Tony Fitzpatrick, UK. blog@tonyfitz.uk

Stravinsky's 1940 Symphony in C, and 1946 Symphony in Three Movements, coupled with the Divertimento (symphonic suite from Le Baiser de la Fée ("The Fairy Kiss"), the very short "Greeting Prelude" and the Circus Polka. Stravinsky wrote little symphonic music, and this disc includes his major such works all completed after his permanent settlement in the US in 1938. The Symphony in C was dedicated to the Chicago Symphony and the Symphony in Three Movements commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. The Divertimento is, for example, an orchestral work extracted from a ballet score, and the Circus Polka was a commission via George Balanchine from the Barnum & Bailey Circus for a dance for elephants (apparently performed in a circus band and organ version for fifty elephants and fifty dancers!). The Greeting Prelude was an eightieth birthday tribute to Pierre Monteux from the Boston Symphony in 1955. BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis. CD released November 2022.

Part of my preparation ahead of a concert I am attending. Mozart's (unfinished) mass probably written in celebration of his marriage to Constanze and visit to Salzburg in 1783. Glorious uplifting music. This recording includes the sections completed by Mozart himself, as well as those parts for which sketches by Mozart enabled completion by Franz Beyer in 1989. The mass is coupled with the Exsultate, jubilate, K165. There is also a bonus track is a less well-known later version of Exsultate, jubilate, with a slightly different text and with flutes replacing the oboes of the original. Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Olivia Vermeulen (alto), Makoto Sakurada (tenor), Christian Immler (bass). Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki. CD released December 2016.

This is really good. Dani Howard (b. 1993), young British composer, won the Royal Philharmonic Society award for her Trombone Concerto in 2021 written for Peter Moore. She has over forty works commissioned from a number of orchestras, and is Composer in Residence with the London Chamber Orchestra. This CD showcases not only the concerto, but four other shorter orchestral works - Argentum, Ellipsis, Coalescence, and Arches. Very approachable and enjoyable music. She has also written two chamber operas - Robin Hood (2019) and the Yellow Wallpaper (2023), which I will seek out. Peter Moore (trombone), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Seal, Pablo Urbina. CD released March 2024.

Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) wrote a huge amount of music - opera, orchestral, chamber - but sadly he is largely now only known for his church and choral works. He was particularly proud of his two string quintets, played particularly finely on this CD from 2020. This disc also includes his Three Intermezzi arranged for cello and piano. It is music of it's time, heavily influenced by Brahms. Members of the Dante and Endellion Quartets, Benjamin Frith (piano). CD released November 2020.

John Towner Williams in now 92, and best known for his wonderful film music, including Spielberg films, Harry Potter, Lincoln, Saving Private Ryan, and many many more. Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra for fourteen years, he is also an accomplished concert hall composer, with a symphony, and numerous concertos to his name. He has written two Violin Concertos. This disc with renowned American Violinist Janes Ehnes features the first, inspired and eventually dedicated to Williams' suddenly deceased wife. It is coupled with Leonard Bernstein's Serenade, or "Serenade, after Plato's Symposium", for solo violin, strings and percussion, completed in 1954. It is inspired by Plato's Symposium, a dialogue of related statements in praise of love. James Ehnes (violin), Saint Louis Symphony, Stéphane Denève. CD released April 2024.

In his twenties, Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), was apparently a noted composer of miniature pieces for chamber ensemble and voice, although not all were well received by the critics. This recent CD consists of several well known including Le Gendarme (1920), Le Bestiaire (1919), Cocardes (1919) and Quatre poemes de max Jacob (1921). Many were later transcribed for the piano. The title piece, Le Gendarme Incompris (The misunderstood Gendarme), dates from 1920 and consists of a one-act play written by Jean Cocteau and Raymond Radiguet and set to music by Poulenc. Manchester Camerata, John Andrews. CD released April 2024.

From 2009 to 2014, Baroness Catherine Ashton was the EU's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, effectively Europe's foreign policy supremo responsible for coordinating the EU's response to international crises. Formerly Leader of the House of Lords under Gordon Brown, she spent a year as Peter Mandelson's replacement as EU Trade Commissioner before being promoted to the most senior diplomatic job in the EU. This well written book describes some of the events of her five years as the High Representative as she tackled challenges as varied as the Ukraine revolution, the earthquake in Haiti, the Iran nuclear deal, the "Arab Spring", and the still ongoing challenges on the Balkans. I found it very interesting, although I despaired page by page about how weighty matters affecting millions of people seemed to swing on the egos of a few, rather over-promoted, men. I was fascinated to read how senior diplomats get caught up in "stuff on the ground" - she found her self in Maiden Square in Kyiv during the Ukrainian revolution for example. The events she describes and the personalities involved seem of another time now - such as Obama, John Kerry, Sarkozy, Merkel, and José Manuel Barroso. Sadly not though Vladimir Putin.

