Michael Kustow was the first commissioning editor for arts on Britain’s Channel 4. Restless, eclectic, endlessly innovative, he broke the mould of top-down arts broadcasting on British television and replaced it with programming that was at once challenging and viewer-friendly.
The 1980s on Channel 4 were a golden age of arts broadcasting the like of which we shall not see again.
Michael who had been in poor health for some years, died on Friday aged 74.
portrait by Tom Phillips
A group of artists from the Baltic and former Soviet states have gathered in Helsinki this afternoon to play out their differences.
Here’s their manifesto:
We have decided to get together to remind each other that the only sustainable way to solve our conflicts is by working together. This is a statement on behalf of all people and peaceful development.
We are facing huge shared challenges, so huge that we really do not need them to be further complicated by military encounters. If we want a chance to meet these challenges, we have to decide – today – to accept our differences. Not even our biggest disagreements justify abandoning peaceful, constructive practice.
Our ensemble of players is gathered from many countries. There are also strong differences of opinion amongst us. Still, confronting our common goal, a successful musical performance, we are perfectly capable of focusing on working together. We are proof of people’s desire to do good and to create beauty. This time we are not here to solve our problems, but to build common ground on which to face them.
Let us focus on giving the future a chance.
*
The concert is live-streamed here.
These are the players:
Participating artists
Aalto-Setälä |
Kerttu |
flute |
Ahtinen |
Timo |
double bass |
Ali-Mattila |
Teppo |
violin |
Antola |
Iida |
soprano |
Anttila |
Martti |
tenor |
Batiashvili |
Lisa |
violin |
Bezrodny |
Anna Liisa |
violin |
Binder |
David |
trombone |
Brostek |
Magdalena |
cello |
Bugnot |
Thomas |
trumpet |
Buinovschi |
Ion |
violin |
Büchert |
Mads |
timpanist / percussionist |
Chousovskii |
Anton |
violin |
Coleman |
Amelia |
english horn / oboe |
Dmitri |
Ermilov |
trumpet |
Dmitrjev |
Aleksei |
bassoon |
Eerola |
Inka |
violin |
Ernesaks |
Greta |
cello |
Franzon |
Johanna |
violin |
Frostén |
Harri |
violin |
Gil Shaked |
Agababa |
clarinet |
Gorkun-Silén |
Iryna |
flute |
Grans |
Peter |
double bass |
Grans |
Pontus |
double bass |
Gricius |
Tomas |
trumpet |
Gustafsson |
Jan-Erik |
cello |
Haikola |
Anna-Leena |
violin |
Heikinheimo |
Siljamari |
violin |
Helander |
Jaani |
cello |
Hendricks |
Barbara |
vocal |
Hoffström |
Anna |
violin |
Hohti |
Hanna |
viola |
Hohti |
Markus |
cello |
Holmström |
Emil |
piano |
Horttana |
Helmi |
violin |
Hurttia |
Linnea |
violin |
Hyväkkö |
Jarmo |
clarinet |
Indermühle |
Nicolas |
tuba |
Itoh |
Eri |
violin |
Ivars |
Mikko |
cello |
Juris |
Dani |
bass |
Juutilainen |
Hanna |
flute |
Juvonen |
Sirpa |
viola |
Jämsä |
Henna |
clarinet |
Kares |
Jenny |
flute/piccolo |
Kaukola |
Ritva |
viola |
Kauppinen |
Maiju |
violin |
Kilpeläinen |
Atte |
viola |
Kitaeva |
Maria |
violin |
Kivistö |
Jenni |
violin |
Kivivuori |
Kimmo |
viola |
Klas |
Eri |
conductor |
Koistinen |
Arto |
viola |
Koivisto |
Juha-Pekka |
violin |
Komsi |
Nuppu |
violin |
Koponen |
Matti |
violin |
Koskimies |
Minna |
piano |
Kotka |
John |
trombone |
Kumela |
Petri |
guitar |
Kupiainen |
Heini |
piano |
Kuusava |
Kati |
violin |
Kuusisto |
Pekka |
violin |
Kärnä |
Noora |
contrabassoon |
Laivuori |
Jaakko |
viola |
Lake |
Carly |
french horn |
Larionov |
Oleg |
viola |
Latvala |
Tero |
violin |
Lehikoinen |
Lotte |
alto |
Lehto |
Tuomas |
cello |
Lehtola |
Jarno |
tenor |
Luolajan-Mikkola |
Mikko-Ville |
violin |
Maalismaa |
Eriikka |
violin |
Maijala |
Lilli |
viola |
Malmivaara |
Paula |
oboe |
Mattila |
Elina |
cello |
Mellberg |
Niklas |
teorbi |
Murdvee |
Mikk |
violin |
Mussafia |
Barbara |
cello |
Mäkinen |
Pasi |
trombone |
Nikula |
