Christian Hoskins

How on earth did I spell Mélisande wrongly? Clumsy fingers. 😖

Today's choices:

Elektra
Der Schatzgräber
Moses und Aron
Turandot
Vec Makropulos
The Tender Land
Pelléas et Mélidande
Peter Grimes
Lulu
Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Eine florentinische Tragödie

Ah yes, it's difficult to be inconspicuous in the front row of the choir.

Paavo Järvi thanking the London Philharmonic after performing Sibelius 2 at the Royal Festival Hall this evening. My third time hearing a live performance of the piece that blows away all the recordings I know. Alexandre Kantorow's performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto 2 earlier was stunning.

At the Royal Festival Hall to hear the London Philharmonic with their newly announced chief conductor designate, Paavo Järvi.

Excellent news. Loved Järvi's concerts with the Philharmonia. Looking forward to seeing him and the LPO tomorrow night in fact.

News: Paavo Järvi appointed as new Chief Conductor & Artistic Advisor of the @LPOrchestra

A soundtrack I played dozens of times back in the day...

I recall there were a couple of vacuum cleaners involved as well...

Pleased to see this impressive release of Martin's chamber music picked as an Editor's Choice in Gramophone this month. My review is currently free to read online: www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/mart...

Very comfortable. I was previous using Etymotic ER4XR in-ears when needing to manage background noise, but they require a rest after a while.

Unexpected musical lookalikes: Giuseppe Sinopoli and Dr Hans Reinhardt.

The Sennheiser HD600 is my usual headphone for home listening and is superb, but occasionally I need something that cuts out background noise. This is the first time I've found a closed back design that comes close.

I guess when they started calling it the Department of War instead of Defense they did it for a reason.

Went into a hi-fi store for a totally unrelated purpose and came away with a new pair of headphones. Sennheiser have totally knocked the ball out of the park with this model. By far the best closed back headphones I've ever heard plus noise reduction and the choice of cable or wireless connectivity.

It's difficult to know these days who they want to keep out.

Some incredible tactical voting went on there based on the 4th, 5th and 6th placed candidates' results:

Conservative 1.9%
Lib Dem 1.8%
Monster Raving Looney 0.4%

Same here.

Gianandrea Noseda thanking the LSO's percussion section after performing Rachmaninoff 1 at the Barbican last night. Marvellously energetic and impassioned playing from the orchestra in this excellent concert.

Rimmer: Step up to Red Alert!
Kryten: Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb...

At the Barbican for my favourite Rachmaninoff Symphony:

SAMMICH! A train sign for the town of Sandwich, also ideal for daft decor in a foody place

Saw this old train sign at the auctioneers and now I'm really tempted to put it up in my kitchen

The Complete Britten - YouTube To mark 50 years since Benjamin Britten's death in 1976, I'm listening to all Britten's music throughout 2026 in the order he composed it. I'm adding every p...

This is my favourite among a host of wonderful discoveries pre-dating Britten's Op. 1, including Quatre Chansons Françaises, Quartettino, Elegy for solo viola and more. Hear them on my #TheCompleteBritten playlists.

Qobuz: open.qobuz.com/playlist/515...
Youtube: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I avoid his website like I avoid ebola.

Watched "On the Beach" (1959), starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins. Less immediately terrifying than "The War Game" or "Threads", but still very bleak and enormously poignant.

A few more not mentioned so far I think:

Unsuk Chin
Joan Tower
Daphne Oram
Judith Weir
Bebe Barron
Roxanna Panufnik
Anna Thorvaldsdottir

He got Michael Ironside to do his publicity shots 😉

Oh yes!

Hmm

Sky News gains rare access to Bank of England's gold vaults Sky's Ed Conway is shown one of the 12 vast vaults where the world's largest single deposit of gold is kept on behalf of its many owners.

Fascinating article (and video) about the world's second largest gold stockpile hidden under the streets of central London.
news.sky.com/story/sky-ne...