Greetings Words on Music readers,
I diligently began assembling my top three for January, which then became February, and now it’s March and the post is still languishing in my drafts folder – for a thousand valid reasons none of which truly matter. Anyway, I’ve just glossed over the hiatus and jumped straight back in – and added a bonus fourth highlight.
Here are four bits of writing (or talking – I suppose I’m stretching the definition a bit) about music that I’ve enjoyed this month and whic you might like too.
Watch
I love it when someone can break down in a really understandable way what’s so good about a performance or piece of music. And this YouTube video on a competition-winning performance by Yunchan Lim of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto is full of great observations by Ben Laude and Cliburn Competition jury members Anne-Marie McDermott and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. Not only for the piano geeks, but anyone who gets excited about great music.
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In the midst of January (February, March… ), we could all do with reading something positive, right? I enjoyed this story from broadcaster Amol Rajan, whose past life as a raver unexpectedly burst into his present incarnation as host of University Challenge on BBC TV. After he told one contestant that ‘I can't accept Drum & Bass. We need Jungle, I'm afraid’, Rajan sparked one of those (increasingly rare) outpourings of creativity and humour that make social media worthwhile, with a sample of his words turned into music.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67955753
Watch
Back to the piano. Scrolling through the ‘Storyville’ strand on BBC iPlayer, I stumbled across Pianoforte, a documentary which takes the viewer behind the scenes of the International Chopin Competition, following several of the ridiculously talented competitors. Oh boy. What a place it is. Worth watching for the fascinating psychology alone.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tktn
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Over at The Honest Broker, Ted Gioia publishes dozens of thought-provoking articles on culture and the arts. ‘The State of the Culture, 2024’ is one of the best recent ones – and the most disturbing. Think we’re in the creative industry for the art or the entertainment? Think again.
What I’m reading right now: On Silver Tides by Sylvia Bishop; The Light in the Dark by Horatio Clare; Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue
What I’m listening to at the moment: Venice by cellist Anastasia Kobekina; Roses by the Paper Kites; Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 6-8 with Robert Levin and the Academy of Ancient Music
What I’m writing: Giant (review for The Times); Cal McCrystal at Glyndebourne (feature for The Times); countertenor Jakub Józef Orlinski (interview for BBC Music Magazine); still scribbling away at the novel.