Heikki |
bassclarinet |
Nironen |
Sirja |
cello |
Nisonen |
Tanja |
french horn |
Pajuoja |
Hannu |
french horn |
Palola |
Erkki |
violin |
Parviainen |
Hanna |
violin |
Pensola |
Minna |
violin |
Podyachev |
Ivan |
viola |
Pulkamo |
Kaisa |
viola |
Raikas |
Johannes |
contrabass |
Rantanen |
Simo |
trumpet |
Raulamo |
Jaakko |
cello |
Resjan |
Valeria |
piano |
Reskalenko |
Olga |
viola |
Rintamäki |
Sirkku |
mezzosopraano |
Rinta-Rahko |
Anna |
double bass |
Ristiluoma |
Riitta-Liisa |
viola |
Rouvali |
Santtu-Matias |
conductor |
Ruskeepää |
Tuomas |
french horn |
Saarikoski |
Mauri |
violin |
Salminen |
Annu |
french horn |
Sarantola |
Markus |
viola |
Schweckendiek |
Nils |
conductor |
Segerstam |
Leif |
conductor |
Severeide |
Päivi |
harp |
Silén |
Sebastian |
violin |
Stasevska |
Dalia |
viola / conductor |
Stasevski |
Lukas |
cello |
Sundroos |
Pia |
violin |
Suomela |
Soineli |
oboe / french horn |
Suoranta |
Antti |
timp / perc |
Söderblom |
Jan |
violin / conductor |
Takacs |
Zoltan |
violin |
Tikkanen |
Antti |
violin |
Tollet |
Susanna |
alto |
van Treeck |
Outi |
flute/piccolo |
Unkari |
Erja |
violin |
Vehmanen |
Heikki |
viola |
Vilhjámsson |
Ari |
violin |
Viitala |
Jussi |
cello |
Vilkman |
Camilla |
viola |
Virtanen |
Sini |
violin |
Vähälä |
Anna |
violin |
Wikström |
Tomi |
timp / perc |
Willey |
Pietari |
timp / perc |
Ylivuori |
Sakari |
bass |
Åström-Tiula |
Annemarie |
violin |
The great troubadour will turn 80 next month. In the new issue of Standpoint magazine, I write:
No musician has maintained a more assured equilibrium through good times and bad, riding the swings and roundabouts of outrageous fortune and misfortune without falling prey to the temptation of an easy fix.
And:
At 80, Leonard Cohen stands above his generation as a seer of lasting things, of values received and passed on. Other musicians have emerged richer, more famous. Some still twist and shout on stage, escorting their mob of semi-retired fans into a seventh age of twilight care. Cohen stands up there unchanged, addressing his audience with unfailing courtesy and curiosity, with a sense of continued discovery.
What is the source of that unerring strength?
Read on here.
Fascinating phone interview with Fiona Maddocks in today’s Observer here.
Rattle repeats that, come what may, he’s staying in Berlin after the job’s up in 2018.
Smug? They invented it.
Sad to report that neither of the countertenors got a sniff at the top prizes. The two high guys shared a $10,000 consolation slot.
The winners are:
Rachel Willis-Sørensen (US), 30, soprano
and Mario Chang (Guatemala), 28, tenor.
Rachel has already sung major roles in big houses – Mimi in Bohème at Semperoper Dresden and Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at Covent Garden. Mario has sung the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier at the Met.
Full lineup here.
Victoria Mallory, the original Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, has died of pancreatic cancer. She was married to Mark Lambert, who played Henrik Egerman in the same production. Their daughter, Ramona Mallory Lambert, played Anne in the 2009 Broadway revival.
Another sad loss to the Sondheim family, so soon after the irreplaceable Elaine Strich.
Message from Ivan Fischer:
Dear Friends, on this present tour I asked the Budapest Festival Orchestra to start a new life – to sing regularly. At the end of the Proms and elsewhere on tour we performed Abendständchen by Brahms as an encore only after three days of practice.
Why? Because people should sing! Mothers should sing to their babies, children should sing in children’s choirs and adults should rediscover this wonderful communication tool. So we should set an example and start to show that it is possible to overcome fears and inhibitions.
If you want to hear our very first attempt, please scroll to the end of the symphony, ca 45 minutes on this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f8tqd