‘Tapiola’ (Vänskä)
‘The Wood Nymph’ (Rouvali)
Symphony No 7 (BPO/Rattle)
Violin Concerto (Dalene)
‘Kullervo’ (Segerstam)

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

No wonder the orange toddler is unhinged once again.

The Obamas are competent, classy, loving, Harvard and Princeton graduates, loved by many, not on the Epstein files, got the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave us a steady economy to boot.

Repost this if you agree they are AMAZING and an inspiration!

I also enjoyed this but the Brahms 1 I keep returning to at the moment is an oldie: Furtwängler in 1951 with the sinfonieorchester des nordwestdeutschen rundfunks - now that fairly combusts!

Listening to Rouvali’s Strauss. Such an interesting conductor! I don’t mind at all that he pulls the tempi around so much, nor the way he takes his time at the summit of the ‘Alpine Symphony’. (Not so convinced by his singing along during the big moments though! 🤣)

Merry Christmas! 🎄 🎶

Day 1 of the holiday sounds like this… ☺️

What about you?

I went to Georgia and Moscow as a kid. That was a memorable experience. Georgia beautiful.

I love Lille. Just felt the need to share.

Enjoyed some very classy - and appropriately terrifying - Bartok at the Proms last night. Also, great to see the double basses placed where they should be. In fact, I’m going to make it a condition of playing from now on. 🤣

In just over an hour, I get to hear Mahler 2 live for the first time. 😝 🎶

I’m disappointed but I think I know what you mean about legendary performances. Concert-going is relatively new to me but I have vivid memories of some of my early trips to the theatre and I don’t really mind that I can’t actually revisit the performances. They can still inspire.

Surely one for LSO Live? (He asks hopefully…)

What other bits?! 😉

Today:
9, 2, 3, 8, 4, 5, 6, 1, 7, DLvdE, 10

I love this film - and what a great photo! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Christian. During a crazy week (moving house on Wednesday - hopefully!) the latest edition and your feature article offered a welcome tonic! Whilst packing boxes, I’ve been enjoying the recommended recording on the Presto Music app. ☺️

I’ve been enjoying the Cleveland / Szell Brahms 4.

Final evening of the holiday: a takeaway and ‘The King’s Speech’. 😊

In a way, is it more difficult though when you are already very familiar with so many of the recordings? Difficult to be objective?

Out of interest, how much time does it take to prepare a feature like that? On Bruckner 6 too - it’s an epic project!

And did I see that it’s Bruckner 6 in ‘The Collection’ next month? Looking forward to reading that.

Very fond memories of the 3 peaks from my DofE days. Enjoy!

As a Muslim girl in Bradford, I saw my story in Jane Austen’s novels. Now I’ve directed a TV series about her | Ali Naushahi I soaked up her sharp insights into class, gender and power. Reading more about her life, the parallels between us became clear, says TV director Ali Naushahi

As a Muslim girl in Bradford, I saw my story in Jane Austen’s novels. Now I’ve directed a TV series about her | Ali Naushahi

Presto Music is proud to present ‪@ed-gardner.bsky.social‬'s stunning Britten collection as a pre-release exclusive from 30th May 2025, ahead of the album's general release on 20th June 2025, working in partnership with @LPOrchestra label.

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Arrived this morning. Thank you, @prestomusic.bsky.social

Fair point, although I’m very glad to have heard the Brautigam in particular. I listened to the whole programme from 9.30 and it was a most enjoyable day. Lots of new discoveries for me.

I’m also a fan of 3. The only Mahler symphony I haven’t gone back to repeatedly is 7 and even that is finally growing on me. If you haven’t heard the Chailly 3, you should try it. Fabulous playing and a vivid recording. Let me know what you think.

Speaking of Mahler 3, I’m listening now to the Concertgebouw / Chailly. It’s a belter, isn’t it?