Read in Hardback. Published February 2023.

Two short stories by Daphne du Maurier, adapted for radio by Anna Linstrum (The Blue Lenses) and Vivienne Allen (The Little Photographer).

The first, "The Blue Lenses" concerns a woman in hospital having an operation on her eyes. She is temporarily fitted with "blue lenses" for her vision, and discovers to her horror that everyone has turned into an animal. The nurses are sheep and cows, and the consultant surgeon a fox terrier. Her husband is most scaringly a vulture, and the nurse with whom she is to be discharged a snake. The twist is that each image represents their personalities - her husband is after her trust fund and is having an affair with the nurse. When the lenses are replaced with ordinary sight, they revert to people again, but she, in the mirror, is a timid deer.

The second, "The Little Photographer", is about the titled Madame la Marquise, on holiday in the South of France with her children whilst her husband is attending to business back at the chateau. Bored, she embarks on an affair with a local photographer, meeting daily on a cliff top where she goes for a walk whilst the family nanny attends to the children. The photographer, young and gauche, becomes very serious about the relationship. Madame, in a fit of annoyance pushes him off the cliff. He is found drowned a few days later, but she is not suspected. However his sister, who inherited his photography shop, discovers just what he had been photographing during those long hot afternoons, and the story ends with an implication that blackmail will ensue.

Both tales are very clever, and attest to the skill of Lady Browning's imagination and her command of the craft of storytelling. Cast included Bethany Muir, Oliver Chris, Rhiannon Neads, Michael Bertenshaw, Anna Spearpoint, Ian Dunnett Junior, Lucy Boynton, John Lightbody, Jessica Turner, Rosie Coleman and Maisie Avis. First broadcast 10 March 2024.

Dame Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) was a complex woman. Her novels are moody with paranormal overtones, and her personal relationships were often fraught. Probably a lesbian, she claimed to have spent her early years convinced she was a boy and invented a male alter ego. She married a hero of both world wars, Lieutenant-General Frederick "Boy" Browning in 1932, and had three children, but was regarded as an aloof mother and the marriage was "chilly", with Browning having affairs. She too was rumoured to have had numerous relationships with women, notably including the actress Gertrude Lawrence, and Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her U.S. publisher, Nelson Doubleday. Browning was knighted in 1947, and she was known for the remainder of her life as Lady Browning; he died in 1965. A long time resident of Cornwall, she spent her later years in a home near Par Beach, with declining mental health. This BBC radio play by Moya O'Shea is set in Cornwall in her last years. To escape the "nagging" of her live-in nurse, Lady Browning goes for a walk along the beach with the dogs. She is joined by a man, keen to discuss with her key moments of her life and literary exploits. Daphne tolerates him, and gradually opens up about some of her frustrations with marriage, love life, and her work. He encourages her to climb a cliff, and at the top tries to get her to jump, suggesting that her demons and concerns would then all be cured. Just at the last moment, he falls instead, and she steps back. The nurse appears, and in discussion it turns out that the man was solely a figment of the imagination. Well done, and a brilliant way of compellingly summarising the life of one of the 20th centuries most admired novelists. Cast included Helena Bonham Carter, Bill Nighy, Alex Tregear and Ian Dunnett Junior. Written by Moya O'Shea and directed by Tracey Neale. First broadcast 6 March 2024.

Frank Schreker (1878-1934) was an Austrian composer regarded for his time as the equal of Richard Strauss. Der singende Teufel (the Singing Devil) was composed during 1927-28 to a libretto written in 1924. Originally entitled Die Orgel, it is based on a short story by Heinrich von Kleist entitled Die heilige Caecilie oder die Gewalt der Musik: Eine Legende. Set in the Middle Ages it concerns a battle between the forces of Christianity in a monastery and the evil of paganism represented by the mob outside its walls. Schreker's works were banned by the Nazi's in 1933, and fell into obscurity. This work was not well received at it's premiere in 1928, and has only been revived once before by Bielefeld Opera in 1989.

