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Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings; It is the Lord, who rises with healing in his wings: when comforts are declining, he grants the soul again a season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain. William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) was one of the earliest of the nineteenth century romantic poets, much … Read more
He who would valiant be ‘Gainst all disaster, Let him in constancy Follow the Master. There’s no discouragement Shall make him once relent His first avowed intent To be a pilgrim Who so beset him round With dismal stories, Do but themselves confound His strength the more is. No foes shall stay his might, Though … Read more
Rick Perdian talks to soprano Juliet Petrus
In February, Juliet Petrus garnered critical acclaim for her Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Hamburger Kammeroper. Midway through the run, the first wave of the novel coronavirus shuttered theaters in Germany and Petrus returned to London, where she has spent the rest of 2020 with her husband and son as lockdowns come and go in the UK.
BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA 2020
BAROQUE CHRISTMAS CANTATAS
A concert for St Beornwald’s Day
Saturday 12 December 2020, 4pm
St Mary’s Church, Church Green, Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 4AW
Bampton Classical Opera presents a seasonal concert at St Mary’s Church in Witney, Oxfordshire on Saturday 12 December at 4pm, to mark St Beornwald’s Day, the annual celebration of the patron saint of Bampton. The concert will feature two fine baroque pastoral Christmas cantatas: Alessandro Scarlatti’s ‘Non sò qual più m’ingombra’, and Antonio Caldara’s ‘Amarilli vezzosa’.
Poetry Truth and Understanding. That trinity comes out from my church-attendance friends as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Pontius Pilate was almost as witty as Jesus himself. My vote for the fifth Prefect of Judea goes with the Orthodox Church’s, who revere him as a hero: unlike the spoilsport Western Church, who portray him as a villain. What is truth? is the question that the Godhead Himself must constantly ask as well as urge his followers to ask. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things which are God’s says Jesus, in the response to the Pharisee’s trick question as to whether it is lawful to pay your taxes. Good Christians do well to follow Our Lord’s advice. So, no apologies to the super-taxed wealthy. And absolutely no excuse for your responsibilities toward God. Those responsibilities are both complex and a delight. Further thought is needed.
The killing of George Floyd last May sparked protests in 2,000 US cities and many others around the world, but the fuse had been burning for years. In July 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Mothers of the … Read more
New piano music emerges from the Covid lockdown
Duncan Honeybourne gave his first London recital at 15 and his first BBC broadcast recital at 17. He was a prize-winner at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he graduated with First Class Honours and later received the honorary award of HonRBC for professional distinction. His teachers included Rosemarie Wright, Philip Martin, John York and Dame Fanny Waterman, and he completed his studies in London for three years with Mikhail Kazakevich on a Goldenweiser Scholarship awarded by the Sheepdrove Trust.
Pianist Eleonor Bindman talks to Robert Beattie
Eleonor Bindman is a New York based pianist and chamber musician who has received extensive praise for her piano transcriptions. The New York Times commented on her ‘lively, clear textured and urbane’ performances and ‘impressive clarity of purpose and a full grasp of the music’s spirit’. Eleonor has appeared at Carnegie Hall, The 92 Street Y, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and on solo concerto engagements with the National Music Week Orchestra, the Staten Island Symphony, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the New York Youth Symphony, and The Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, Russia. She is a prize winner of the New Orleans, Busoni and Jose Iturbi international piano competitions and is a recipient of a National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts award.