Not Reviews, but observations: ‘Mahagonny’ in London and ‘Die Gezeichneten’ in Lyon

The last thing I wanted to do was to turn this site into me reviewing performances and CDs. As a recording producer, I’ve read too many reviews – good and bad – that… Continue reading

Wilhelm Grosz, 1894 – 1939: From Mahler Successor to the Santa Fe Trail

  (Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage – Washed Away is the Gold of our Days – Rondel op. 11 from 1921) “In comparison with all of these other would-be Mahlerians, Wilhelm Grosz rises… Continue reading

Review in TLS of two new books on Schoenberg

I’ve reviewed two outstanding new books on Schoenberg for the Times Literary Supplement – in fact, they appear to have made my review their headline feature. The books are Julie Brown’s SCHOENBERG AND… Continue reading

Music Restitution

On February 3rd 2015, I was asked by the Holocaust Research Centre, headed by Prof. David Cesarani at Royal Holloway College, University of London to give their annual Holocaust Lecture. I Chose the… Continue reading

A South American Story of Music Exile: Guillermo Graetzer (Wilhelm Grätzer):

An area that remains totally under-researched is the fate of music-exiles in South and Latin America. Occasionally a wisp of a story pops up such as Hans Joachim Köllreuter who taught, amongst others,… Continue reading

‘La-La-La!!! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!’

There has been an indecently long gap since my last posting. This was due to a computer crash, travels and deadlines that were made all the more stressful with the loss of important… Continue reading

A Feisstian View of Schoenberg in America

Just as I completed reading Sabine Feisst’s excellent Schoenberg’s New World – the American Years, the Times Literary Supplement asked if I would review two new books on Schoenberg. I won’t give away… Continue reading

The Skewered ‘Way of Life’ of Roger Scruton

This article in today’s Guardian is by Roger Scruton, a philosopher with a leaning towards Hegelian aesthetics. In it, he pleads for his concept of ‘conservatism’ and explains why it’s hard to ‘think’… Continue reading

Conferences – August 2014

Unlike full-time academics, conferences make up very little of my yearly schedule. When I can make one, I find them rewarding and encouraging as they highlight how far interest and research have come… Continue reading

Beyond Ideology

At the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices symposium, ‘Music, Censorship and Meaning in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union: Echoes and Consequences’, held at Los Angeles’s Colburn School, I gave the following paper.… Continue reading