I have to say that some things remain obscure for good reason. As a story and an opera it isn't very good, although Theatre Bonn made an excellent job of trying to present it for a modern audience. Basically Amadeus Herz, son of an organ maker, is asked to repair the monastery organ by the Abbot, Father Kaleidos. Amadeus's father went insane trying to complete it. The pagan mob are assembling outside the walls, and wish to "sacrifice" the virginity of Lilian, Amadeus's fiance, to the knight "Sinbrand von Fraß" in return for the Gods favour in defeating the Christians. Amadeus tries to save her, is captured, but rescued by Kaleidos. He becomes a monk, repairs the organ, and when the mob attack again, the sweet music lulls them into laying down their weapons. However the organ breaks and the mob storm the monastery. Like his father, Amadeus goes mad and flees to the forest with Lilian. When asked to repair a small organ by a travelling pilgrim Amadeus is sent into despair at memories of the past. Lilian burns the monastery and the organ to the ground, freeing Amadeus from his demons.

It was presented using a very simple set, with lots of imagery - the pagans assembled on hills made of piles of old organ music, and in the monastery there were organ pipes descending from the ceiling. The Director had decided to focus a lot on the sexual connotations of the story, and poor Anne-Fleur Werner singing Lilian had to spend a lot of time on stage in her stockings and suspenders fighting off the knight. Dancers were used to depict the battles and emotions, with homoerotic imagery. Kaleidos, apart from looking like a Gestapo Officer, clearly also had lots of repressed frustrations. The opera was sung in German, but the surtitle translation was a little anachronistic - at one point Kaleidos was apparently singing about "spinning" a story! The cast however all made a good fist of it, and musically it was quite interesting. In the Wikipedia entry for Schreker it states that he had "a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture of Romanticism, Naturalism, Symbolism, Impressionism, Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit), timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and conception of total music theatre". Maybe - that is all a little beyond me!

The director's quote from an interview was however more interesting ... "I wanted to find an abstraction to take the story out of the Middle Ages and create a framework in which two forces simply clash. Furthermore, I associate the protagonist Amandus Herz very specifically with Franz Schreker. Schreker, the artist and man with Jewish ancestry, found himself within an intrinsic political conflict of his time. He lived in a world in which he had ultimately lost everything. He went all the way from being a celebrated composer to an expelled, persecuted and forgotten artist. This personal fate touched me deeply". As an approach that worked, and worked very well. I am glad to have seen this, but doubt I will ever see it again.

Streamed on OperaVision via YouTube. Recorded May 2023.

The Royal Society was founded in 1660 to pioneer scientific discovery and exploration. The oldest scientific academy in existence, amongst its alumni are some of the most eminent scientists in history including Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. This illustrated book, published in 2011 to mark the Society's 350th anniversary, and edited by Bill Bryson (himself an Honorary FRS), is a series of essays from twenty notable individuals in science such as Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson. The overarching theme is "... that the history of scientific endeavour and discovery is a continuous thread running through the history of the world and of society – and is one that continues to shape the world we live in today." A bit of a curates egg - some of the essays are readable and interesting, others less so, but the overall impact is impressive. Lots about climate change (inevitably), and quantum physics, but also interesting topics such as cosmology and the civil engineering of bridge building. Hard work, but I am glad I have read it.

Published July 2011. Read on Kindle.

This hilarious comic chamber opera was first commissioned by the late Gerard Mortier at the Teatro Real Madrid, but lost for ten years. A tale of modern marriage, using a libretto by the Spanish author Rosa Montero, Cambio madre is the story of a husband and wife who want to divorce, and attempt to discuss this with their children (aged 15 and 12) for the first time. Interfering in the discussion is the paternal grandmother (who is divorced herself), and the five times divorced lawyer friend of the family ("I am a professional with lots of experience"), who it turns out is having an affair with the mother. The title of the opera refers to the bartering for the children's affections which goes on, with each parent offering ever lavish gifts to encourage the children to stay with them. It was funny, witty, and attractively sung - the perfect example of a small scale chamber opera. Minimal staging, highly approachable, and musically great fun, I enjoyed it very much.

Peter I (Пётр I Алексеевич) (1672 - 1725), known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of all Russia from 1682, and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. A huge man, he was nearly 7 feet tall. In 1697 he embarked on a "Grand Embassy" of Europe to broaden the Holy League, Russia's alliance with a number of European countries against the Ottoman Empire in the Russian struggle for the northern coastline of the Black Sea. The Tsar also sought to hire foreign specialists for Russian service and to acquire military weapons. He visited England in January - April 1698 at the invitation of William III, primarily to learn from English methods of shipbuilding. The Tsar and his court eventually moved into Sayes Court, owned by Sir John Evelyn, which was adjacent to the Deptford Dockyard. The Russian delegation did lots of damage to the house, which Christopher Wren estimated at £305 9s 6d, with the need for new floors, window panes, and furniture. Much to John Evelyn's distress the garden was also ruined. During the stay the Tsar had an affair with the noted actress, Letitia Cross, and gave her £500 to thank her for her hospitality. Cross said it was not enough while Peter replied that he thought her overpaid! In 2000 a statute of Peter was erected in London to commemorate the tercentenary of his Grand Embassy. It is sited where Deptford Creek joins the confluence of the River Thames.

