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

Evening all

You might have heard me speak highly of a recital given by Angela Hewitt at our society last week. It seems she's repeating the same programme at the Wigmore Hall tonight and it's being recorded for broadcast as tomorrow's 'Performance on 3' at 1930. Needless to say, I recommend you tune in if you get the chance.


H

Ooh yes I will H. Thanks. Joan Sutherland all tomorrow evening on R3 - now, being a col sop myself she should be one of heros but I can't say she is a real favourite. I thought her singing sounded pretty laboured in the trail for tomorrow evening's programme, singing some Lucrezia Borgia - unless she'd recorded it recently for her 80th birthday celebrations in which case it was jolly good! My dad says he could never make out a word she sang although I think he did like her as a person. Of course, she did revive an interest in a number of neglected operas and probably inspired me as a young singer.

MJ

Good evening all

I hope you enjoyed the recital, MJ. Did you hear the filler they played afterwards? It was more Rameau, a harpsichord piece; but the theme was very familiar. I'm sure I've heard it arranged for larger forces but just can't place it. Any ideas?

Joan S. is not really my repertoire. She is, however, the definitive Lakmé on that recording she made with her husband. Unfortunately, she is also probably the most ridiculous Lakmé in a film I saw once on the 'Performance' channel. The sight of Dame Joanie trying to be a captivating Indian Princess is something you should see - once. She was also a fine Woodbird in the Solti 'Siegfried', I remember - luckily I've never seen film of her trying to balance on a branch! The Radio 3 schedule doesn't seem to show the whole playlist. It finishes:

9.35pm
Donizetti: Tonio and Marie's duet (Act 1, La fille du regiment)
Joan Sutherland (soprano)
Luciano Pavarotti

I don't know much about Donizetti but I can't see this duet being 85 minutes long. Of the stuff that is listed, only the opening Bach appeals to me but I'll probably dip in and out during the evening.


back later

H

Posted: Tuesday 21 November 2006 23:41:48

Joan Sutherland?

Give me Nellie Melba any day, you can have a real good laugh at her - well you can at the Sempre Libera which I've got on CD and am listening to at the moment. Mind you it was recorded in 1904! Although that doesn't excuse her sounding as if she was in a hurry to catch a train.

Hi Andy

I thought Nellie Melba was a pudding. Mind you, so's Joan Sutherland. I hope you're enjoying your CD. I just finished listening to the Lotte Lenya 'Sieben Todsunden' that I picked up off the stall at the Soc. last week. I was going to listen to the Angela Hewitt 'Goldberg Variations' but I resisted the temptation. After all, we had nearly 2 hours of AH in 'Performance on 3'.

goodnight all

H

Hello H et al,

Not sure how much I'll get written as it's 11.54. Went to the Writers' Group tonight - great fun. How 'Brighton" was that - Transsexual/transvestite (how do you tell?) included ... who wrote a REALLY good short story.

I didn't take anything along but made a few comments ... er, may have to keep that under control, it's all a bit SERIOUS on the constructive criticism front!! I will aim to write something to take along next week though, as that is the point of my going. Believe me, you could write a really good play based on it (but A tells me it's already been done!)

'Night night (ooh, it's only 11.58 but I won't tempt providence by writing more now)

Love
Mimi

Hi Mimi

I must have missed you by two minutes last night; but I couldn't have replied anyway. I wonder what time the system comes back to life - I've certainly logged on in the morning to find messages have been left in the small hours. Glad to hear the Writers' Group was fun.

<>

Well, given your location and your experience in the music business, you could write a novel called, say, "Brighton Rock". Bet no-one's thought of that before.

must return to work now. Back this evening

H

Hello H,

Just letting you know I'm back - have not had a computer the last few days or been able to use any of the others in the house for a sustained period of time. But now I have the Mac Mini set up in the front room ... no more aching backs, bent over the laptop. I really wasn't sorry to say goodbye to that!

