Ian Bostridge on War Requiem

[doversoul1]

(I hope this is the right place)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/22/benjamin-britten-war-requiem

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

An excellent article: Many thanks, dovers! It had, for me, one of those "Why hadn't I realized that?!" moments when he points out the "pun" on the Picardy Third, and I totally agree withe the statement Britten's operas of the 1950s, so boringly analysed in terms of sexuality, are much more interestingly concerned with the conflict between personal and public duty.

In mentioning the "distrust" that some people have (not me) for the popularity and success of the work, Bostridge doesn't include the misgivings of the composer himself, whose attitude was always a little ambivalent ("The idea was good" is the only comment of his on the "quality"/"success" of the work that I know of).

Best Wishes.

[Mary Chambers]

It doesn't tell me much I don't know, but I always enjoy reading Bostridge's musings. His new book A Singer's Notebook is well worth reading.

[VodkaDilc]

As I read this article yesterday, I recalled that someone had recently criticised The Guardian's declining coverage of serious music. I cannot see that any paper has better coverage than The Guardian (presuming that, like me, one is unable to swallow the outlook of the right-wing papers.)