This entertaining BBC radio play by Mike Walker was very close to these skeleton facts, aside from the fact that the Tsar and John Evelyn never actually met. In the story, poor John Evelyn is between a rock and a hard place, keen to support and serve the Government, but distressed at the trashing of his beloved home and garden. The other plot line concerns the affair with the actress, Letitia Cross, who displayed in the play feminist attitudes towards men that wouldn't be out of place today! Peter however is portrayed as hard working, intelligent, keen to learn and is well regarded by the shipwrights with whom he takes lessons.

Cast included Greg Kolpakchi, Siena Kelly, Michael Bertenshaw, John Lightbody, Josh Bryant-Jones and Kitty O’Sullivan. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko. Written by Mike Walker, from an idea by Michael Crick. First broadcast February 2024.

Jenůfa is a horrible story - a grim tale of infanticide and redemption. A love struck girl made pregnant by Števa, her thug of a fiance, is hidden away by her stepmother. Fiance refuses to marry her as she has been disfigured with a knife by a love-struck alternative suitor, Laca. Stepmother murders the baby to avoid the shame and disgrace of a child out of wedlock, but just as the girl is to marry Laca, the corpse of the baby is discovered. Jenůfa forgives her stepmother, who is led off to face the authorities.

Lovely evenings entertainment! However it is glorious music which mirrors the raw emotion of the story in a very effective way. Although the staging, setting the opera in a rather depressing Eastern European factory village of maybe the 1960s wasn't all that inspiring, the singing was glorious. The stand-out was Jennifer Davis signing the lead role whose voice commanded the stage and story with power.

It occurred to me this could be almost the last thing I see from ENO at the Coliseum given the plans to move to Manchester. A season full of revivals (and few at that) has been less than ideal, and next year may be worse. Who knows what will happen then. I have been coming to the Coliseum for over forty years. So very, very depressing.

Baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Susie Allan’s tribute to mark the 150th anniversary of RVW's birth in 2022. The concept is that of a "fantasy birthday party concert" with pieces by Vaughan Williams and eighteen fellow composers with songs inspired by poets ranging from Shakespeare and Tennyson to W.B. Yeats and Walt Whitman. As well as RVW, composers include Max Bruch, George Butterworth, Gerald Finzi, Ivor Gurney, Holst, Parry, Ravel, Stanford, and Roderick Williams himself. Disc released March 2024.

Michael Barenboim (violin), Philharmonia Orchestra, Alessandro Crudele. Two of my favourite pieces of British music. Britten's atmospheric "sea interludes" from Grimes - with in my view the best evocation of a storm at sea in music anywhere. And then Elgar's Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61, composed after a meeting with Elgar and Fritz Kreisler in 1907. Two years earlier Kreisler had said to the newspapers "If you want to know whom I consider to be the greatest living composer, I say without hesitation Elgar... I say this to please no one; it is my own conviction... I place him on an equal footing with my idols, Beethoven and Brahms. He is of the same aristocratic family. His invention, his orchestration, his harmony, his grandeur, it is wonderful. And it is all pure, unaffected music. I wish Elgar would write something for the violin." After that Elgar really had no choice! Michael Barenboim is son of the great conductor Daniel, a Professor of Chamber Music and Violin at the Barenboim-Said Akademie based in Berlin, and concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. CD released September 2023.

Absolutely gorgeous album from my favourite baritone, Bryn Terfel. Having seen him in Covent Garden as the captain of the Flying Dutchman a few weeks ago I was amused to see the release of this disc of seafaring folk songs. He is perfect for this repertoire, and is joined by a variety of other performers including guests such as Sting (on "Green Willow Tree"), fellow baritone Simon Keenlyside and the Welsh folk group Calan, and the "movie famous" a capella choir "Fisherman's Friends". The Guardian review of this CD said that his powerful clarity was such you could take dictation. Might be a problem for some of the Welsh language material, but I know what they mean! CD released February 2024.

Westminster Cathedral Choir, directed by Simon Johnson. On Holy Saturday - the eve of Easter Day, I listened to the music for the Easter Vigil - the Service of Light, Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of Baptism, and the Liturgy of Eucharist, in a recording made at Buckfast Abbey. One of the great choirs of the world, and possibly of any Catholic Cathedral. Simon Johnson became Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral following thirteen years at St Paul's Cathedral. CD released 22 March 2024.