Not going to the writing group this evening because I don't have anything completed, also sister E is coming down to Brighton tomorrow for a couple of days so we may be out on the razzle tomorrow evening.

I think the last conversation I had with you was on the WoM board .. just about to hop over there now!

See ya later.

Mimi

Good evening Mimi, MJ, Andy and anyone else who’s looking in

<< I think the last conversation I had with you was on the WoM board >>

Yes, Mimi. If memory serves you were telling us about your days spent soliciting on the borders of Soho. I didn’t answer your question about the girlfriend who called lecherous blokes ‘old Toms’. I don’t think she had much Irish blood but she was fond of Irish music – especially live Irish music in pubs!! I suppose she could have picked up that turn of phrase there. She wouldn’t have liked ‘lady friend’, though – staunch socialist. I was waiting for you to come over here before I answered the question because I thought that WoM thread had taken a very boring turn. I don’t mind interesting deviations from the topic but just coming up with songs that have ‘need’ in the lyrics is hardly a challenge to the imagination.

Did you catch ‘Down the Line’ first time round? It was responsible for a hilarious thread on the TCIY board involving several people who were taken in by the hoax. The programme itself is almost as funny! It’s being repeated at 1830 so I’m off to listen to it.

back later

H

Hello again

It's a bit quiet here again. So what happened with your writing group, Mimi? Can't you go if you haven't done your homework? I hope all goes well with sis tomorrow. Is she back on speaking terms with the other sis yet?

I listened to 'Down the Line' again. It was better the first time, when they didn't tell you it was a spoof. The TCIY MB has come to life again, though! I then listened to the match. Liverpool did everything but score. At least we've finally overtaken Everton!

Off to bed now; back tomorrow.

Goodnight

H

Hello H and Mimi when she returns!

Heard 10 mins of that Down the Line and had to switch off - it was dreadful! I knew it was a spoof but thought it distinctly unfunny. Had it been severely edited and reduced to a quick sketch it might have been amusing...just my opinion anyway. I'd have switched it off even sooner had I not wanted to give it a chance!

Must look up what was on shortly after 8am today - some surprisingly discordant but old-style stuff - unfortunately I was negotiating a nasty junction as the piece was announced at the end and didn't hear what it was - and I'd missed the start. Oh for the days when I could listen uninterrupted!

Goodnight,

MJ
xx

Hi MJ

<>

phew!! We disagree on something! I remember telling Mimi months ago that you & I had completely different tastes; and we seem to have agreed on just about everything since then. As you'll have gathered, I thought the programme was quite good - certainly by comparison with some of the other new stuff: 'Banter', 'Bearded Ladies', 'Heresy', 'Hudson & Pepperdine' to name just a few of the awful things to fill the 1830 slot recently.

<>

I presume you know there's a playlist online for most programmes. If not, here's a link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/morningon3/pip/c4ymw/

From your description my money's on the Biber.

back later

H

Hello H,

This is going to be very quick but I may not get a chance to come back for a while - sister E will be arriving in the next few minutes and I'm not sure yet if she's staying 1 or 2 nights but I will resist the urge to switch on the computer while she's here. Yes, she is on speaking terms with sister M but only when necessary!

I could have gone to the writing group, there aren't any rules (that I've discovered as yet!) though it is quite formal - they have an AGM just before the end of the year (followed by a bit of a party, but the things you take along to read are not your own!). As a newcomer, I did not want to turn up two weeks running with nothing of my own creation (especially as I was not that reticent in making comments about other people's comments on what was read out - i.e. disagreeing!!).

I did hear most of "Down The Line" last night and did not stop laughing!
(sorry, MJ )

Love
Mimi

Hi Mimi

I hope all goes well with the visit. Maybe you could write about it for next week's writing group. Or is that too close to home? I think it was 'Fear of Flying' where the heroine's sister threatens to kill her if she puts the family in one of her novels. If you're out on the town tonight, enjoy.

Glad you liked 'Down the Line'. It's hardly a work of genius but, in a world where 'Tittybangbang' gets a second series, it's a welcome sign that not all new stuff is dross.

