"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
Within the vast heading of The History Of Music, I don’t think there is, or will ever be, a shortage of musicians and composers whose work has gone mostly unnoticed, or at best, largely underrated. Lily Bienvenu is one of those composers. To be fair, she is known for composing...
Rescuing and preserving take a village: Become a Patron! Back to Paris tonight for a 1st French performance of the Concerto for 2 Cellos and Orchestra by Paul Tortelier. The Concerto was originally premiered in Germany in 1951, but since there is no date on the transcriptions I have, it’s...
Back over to Paris this week for part of a radio recital given by the renowned Pianist and teacher Lelia Gousseau from 1951. This one features a seldom heard work by Paul Dukas – the Variations, Interlude and Finale on a theme by Rameau (Variations, interlude et finale sur un...
The legendary Belgian conductor André Cluytens this weekend. A performance of Debussy’s orchestral work, Jeux, as it was given with the French National Orchestra in this radio broadcast via the ORTF in Paris, circa 1953. Cluytens was one of the most well-known interpreters of French Orchestral music from the late...
I originally ran this post a few years via my old website, but many readers weren’t happy with the sound quality available at the time. So, as promised, I am running it again with new and improved sound and a new transfer. This is the World Premier performance of the...
The Tourists for a Monday night – Live At The Paris Theatre, London – June 23, 1979 – BBC Radio 1. The Tourists had a reasonable following in the U.S., but nothing compared to the success when Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart left to form The Eurythmics. Guitarists Peet Coombes...
A little less than two months into the shooting war in Europe, the news was filled reports of preparations and precautions going on throughout Europe. News from the front, with German reconnaissance planes penetrating French lines and being thrown back. Skirmishes in the air. From Paris came word of pending...
Eugene Bigot was one of the most widely respected and recorded conductors during the 1930s and 1940s. During the era of the 78 rpm record, Bigot was responsible for recording more French repertoire heard all over the world than just about any conductor at the time. Sadly, his recording activities...
Sadly, the French conductor Roger Desormiere didn’t fully transition over to the era of the lp record before having his career cut short by a debilitating stroke. He was one of the most widely respected conductors in France, going from the late 1930s all the way to his forced retirement...
News for this October 19th in 1941 was about the Eastern Front. The German drive to Moscow before the first snows of Winter. The big push was in the area of the Caucasus; the huge Oil fields of Baku which, if captured would mean the German Army would cut off...
