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Articles by Michael Stuart

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About Michael Stuart

After university, Michael spent twelve years working for MELODY MAKER before going freelance. He claims to keep doing it because it is all he knows. More Posts

Then and Now

On the back of such as this week’s 75th commemorations of the D-Day Landings it is not hard to be left reflecting upon aspects of the randomness of life. In a sense there was no irony in the “Don’t call us heroes …” pleas made by several of them in their television and [...]

June 8, 2019 // 0 Comments

The Barber of Seville/ Glyndebourne

Mark my words: in Hera Hyasang Park a star is born. The South Korean soprano played Rosina in The Barber of Seville at Glyndebourne last night. Her voice was the model of clarity and tone; she could act; she looked winsome and delicate. It was not just her suitor Count Almaviva and the ageing Dr [...]

June 5, 2019 // 0 Comments

You had to be there … or did you?

Some internet operations are a wonder of the modern world – as an example (and I’m not being paid to suggest this) I’d cite YouTube which, for those just browsing or perhaps searching for ‘footage’ items half-remembered or recommend to them, is as good as they come as a potential source [...]

April 29, 2019 // 0 Comments

From there to where?

As I contemplated this post earlier this morning I considered beginning it with “Some Rusters may remember Saint and Greavsie …” because I wanted to reference the catch-phrase of Jimmy Greaves (“It’s a funny old game …”) in the context of my intended theme-for-the-day of Life being [...]

March 31, 2019 // 0 Comments

Covert Cornwall

I cannot be totally sure but I believe I heard the folk group A Fisherman’s Friend sing their sea shanties at the little quayside of Fowey South Cornwall some 6 years ago. I say I cannot be sure as, although I videoed the performance, it does not entirely marry with those of the folk group based [...]

March 12, 2019 // 0 Comments

Wagner and somnabulance

Yesterday in our opera class my neighbour fell asleep as we listened to Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. I immediately thought of the judge censured for falling asleep at court. Of course there is a world of difference between sleeping on duty and sleeping in a class. In both cases though it [...]

February 14, 2019 // 0 Comments

Richard Wagner

Yesterday and for the next three weeks we are studying the life and works of Richard Wagner in our opera class. As our tutor correctly opined no one divides people more than Wagner. The class was asked to give its views, some admired his operatic prowess, others were intimidated by it. I said I was [...]

January 24, 2019 // 0 Comments

Back to term, part two

I too went back to the same learning centre as Alice for an opera course. Of all the musical arts I came to opera the latest. I was put off by its rich corporate image – an opera bore is the worst bore of all – and there seemed little ground between those that are passionate and those [...]

January 18, 2019 // 0 Comments

Stranger on the Shore

It’s funny how once you get a tune in your head you cannot readily dispel it. Yesterday being an unexpectedly clear and sunny day I took a long stroll by the sea. Not altogether unlinked, the instrumental Stranger on the Shore by the clarinetist Acker Bilk lodged in my brain. On the Rust we [...]

December 12, 2018 // 0 Comments

“It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry”

Whether one likes or loathes Bob Dylan and his music, there is no escaping the fact that he will go down in history as one of the greatest and most influential figures in popular music during the 20th Century – and quite possibly ever. It might be said that the mark of a great musician and [...]

December 1, 2018 // 0 Comments

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