of Vivaldi's concertos |
| ▪ | If Haydn went to Scotland: the Maxwell Quartet continues its exploration of Haydn's London quartets alongside 18th century Scots traditional tunes |
| ▪ | Donizetti on the cusp: never a success in his lifetime, Opera Rara reveals much to enjoy in the composer's 1829 opera Il Paria |
| ▪ | The missing link: romances by Alexander Dargomyzhshky, a friend of Glinka and an influence on a later generation of Russian composers |
| ▪ | A surprisingly complex work: Puccini's late Verismo classic, Il Tabarro, in a new studio recording from Dresden |
| ▪ | Latvian soprano Inga Kalna's debut disc: Der Rosenband intriguingly combines songs by Richard Strauss with his Latvian contemporaries Jānis Mediņš and Alfrēds Kalniņš |
| ▪ | K: Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes and her new ensemble in Borodin, Debussy, Copland, Villa-Lobos and Lacaze |
| ▪ | Chemin des Dames: premiere recording of New Zealand composer Gareth Farr's cello concerto, written in memory of his great-uncles killed in the First World War |
| ▪ | Sacred Ayres: Psalms, Hymns and Spirituals Songs by contemporary composer Paul Ayres from the chapel choir of Selwyn College on Regent Records |
| ▪ | Allow yourself to float: Orchestra of the Swan's mix-tape compilation, Timelapse |
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Credits
My header image this month is tenor David Webb photographed at the Wigmore Hall in advance of his sponsored cycle ride in aid of mental health charities which culminated in a performance of Schubert's Winterreise at the hall.
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Do keep safe.
Regards
Robert
