Musical Resolutions for 2011

[Alison]

1. Go to the Cadogan Hall for an RPO concert.

2. Explore, at long last, some music of J S Bach.

3. Buy less new releases for-the-sake-of-it.

4. Put all existing discs in some sort of order.

5. Rediscover the work of Havergal Brian.

How about you ?

[EdgeleyRob]

4. Put all existing discs in some sort of order.

Many of mine need to be put back in the right cases first.

I intend to listen to more Rawsthorne, Rubbra and Alkan in 2011

[Bryn]

To find my CD-Rs, or failing that, maybe the cassettes, of Havergal Brian's The Tigers. If even that fails, to get a friend for whom I made copies to lend them back to me.

[Hmm. Good old Internet. I find someone has kindly uploaded 128kbps wma files of The Tigers. 17 files in all. Rather too few data for my linking, but beggars can't be choosers. They'll serve until I find my CD-Rs.]

[Roehre]

I only keep one resolution: I don't do resolutions :)

[Simon]

Go to more live concerts.

Practice more piano exercises, especially with my left hand.

Find a musically appealing way to correct people who use the word "less" instead of the word "fewer".

"Our Ali wrote less when she should have wrote fewer
she's not on her own, but there's surely a kewer
for them that repeatedly get this so wrong:
perhaps they'll remember this daft little song!"

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

1. Go to the Cadogan Hall for an RPO concert.

This has been on my 'to do' list for some time, but take a look at the RPO's Cadogan programme... nothing too much to excite there. Charles Dutoit is the RPO's Principal Conductor, but how many concerts is he conducting there? None. The couple of programmes which look attractive feature unfamiliar soloists/ conductors.

3. Buy less new releases for-the-sake-of-it.

I'm with you there!

5. Rediscover the work of Havergal Brian.

Sounds like the Proms 'Gothic' should be a must for both of us, then.

I remember reading a Gramophone editorial some years ago (so must have been James Jolly) where he suggested New Year resolutions which included getting to know the work of a particular contemporary composer and following a particular artist, even (especially) if it meant exploring new repertoire or revisiting 'warhorses'. It got me thinking then and it's equally apt today. I know a little of Kalevi Aho's music and have enjoyed what I've heard, so shall resolve to discover more. As to a performer, I've been impressed by Yannick Nezet-Seguin and shall endeavour to attend a concert or two with the LPO and catch up on some more of his Bruckner on disc.

Also, I shall try to practise/ play more...

[Norfolk Born]

To eschew Mozart until the 13th of January.

[Alison]

I stand corrected dear Simon.

Good ideas IGI.

I know Mahlerei is fond of Aho and not just because a lot of the discs are SACDs !

[Alison]

ps Are Charles Dutoit and the RPO the least fanfared musical partnership of all time ?????????

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

ps Are Charles Dutoit and the RPO the least fanfared musical partnership of all time ?????????

Very possibly.

They've recently released a disc (Onyx) of Scheherazade. Review in January's IRR...

[Mahlerei]

I know Mahlerei is fond of Aho and not just because a lot of the discs are SACDs !

You have a good memory :) Either that or I blather on about Aho too much. Actually, most of Aho's cycle for BIS is bog-standard CD. He has a BBC Phil commission, which will be premiered in 2011 (his 15th Symphony, IIRC).

One of your resolutions must be to unwrap and audition that Casella 2...

[Alison]

Very possibly.

They've recently released a disc (Onyx) of Scheherazade. Review in January's IRR...

Right on. A very apt selection of work for your goodself. (Orchestral playing likely to be pretty staggering actually ....)

[Alison]

One of your resolutions must be to unwrap and audition that Casella 2...

I had a most enjoyable couple of hours this teatime doing nothing other than sorting out piles of CDs.

Rest assured that the Casella disc has been located and is now on a to be listened to soon stack !

[Petrushka]

1. Go to the Cadogan Hall for an RPO concert.

2. Explore, at long last, some music of J S Bach.

3. Buy less new releases for-the-sake-of-it.

4. Put all existing discs in some sort of order.

5. Rediscover the work of Havergal Brian.

How about you ?

Definitely with you on 3 & 4, Alison.

Following on from a comment on the musical anniversaries thread, I want to get to know the symphonies of Allan Pettersson. I still haven't got Handley's Bax symphonies so that is another resolution.

[Bryn]

Warning. Anyone tempted by the Havergal Brian The Tigers wma downloads. They are not very well edited. There are short digital silences at the start and closes of most 'tracks' and some dodgy starts part way into the initial attacks in some files. I have spent nearly 3 hours inflating the wma files to WAVs, then doing what I could to tame the badly edited attacks and remove the offending silences, etc. and resampling to 48kHz. Now burning to an audio DVD+R along with the Boult and Schmidt Gothics.