h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Andy

My memory must be faulty. It's too much of a coincidence for it to have been on both on Boxing Day and New Year's Day. I remember it being during one of those interminable holiday periods. And it definitely wasn't a late-night show.

Did you catch 'Lady Muck' last night? I always enjoy this piece, and I know it's not safe to judge by a TV or Video presentation; but I was glad I didn't fork out Covent Garden prices for this production. The Nederlands Opera production with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Jansons was, imho, superior in every area. This is now out on DVD so I'm hoping I can pick up a cheap copy from the stall at our concert society when I go to see Angela Hewitt next week.

bye for now

H

Posted: Sunday 12 November 2006 15:47:30

Hi H

I've just looked out the tape and the stamp says Sa 26/12/92 Ch 4 20:08, so if you remember Salome being on at teatime then maybe it was on twice. That was in the days when Ch 4 had things worth watching!

Re Angela Hewitt: have I ever told you about the time I gave AH a lift to Birmingham International after a concert? If I haven't, then you must be one of the few who I haven't told! It was quite a long drive round the M42 so had plenty of time to chat to her, in particular about playing from memory - she said she plays the Bach 48 entirely from memory, tho presumably not all in the same concert!

Re Lady M: didn't see it last night. I once had the score out of the library which was quite amusing. It was the original as published by the USSR state publishers and all the naughty bits were missing from it!

<>

Nah..the simplest explanation is a late tea - it was Boxing Day, after all - or your video not being set to real time (mine never is!). Even 20:08 is well before the 'watershed', though the seven veils bit would have been after.

I hadn't heard your Angela Hewitt story. Is she as charming a person as she seems? Our Music Director won't hear a word said against her and that tallies with what I've heard about her taking gigs in musical backwaters when she could easily fill major venues for fancy fees. She played for us a couple of years ago. It was the first time I'd heard 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' in the solo piano version and I've preferred that to the orchestral version ever since.

<>

Do you mean this was a censored copy of the 1934 work or the post-Stalin 'Katerina Ismailova' which was so different it had to be re-named. Talking of missing bits out, there was a talk before this years Proms concert version about the way Shostakovich himself santised the character of Katerina. In the original story - based, I believe, on fact - the lovers also murder a small child who stands in the way of their inheriting Zinovy's wealth.

bye for now

H

Oh dear that was bad timing on by dad - he left ROH summer 1992. He always used to enjoy watching the Dance of the Seven Veils and would no doubt have very much relished Maria Ewing's! He was one of the soldiers who had to surround Salome and crush her to death with their shields at the end of the opera.

I have to admit I had to look up detumescence! I presume you mean that trombone glissando... The musical climax behind the wardrobe was quite blatant too!

Yours,

Deeply shocked of Cheshire.

Lousy editing - sorry! "on by dad" should of course be "by my dad"

Hi MJ

<>

Well, it was on telly by December. And the commercial recording is dated 1992. So who's to say the first night wasn't before he left?

<>

told you it was unambiguous. You'd have to be as innocent as, say, David Archer not to notice it.

bye for now

jaded sybarite of Merseyside

Posted: Sunday 12 November 2006 22:56:08

>>Do you mean this was a censored copy of the 1934 work or the post-Stalin 'Katerina Ismailova' which was so different it had to be re-named.

The score I had out of the library was published in the mid 30s some time so it was definitely a censored copy of the original. I was listening to an uncensored recording so occasionally there was a bit of music which wasn't in the score.

<>

Fascinating, Andy. I wonder where they got it. I presume the recording was the Rostropovich one - or was it the Myung-Whun Chung starring a fully-clothed Maria Ewing? I actually heard that one on the plane's entertainment system when I flew to Dallas last month. I didn't think it compared well with the Rostropovich but perhaps the environment wasn't the best in which judge properly.

>>Well, it was on telly by December. And the commercial recording is dated 1992. So who's to say the first night wasn't before he left?

Oh so it wasn't a live relay then, H? I'll ask him - he wouldn't forget that! I used to love those from the ROH when I was a kid. It was such a thrill to spot our dad on stage. We borrowed a telly for the Visconti Traviata in 1967 - I remember sobbing my heart out in the last act, quite traumatised - I was only 6! It was such a shame that in my family my dad was the one person who couldn't watch these live relays and my mum hated opera (still does!) so she only watched them out of a sense of duty! I have some of the videos of ROH performances - maybe they're out on DVD now. Hope so. They're not particularly well made but they bring back such wonderful memories for me.

