A blog rec: Eighty Days Of Toscanini

[fpb]

For anyone who loves classical music (except Norman Lebrecht), this is by a professional player in a minor American band, who, unlike many of his fellow professional musicians, has not been embittered and has not forgotten why he got into music in the first place. An enthusiast about music and a pleasant, amusing personality, not afraid of forthright opinions, but also with the ear and insight of a professional orchestral player, this comes pretty close to being the last word on the musical side of one of my heroes.

Comments

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Linkety-link?

[joetexx.livejournal.com]

Why is Mr. Lebrecht excluded?

OT but perhaps of interest

[joetexx.livejournal.com]

The Royal Mint has struck a series of coins to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics. Each depicts a sporting event and a Roman god. No, you have not misread that last sentence, nor have I mis­typed it. The Royal Mint doesn’t know its Mars from its Ares. The howler is cast in 22-karat gold for all to see. The Mint has not issued an apology or expressed embarrassment. There has been, however, a retrospective explanation: As the motto of the revived Greek Olympics is in the Latin language, it is right for the gods of those who spoke it to appear on Olympic coins.

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2012/07/20/synchronized-grinning/

Don't know enough about Brit sports or education to comment on the rest ofthe article, but that pargraph cracked me up.