Igor Zhukov (31 August 1936 – 26 January 2018) was a bit of a fixture in the 1980’ies during my studies in Munich. He played there regularly and was considered a “Geheimtipp”, as Zhukov never made it into the limelight […]
Igor Zhukov (31 August 1936 – 26 January 2018) was a bit of a fixture in the 1980’ies during my studies in Munich. He played there regularly and was considered a “Geheimtipp”, as Zhukov never made it into the limelight […]
One of my all-time favourite authors has always been Georg Hermann, whose novels now are largely forgotten, after an attempt to issue a complete edition of his works had to be abandoned due to a lack of interest in the […]
What a discovery ! Thanks to medimops in Germany ( Tax dodgers Amazon do not deliver any longer to New Zealand, but all the better: I detest the bloodsucking US companies such as Starbucks, Apple, Amazon etc, who pay crappy […]
Giorgio Bassani’s Ferrara, like all true cities, is a myth, a state of being and of having been, and he haunts it with the nostalgic passion of the exile. ( His “The Garden of the Finzi‐Continis” was an ambiguous vision […]
‘Peter the Great’ was a cat that was the sole survivor of a volcano eruption at White Island off the North Island coast of New Zealand in 1914. ‘Peter the Great’, the White Island camp cat, only survivor of the […]
Isaac Albeniz recorded 3 Improvisations in 1903. A document of great significance, it is the only existing recording of a 19th century pianist improvising on record. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6otO85ATRYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQ1RB5YXp8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHl5Go-xQi8
This is one of my desert island vocal recordings: Kathleen Battle sings 3 spirituals as encores in her celebrated Salzburg Festival Recital in 1987. Irreplaceable, unique, stunning.
I have a ( probably unhealthy ) livelong obsession with Heinrich von Kleist, one of Germany’s most interesting, but also problematic writers of the 19th century. The groundbreaking critical edition of his works has been a never ending delight, as […]
Excellent 15 minute portrait about humour in Aki Kaurimaki’s work, Finland’s finest director and one of my top 3 of all times.( The other being Antonioni and Tarr ). Plus an added bonus of a wonderful early short film “Shit […]
