http://standpointmag.co.uk/taxonomy/term/128 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://standpointmag.co.uk/counterpoints-january-february-12-out-of-the-fire-norman-lebrecht-jean-sibelius-eighth-symphony <p><b>Author:</b>Norman Lebrecht</p><p style="text-align: justify"> <br />He wrestled with demons: Composer Jean Sibelius </p><p style="text-align: justify">No lost work in the world excites such national fervour as the Eighth Symphony that Jean Sibelius threw on a bonfire at his home in Ainola some time in the early 1940s. No Shakespeare draft, no missing part of Goethe's Faust, no canto of Dante's would cause scholars to weep in England, Germany and Italy as they did in Helsinki when the editor of the composer's complete works, Timo Virtanen, announced in November that he had found what appeared to be a sketch from the lost symphony.</p><p><a href="http://standpointmag.co.uk/counterpoints-january-february-12-out-of-the-fire-norman-lebrecht-jean-sibelius-eighth-symphony"><span>read more</span></a></p> http://standpointmag.co.uk/counterpoints-january-february-12-out-of-the-fire-norman-lebrecht-jean-sibelius-eighth-symphony#comments Counterpoints Finland Jean Sibelius Music Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:34:22 +0000 Frances Weaver 4288 at http://standpointmag.co.uk http://standpointmag.co.uk/music-january-february-12-just-say-no-to-state-funding-nprman-lebrecht-subsidy-cuts-good-for-arts-valentina-lisitsa <p><b>Author:</b>Norman Lebrecht</p><p style="text-align: justify"> <br />Populist pianist: Valentina Lisitsa is an online sensation (Sam Jones) </p><p style="text-align: justify">What on earth was I going to tell the Dutch? On a long train ride to Amsterdam I had to think of something to bring cheer to a culture that was being politically gutted.</p><p style="text-align: justify">A right-wing government planned cuts of up to 60 per cent in arts budgets, threatening the abolition of Holland's oldest opera company, several orchestras, any number of theatres and galleries and — as it happened — the organisation that had invited me to keynote its conference, the Dutch Classical Music Meeting (DCMM), which every two years showcases creative innovation.</p><p><a href="http://standpointmag.co.uk/music-january-february-12-just-say-no-to-state-funding-nprman-lebrecht-subsidy-cuts-good-for-arts-valentina-lisitsa"><span>read more</span></a></p> http://standpointmag.co.uk/music-january-february-12-just-say-no-to-state-funding-nprman-lebrecht-subsidy-cuts-good-for-arts-valentina-lisitsa#comments Arts Council Government Arts Cuts Music Music Valentina Lisitsa Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:00:33 +0000 Frances Weaver 4275 at http://standpointmag.co.uk http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/4266 <p><b>Author:</b>Simon Heffer</p><p style="text-align: justify"> <br />Musical malevolence: Benjamin Britten (left) privately sneered at fellow composer Ralph Vaughan Williams </p><p><a href="http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/4266"><span>read more</span></a></p> http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/4266#comments Benjamin Britten Music Radio 3 Vaughan Williams William Walton Culture &amp; Anarchy Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:20:33 +0000 Frances Weaver 4266 at http://standpointmag.co.uk