Stalin walked out of a performance of Shostakovich\s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, saying the music was a muddle. This shows only that he was a tyrant with a tin ear. Shostakovich’s masterpiece is ravishing and compelling. In the week when the English National Opera announced that it is going to try to better its fortunes by giving more than 40 performances of Lord Lloyd Webber’s … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2015
23,226 days 11 hours, 23 minutes and counting: Long Live the Queen!
Although American-born, I’ve been a loyal subject of Her Majesty the Queen for about thirty years; but I’ve resided most of my adult life in her kingdom and definitely want to celebrate her breaking Queen Victoria’s record by reigning over us longer than her great-great-granny’s 23,226 days. As a 12-year-old I watched her coronation on the first colour TV set in Lexington, KY, and have … [Read more...]