The Times obituary recorded that the guitarist’s mother, Violet, was ‘of Portuguese-Jewish descent’. She left the family when Julian was 13.

Is this recording a nod to his missing mother?

Among the musicians who turned out for Daniel Barenboim’s Berlin performance of Schoenberg’s Kammersymphonie, Boulez Mémoriale, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, our mole spotted Domingo Hindoyan in the violins and Lahav Shani among the double basses.

Hindoyan is the new music director at e Royal LiverpoolPhilharmonic; Shani is chief of the Israel Phil and Rotterdam Phil.

Fundraising by the Met Chorus Artists Inc has raised half a million dollars for dancers, choreographers, soloists, chorus members, stage managers, staff performers and stage directors who have received no wages during Covid.

The window to apply for a grant closed on July 31 and, on August 15th, the charity began issuing grants to eligible Artists. In total, over 300 Artists will receive $1,668.

“Our success is a testament not only to the amazing support and love of our fans, but also the solidarity in the face of unprecedented difficulty in our industry shown by all Met Artists,” said Ned Hanlon, Chorus Committee Chair and recipient of a grant. “This grant could not have come at a better time. Like so many Artists, I’ve been forced to relocate from New York and am still struggling to make rent payments. This gives me the financial and emotional boost to keep going through this difficult time.”

The magnificent Ewa Demarczyk died yesterday, aged 79.

She sang and recited poetry, often by poets such as Milosz, who were banned at the time. Away from the stage she applied herself to the care of destroyed Jewish communities, cemeteries, memories.

May she rest in peace.

The Vienna State Opera has issued an equivocal statement about the future of the Stehplatz section, where so many people young and old have watched opera cheaply and in close proximity.

Under Covid regulations, the section will be closed off when the opera house reopens. Once Covid is gone – whenever – the status of the section will be restored.

Here’s the statement:

Under the current conditions of the federal government, the standing room of the Vienna State Opera cannot be offered in its usual form. The theaters are only allowed to carry out performances for a certain number of people if the visitors keep a minimum distance and have been assigned numbered seats.

The standing room is a particularly important institution in Viennese opera life; not least because it enables participation in the performances at prices that are unique worldwide. The management of the Vienna State Opera wants to ensure that this important facility does not fall victim to the COVID-19 measures and has therefore temporarily seated the standing room for the duration of these measures. After they are removed, the standing area will return to its original shape.

The last published accounts of the London Symphony Orchestra showed earnings of £3.5 million from overseas tours.

That source has dried up due to Covid-19 and will not be replaced any time soon.

In this new video, the LSO’s chief executive Kathryn McDowell introduces a technological partnership with Yamaha that is supposed to maintain links with overseas audiences.

‘What we’ve learned in lockdown is that there is a way of keeping in touch with our audiences,’ she says.

The Dunedin Consort, a baroque ensemble based in Edinburgh, had gone to France last week for their first public performance since lockdown. Then the UK Government imposed a 14-day quarantine on people returning from France. It came into effect at 0400 Saturday. All conventional escape routes were overbooked.

The Consort decided not to cancel their Friday night concert. With great resource, they hired a fishing boat and crossed the Channel the old-fashioned way, arriving at Hayling Island in Hampshire at 03:50, with just 10 minutes to spare.

Good to see the spirit of Dunkirk is alive and well.

Full story here.

photo: Clare Stevens