Meet the maestro

Yes, in this context that means me  LA based violinist Lindsay Deutsch has a foundation  called Classics Alive dedicated to encouraging young people’s participation in music and they’ve set up a fantastic kids website and newsletter. Their newest feature...

RIP- Karlheinz Stockhausen

  More thoughts to follow. One of the most influential and controversial composers of the 20th Century has passed. You may not have loved his music, but we’re all poorer for living in an age of market-tested platitude-music without his uncompromising intensity...
The Furtwangler Problem

The Furtwangler Problem

I’ve recently been following a lively discussion of the fascist beliefs of the conductor Reginald Goodall, which has, predictably, spilled over to discussion of Karajan and Furtwangler. After writing this about Furtwangler, I thought it was interesting enough to...

In orbit around Jupiter….

It’s often said that conducting is a lonely profession…. This week, I’m conducting the Surrey Mozart Players in (among other things), Mozart’s Symphony no. 41. Digging out a piece this well known when you’ve done it before imposes a certain extra degree of discipline...