Sorry - went on a bit! Feeling all nostalgic for those magical evenings at the ROH.

MJ

PS Thanks for teaching me yet another new word!

Good evening MJ and anyone else who's looking in

I don't know if the TV broadcast was live. They're not usually but it might have been different then.

The Peter Hall 'Salome' is certainly available on DVD. You can google for it, as I did. But I couldn't get a good enough picture of the packaging to see the performance date. I'd buy it if it came up on our society's stall because they only charge £6 a disc; but I haven't seen it there yet. Usually I only buy DVDs of performances I've seen on stage because I don't find the camera's viewpoint very satisfactory in most cases. It's much better if it stirs memories, as you say. I might have an expensive night tomorrow because I know the Nederlands Opera 'Rheingold' and 'Lady Macbeth' have recently been released and I want both of them.

bye for now

H

Good evening everyone

I'm back for a few hours, then off again until Saturday. Angel Hewitt was magnificent. I've seen Andras Schiff, Alfred Brendel and many others play the Pathétique but I can't remember being as enthralled as I was last night. I even enjoyed the Rameau. And I got to exchange a few words with Ms Hewitt as she was signing my newly-acquired CD of the Goldbergs. It's a pity she didn't bring the Ravel set with her for sale as I'd have bought that too. She had a good night on the sales side, though: the Goldbergs and WTC sold out and there was very little left of the other titles she brought along. By the time she arrived to do the signing there was little on the table but a stack of £20 notes about 6 inches high. I hope this means more of the proceeds goes to her than would be the case if people bought the discs in the shops.

If you're there, Mimi, there has been a development on the Woman Sour BA thread. It looks like someone has come up with more serious evidence than Boris's silly story.

must get something to eat now

back later

H

Hello H,

Glad I've caught you before your imminent departure ... from the timing of your visit tonight, I guess you were watching the England v. Netherlands match - I thought a lot of it was quite dull, though it was good to see England in action again, but both sides made up for this (a little) towards the end (especially after the equaliser!!).

I will check out Woman Sour .... may be back later. If not, usual best wishes for your sojourns.

Love
Mimi
xxxx

Hi Mimi

I half-saw the game while unpacking/repacking my travel bag. It was, as you say, rather dull with two soft goals. Probably both sides were more keen to avoid injury than anything else. Luckily, I didn't see Sunday's Arsenal-Liverpool game; but from the 5-Live commentary it sounded like we were lucky to get away with 3-0! I dread the idea that Benitez might turn into another Houllier, unable to distinguish between independence of mind and idiot stubbornness.

How are things with you? Are you still getting to London? I hope you're getting some of the free time you promised yourself when you let the Parents Assoc position go.

bye for now

H

Posted: Thursday 16 November 2006 01:39:17

>>or was it the Myung-Whun Chung starring a fully-clothed Maria Ewing?

It was indeed that recording I had out of the library. Haven't heard the Rostropovich

Are you talking about an audio-only recording? In which case, how do you know she's fully-clothed?

Good evening all

I just got back. I see it's been quiet here - hope everyone's well.

<>

Hmm...Deeply Shocked of Cheshire was a short-lived persona, I note - perhaps even more of a flash in the pan than Michelle Shocked of Dallas!

I think it's safe to assume Ms Ewing was fully clothed for the recording; her publicist would have made sure we knew about it otherwise!

Did you see Howard Goodall's C4 programme about how music works this evening? I don't always like his stuff - for example I found his attempt in a previous series to put Lennon & McCartney on a par with Beethoven etc particularly silly - but I enjoyed this evening's opening programme. I wish I'd recorded it now; but no doubt it will re-surface on More 4 in due course.

must finish unpacking now

back later

H

Hello H,

I'm answering post 73 (which I meant to do during your absence). Not in London today, as you've probably gathered, but I did go up last Sunday. Mum was fine, sister E came over as well - things between my two siblings have deteriorated again (hmm, that didn't last long!) though, to be fair, sister M was suffering with a bad back so I think that was making her a bit irritable. Mum's birthday is in a couple of weeks - E was hoping to invite her over to her house for a little party ... we'll see what happens!

