Almost-daily ramblings, photos and links
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/sep/07/artists-in-exile"In Europe, Harding says, standard preparations for a concert might be three or four rehearsals plus a dress rehearsal; in the UK, it will be two plus a dress rehearsal. This is also an issue for composers: a piece premiered by a UK group might get a third of the rehearsal time it would in France or Austria. Like so many things, it's a question of funding. British cultural institutions have traditionally run on a combination of earned income and state...
via youtube.com Amazing! Wonder what he'd be like conducting Mahler...
via youtube.com I was never a fan of Norah Jones, but this version of Don't Know Why by Pat Metheny is pretty splendid.
Amazed at the corporate arrogance of Eircom in blocking Pirate Bay from September. What right do they have to act as Internet cop? I'm totally opposed to piracy but blocking sites such as TPB encourages piracy and does not help change peoples' attitude to illegal downloading. via SimplyTweet
I’ve been listening to John Elliot Gardiner’s recent CD recording of Brahms’ 2nd Symphony and it’s really grown on me. I like his authentic performance approach and his sensible, stripped down reading of the work. Yet for all its lack of excess, it still manages to sound very fresh and light (perhaps that’s the reason why). Although it took me a while to adjust, I’ve come to really like the string sound of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (think of Gardiner’s Bach recordings and you’ll know what I mean...