Edward Greenfield (1928 - 2015)

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • mahlerei
    Full Member
    • Jun 2015
    • 357

    #16
    A close friend and one-time sound man at the Royal Opera House said EG was affectionately known backstage as Granny Greenfield :)

    Comment

    • Petrushka
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 12239

      #17
      I used to see EG on the odd occasion at an RFH concert but one specific memory I do have is of an illustrated talk he gave on the Elgar 2nd Symphony which was to form the second half of that evening's concert with Haitink and the Philharmonia. The talk was given with typical EG enthusiasm but the music examples were played at ear-splitting level. I did wonder at he time whether he reviewed recordings at such a high volume setting but decided not to ask!
      "The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard Haitink

      Comment

      • Warlock
        Full Member
        • Apr 2014
        • 35

        #18
        Originally posted by Petrushka View Post
        I used to see EG on the odd occasion at an RFH concert but one specific memory I do have is of an illustrated talk he gave on the Elgar 2nd Symphony which was to form the second half of that evening's concert with Haitink and the Philharmonia. The talk was given with typical EG enthusiasm but the music examples were played at ear-splitting level. I did wonder at he time whether he reviewed recordings at such a high volume setting but decided not to ask!
        I heard that in his later years as a critic of recordings he had hearing problems and received assistance in "listening" from his cousin.

        Comment

        • Barbirollians
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 11671

          #19
          Dear old Ted - a safe pair of critical hands generally and he always came across as a very nice man .

          I sat behind him once at a recital given by Tasmin Little at Snape Maltings in 1996. He was with a very elderly lady who I wondered whether it was his mother - they certainly seemed to be having a great time .

          Comment

          • cloughie
            Full Member
            • Dec 2011
            • 22115

            #20
            I guess he shaped many a record collection!
            RIP EG.

            Comment

            • seabright
              Full Member
              • Jan 2013
              • 625

              #21
              Mention of The Penguin Guide prompts me to ask if EG's two colleagues thereon are still with us. At any rate, I've seen no obits for Robert Layton or Ivan March, so presumably they are still with us and are also in their late 80s?

              Comment

              • Alison
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 6455

                #22
                Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                I guess he shaped many a record collection!
                RIP EG.
                Yes how true Cloughie.

                For me he was the master of summing up in relatively few words the broad characteristics of a performance, the general approach, and would then dab in some telling specific detail. Very readable stuff indeed: a rarer commodity these days.

                Comment

                • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                  Gone fishin'
                  • Sep 2011
                  • 30163

                  #23
                  Originally posted by Alison View Post
                  Very readable stuff indeed: a rarer commodity these days.
                  Still available (in the "Used" sections of Amazon, for example) are his biographies of Puccini, Previn and Sutherland.
                  [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                  Comment

                  • Roehre

                    #24
                    Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                    I guess he shaped many a record collection!
                    RIP EG.
                    Without any doubt, influenced my listening greatly in the 1970s

                    RIP Edward Greenfield

                    Comment

                    • EdgeleyRob
                      Guest
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 12180

                      #25
                      Originally posted by Roehre View Post
                      Without any doubt, influenced my listening greatly in the 1970s

                      RIP Edward Greenfield
                      Yes me too.
                      Some regarded his record reviews as too nice !

                      I use the same cd filing system as EG.



                      RIP

                      Comment

                      • Conchis
                        Banned
                        • Jun 2014
                        • 2396

                        #26
                        I take 'too nice' as a euphemistic phrase to describe someone who refused to use his position to ridicule the artists he reviewed or inflict cheap shots on them.

                        Very sad to hear of E.G.'s passing. He was a strong 'guiding presence' in many listeners' journeys of discovery and his faults, if he had any, were amiable ones.

                        Comment

                        • mercia
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 8920

                          #27
                          I wonder if he left instructions regarding his record collection (30,000+ LPs ?)

                          Comment

                          • cloughie
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2011
                            • 22115

                            #28
                            Originally posted by mercia View Post
                            I wonder if he left instructions regarding his record collection (30,000+ LPs ?)
                            I wonder if he managed to play them all!

                            Comment

                            • Richard Tarleton

                              #29
                              Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                              I guess he shaped many a record collection!
                              RIP EG.
                              Mine, certainly.

                              Comment

                              • Alison
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 6455

                                #30
                                Obituary in Guardian well worth reading.

                                Sorry I'm not very good at links on the I phone ...

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X