A wonderful moment

A wonderful moment in Spain featuring music from Verdi’s La Traviata…

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Strauss: Final Trio from Der Rosenkavalier

I recently saw Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House here in London. It was a lavish production and a very enjoyable evening.

Strauss’ music often lacks any obvious motif or melody: being of the Germanic Romantic style it is very similar to Wagner’s. All is not lost, however, because this style of music meanders around, washes over you, and occasionally reaches great crescendos of considerable emotional intensity. One such moment is below.

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David Gray: Alibi

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So much for songs which make light of rehab.

Eudaimonia: Political Correctness is Killing Us All

This time last year I made a song capturing the zeitgeist of political correctness in the UK. Here it is.

A magnificent evening at the Cadogan Hall

Wagner’s Liebestod (“Love Death”) from Tristan & Isolde must surely be one of the most intense and profoundly moving pieces in the entire classical music reportoire. This evening I heard it performed live, along with Strauss’s Four Last Songs, which are also extremely beautiful (especially Im Abendrot), and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.

I can’t say I have ever been to a performance quite like this evening’s. The Orion Orchestra, which performed conducted by Toby Purser, is comprised of young musicians who were highly competent. The sopranos (Alwyn Mellor and Susan Gritton) were experienced and absolutely excellent, both turning in flawless performances.

The Liebestod is a unique piece of music: powerful, meandering, haunting. It is like being carried by a sea – it lulls and soars. It is Wagner at his most epic, most tragic and – I think – most moving. I can’t show you film of this evening, so I have placed below an acclaimed performace by Birgit Nilsson instead.

It felt like something of an honour to be there this evening listening to this music and it will stay with me forever.

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Toby Keith: The Taliban Song

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Sisters of Mercy: Dominion

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Talk Talk: Life’s What You Make It

“Fate” is a notion propounded by cowards to in order to evade responsibility for their own lives.

Nice lyric

“If it’s so good in the city why don’t anybody smile?”

- Toby Keith – It Works for Me

Jack Ingram: That’s a Man

Here’s a song I like, as it is an antidote to the nihilism embraced by many non-believers, and instead it asserts strong and decent values.

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It is truly a shame it is so often left to the faithful to endorse these kinds of values, while one gets the impression that the typical atheist liberal would be more likely to admire Russell Brand or, indeed, he who is beyond any criticism whatsoever, hallowed be his name, St. Stephen of Fry, the paragon of virtue for all self-respecting liberals.

Mozart: Laudate Dominum

One of the most beautiful and sublime pieces of music ever to have been wrtten. If you like it, search out the version by Kiri Te Kanawa.

Brad Paisley: I’m Still a Guy

Kenny Chesney: Don’t Blink

No-Man: Wherever There is Light

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OMD: Universal

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