Don't stay away from the boards too long!

H

Yes H - that's it! thanks for the lazy link - I've been extremely busy and hadn't managed to look at the playlist yet - much appreciated. I've googled:

"In his Battaglia, Biber, lacking a large orchestra or noisy percussion instruments to imitate the sounds of war, creates his own racket by writing the music in two conflicting keys, thus producing a sense of great dissonance and discord."

That would explain it! Do you know this piece? Quite amazing. And written in 1673.

Glad you and Mimi both enjoyed Down the line so much!!!

Yours disagreeably,

MJ

Hi MJ

<>

Not by name. I remember Biber being CotW many years ago and finding the style quite unusual, throwing in spooky percussion lines and, as you say, deliberate dissonances. I think I made tapes of some of the programmes but if they survive they'll be in the loft. I don't even know if I could lay my hands on a cassette player these days. Older music quite often has these little surprises, I find. Did you listen to the Angela Hewitt recital? I remember thinking when she started playing the Rameau that the notes seemed to be tripping over each other (note my expert use of technical language!!!) and thinking it must be in the music because AH is too accomplished to be making a mess of it. Sure enough, when I heard it again from the Wigmore Hall the same effect was there. I'm still not sure I liked it but I was certainly enjoying the piece by the time it got to the end.

BBC4 has a programme about Joan Sutherland at 2100 and 0020. I'll probably have to watch the later one as I'm going out soon and my recorder will be tied up with HIGNFY and Jam & Jerusalem. I'll be back before the shutters come down here though.

bye for now

H

That Biber should still be there on Listen Again shouldn't it H? Wonder if those who love contemporary dissonant music like it? (Andy! Are you reading this?)

Unfortunately I was interrupted during the Angela concert so didn't pay attention to the Rameau. I shouldn't imagine I'd have enjoyed the notes tripping over each other (that's quite technical enough for me!)- as when a piece is played simply too fast and your ears don't have time to hear the notes properly so they become an unpleasant blur.

I have loads of unique, treasured cassettes (eg of live performances I sang in or heard on the radio) and still have a cassette recorder that plays, albeit somewhat noisily, but I must get some of those cassettes transferred onto CDs before they become damaged. It's hard to throw away recordings of live ROH performances made with a mike held near the radio and background noises of clattering in the kitchen and the cat miaowing as they've captured a few hours of that evening when I was a child eagerly listening to a favourite opera.

MJ x x

It's still there, MJ and I've just managed to fast-forward and listen to it. It sounds vaguely familiar but I couldn't swear I'd heard it before. It's certainly interesting to listen to.

I'm not thinking of throwing any of my cassettes away either - though they're not nearly as precious as yours. As well as recordings I've made from the radio I've got some pre-recorded ones that are almost irreplaceable eg the unaccountably deleted Ute Lemper 'Dreigroschenoper' and 'Sieben Todsünden'. Luckily there's no sign that audiocassette players are going out of production like, say, minidiscs or VHS.

Did you watch the Joan Sutherland programme? I'm going to record it because I don't fancy staying up until 0130. I'm just going to watch my recording of HIGNFY (Ann Widdecombe in the chair, I see) then off to bed.

goodnight

H

Posted: Saturday 02 December 2006 09:09:31

That Biber should still be there on Listen Again shouldn't it H? Wonder if those who love contemporary dissonant music like it? (Andy! Are you reading this?)

Just sounds like bits of Battaglia are out of tune to me, not dissonant

Didn't know this piece but do know some of Biber especially the Rosary Sonatas, some of which I've heard in live performance at Birmingham Oratory.

Posted: Saturday 02 December 2006 09:17:40

Also LAed some of 'Down the Line' after all the disagreement it's caused here. Some bits did make me laugh eg the swan breaking your arm, but the problem with the concept is that you can hear far worse (and far more annoying) people just by listening to almost any real phone-in programme eg Any Answers. I steer well clear of all phone-ins.