Yes I am enjoying having some more free time since side-stepping the Parents Assn. - I didn't exactly 'let it go', I was no longer eligible to be involved as I am not a parent as far as school is concerned! I think I may have mentioned this before so, if I have, sorry for repeating myself but I never really wanted to be in charge. Last year, there was only one person who came forward to stand as Chair and his motives were highly suspect, I only agreed to stand because I knew that once my daughter left the school I could not continue in the role so it would be limited to one year.

The one good thing about the PA was that it did get me out of the house on at least a couple of evenings a month, usually. I still have not made enquiries about the writing group I was thinking about joining but I intend to do this very soon.

I am about to lose my laptop and gain a Mac Mini (it's a tiny box, about the size of a couple of videos one on top of the other!) - A's selling the laptop to one of his customers (who's a writer) who needs a whole barrage of computers as he has homes in England and France. I much prefer to use a desktop computer!!

Back soon,

Love
Mimi
xxxx

Hi Mimi

I'm sorry to hear the family truce was short-lived. Let's hope things improve for your mum's birthday.

What a pity you're having to make do with an even smaller computer just as you're thinking about joining a writing group. I'm only really happy with a full-sized keyboard and standard mouse. Even a laptop is a pain for me: if I have to use one for an extended period I plug a keyboard and mouse into it. Is that an option with your Mac Mimi? Or are there too few ports?

Are you going to watch the Paul Simon session tonight? I'll probably give it a go as he's one of my old favourites.

Must dash now. I have friends coming for tea (and for the ciggies I bought them in Spain) but I'll be back in a couple of hours.

H

Hello H,

I did return last night but it was a bit after 12.00 when I finished writing the message and could not post. However, I did the sensible thing (for once) and copied it so I could send today. Here it is:



What a coincidence - I am listening to Paul Simon singing "The Boxer" in that concert on TV right now - oh, it's just finished! A was watching "Bored Of The Rings" so I only saw the last bit ... but Paul sounded a bit ropey, to be honest!

Also watched Panorama earlier with my son - "Booze - What Every Teenager Needs To Know". Unfortunately, he was quite dismissive of it and I was a bit disappointed because they concentrated on footage of teenagers hanging around in the streets of Liverpool (!!) generally the worse for wear. Not really what he could relate to.

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question earlier about whether I'd seen the programme "What Makes Music Work" last night ... well, OF COURSE I did! I enjoyed it too, I'm glad it's a series.

Another apology - I fear what I said earlier about the Mac Mini was a bit confusing - it's only the processor part that is really small, keyboard etc. all normal size. It will sit very neatly under the monitor when I have it all set up.

I have at last made contact with the guy who runs the writing group - they meet every Weds. in a pub which is about 5 mins. walk from where I live (maybe slightly more, it's up a very steep hill!) so I am going to go along this week - will report back!

Right, I'm off now.

Love,
Mimi
xxxx


Back later

I caught most of the Paul Simon set, Mimi; I probably missed two or three songs while watching the end of ‘The Sopranos’. I agree with you about ‘The Boxer’; I don’t think there’s any way round the fact that Art Garfunkel’s voice more or less defines a lot of Simon’s songs. I’m mighty glad Howard Goodall didn’t try to sing the sublime ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ the other night!

I didn’t see much of the ‘Booze’ programme. Unfortunately we’ll never get teenagers to take such warnings seriously. It’s partly because most teenagers think they’re immortal but I’m afraid another factor is that many of these messages don’t deserve to be taken seriously. The medics often exaggerate the dangers to such an extent that nobody with any experience will believe them. I know I looked at some of the danger levels quoted for units of alcohol per week and found I’d been dead for several years! And the media, frankly, often just fabricate a scare if they think it improves the story. Remember the stories about film crews giving people free drink on the condition that they stagger about for the cameras? They ‘had’ to do that because they couldn’t actually find the evidence of town-centre chaos that was predicted on the extension of licensing hours. The sad thing is that there are, I believe, real grounds for believing kids are in danger from cheap and easily-available drink (let’s face it, Mimi, in our day it was neither cheap nor easy to get); but the sensationalist approach makes the whole issue look dodgy.

Must dash now – got to do the washing-up before ISIHAC.


back later

H