One More Take

Cohen Pod Talks

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0000

One of the projects I've been working on, as producer, for over a year is Cohen Pod Talks, which launches today. This is a series of (currently) five podcasts in which the cellist Robert Cohen talks to interesting figures in the arts - musicians, administrators and commentators - about the place of classical music, and music education, in the world today.

Guests are the former managing director of the Barbican, Sir John Tusa; the writer, broadcaster and activist, Tariq Ali; Head of Contemporary Culture at Southbank, Gillian Moore; composer and broadcaster, Michael Berkeley; and conductor Sir Mark Elder.

We have set up a website for the project, where you can listen to the podcasts streamed, download them or subscribe to the series. Or you can subscribe via iTunes or loads of other feed readers. The full list is on the homepage of the website.

There is also a fan page on Facebook (search for "Cohen Pod Talks") and you can get alerts/news on Twitter.

We encourage you to discuss each podcast, either using the comments page on the website or on the discussion board of the Facebook page. We are really looking forward to reading your thoughts on the subjects raised in each podcast.

The Pod Talk with Sir John Tusa is available now.

Street Maestros

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:09:00 +0000

So here's a little bit of fun: a short film that forms part of an ad campaign I've been working on for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

On November 19th, the CBSO launches its latest eBay auction, where the highest bidders get to win an opportunity to conduct the CBSO or play a string instrument within the orchestra. It's a terrific prize and I'm sure there will be loads of budding Rattles as bidders.

I made this film, featuring Andris Nelsons conducting the CBSO and then members of the public doing the same - sort of - on the streets of Birmingham as a teaser.

Do pass it around if you can. Enjoy!

Classical Music Critics - where were you?

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Some of the common subjects that classical music critics and feature writers enjoy banging on about include: orchestras/audiences are too white; classical music isn't treated with enough seriousness in education projects; orchestra outreach projects are more about hip-hop than Haydn; the future of orchestral playing is under threat.

On a general level, these are all perfectly legitimate concerns. But last night's inspiring Young Performers concert at the Barbican in London did its best to disprove them all. Part of the LSO On Track project, an initiative run by the LSO's Discovery department (celebrating 20 years of existence), this concert brought together young people of all backgrounds from East London schools - some beginners, others advanced - with students from the Guildhall School, energetic animateurs Paul Griffiths and Mark Withers, players from the LSO itself, and two of the most successful composers in the UK, James MacMillan and Nitin Sawhney.

Sawhney led an eclectic group of youngsters and LSO musicians in a piece created from scratch during workshops last week, inspired by the rhythms of jazz, flamenco and Indian music. Withers conducted the LSO On Track Youth Orchestra - a truly multi-cultural group - in another new piece created by the musicians working with James MacMillan, taking as a starting point various musical phrases inspired by the vocal music of the Aka pygmies. What emerged was a sonic blast, with rich and untamed orchestral colours spiralling around the Barbican stage - a full-fat, in-yer-face Ligeti Atmospheres. Then Kristjan Jarvi conducted the same orchestra in MacMillan's popular show-piece, Into the Ferment, together with a starry line-up of LSO regulars. It turned out to be the perfect piece for the occasion - funny, silly in places, reflective, brilliantly written; a tour-de-force for all concerned.

On the stage, in one evening, were young people from a variety of different ethnic and social backgrounds playing together with a seriousness and dedication that was inspiring. There was nothing in this concert that pandered to the lowest-common denominator; no 'hey kids, it's modern classical music but don't be put off!' New-Labour bullshit; no patronizing presentation or sycophantic speeches. It was simply young people working hard and performing brilliantly. Speaking to some of them afterwards, it was clear that the children (from 8 to 18) had responded best to being allowed to take the music seriously, to work hard on the notes and performance, and work as a team. They love the social side of music-making too, of course, but they were at the Barbican to work and the results were delightful, challenging and tremendously up-lifting.

So how many music critics were at the Barbican last night to help spread the word about these terrific projects?

None. Not one newspaper commentator/critic could be bothered to show up.

It's no surprise. Critics and their editors (there are some exceptions) are often outrageously sniffy about concerts like this. Although it's not just education-based concerts that fail to raise interest. It drove me mad that no critic came to hear the LSO: A Life in Film concert at the Barbican earlier this year, despite film music being a hugely important part of the orchestra's history and something they take just as seriously as any Mahler performance. It was an insult to the orchestra that no critic thought it worthy of their presence.

Last night's concert wouldn't have been attractive to them either. It didn't fit. It's not entirely their fault: papers around the world are squeezing their arts coverage (many have abandoned it altogether, which is an outrage) and classical music is not seen as much of a priority these days. But a lot IS still being written in this country, usually to a tight brief. There are some fine writers out there. But, this being newspapers, anything that disproves the brief is rarely mentioned or followed up. A recent example: newspapers and broadcast media fell over themselves to report on orchestral musician Philippa Ibbotson's ridiculous article about conductors; she was invited on news programmes, including Radio 4's PM, to talk more about it. But this was only because Ibbotson's article, in which she questioned the value and point of the conductor, fitted exactly with the ignorant prejudice of the news editors. When Sir Clive Gillinson, former CEO of the LSO and now in charge of Carnegie Hall in New York, wrote an excellent, informed response to Ibbotson - "The role of conductor is crucial to the performance of an orchestra" - it was noticeable that he was not invited onto any news programmes to discuss it. It didn't fit editorially.

The Independent published an article recently about audiences being too white, but showed no interest in sending someone to cover last night's concert that featured many ethnic faces on stage and in the audience. The Guardian did the same last year, publishing an article headlined 'Why are our orchestras so white?'. Presumably the Guardian's critics and writers were too busy to come last night.

It's a shame, because the concert would have provided the critics with the opportunity to celebrate, rather than berate, the state of classical music in this country. They would have seen and heard creativity and originality from the very people who, newspapers like to think, rarely have either. They would have experienced some of the superb work undertaken by professional musicians beyond their usual day job. They would have seen black, Asian, Eastern and, yes, white young people on the Barbican stage, all playing contemporary music and creating their own original, arresting, modern orchestral sounds.

It was young people doing something with great skill and accomplishment, in the arts.

But where's the story in that?

Fine voices from the past return

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:25:00 +0000

A couple of my all-time favourite music broadcasters have resurfaced in the past week or so, much to my pleasure and surprise.

I was in the car one lunchtime last week (heading for Currys to get more DV tapes, if you must know), listening to BBC Radio 4 as usual, when Brain of Britain's familiar theme tune started up and Russell Davies appeared. Russell is the new presenter now that Robert Robinson has retired (or was he pushed?) and I couldn't be happier. His is one of the best, most knowledgeable and intelligent voices on radio (and although he's done a lot on TV in his career, Davies is properly at home on radio); his Radio 2 show, in which he celebrates the popular song, is always a joy - Davies has that knack of projecting a passion with gentle authority and has a beautifully easy-sounding script technique, if indeed he actually uses a script. Tucked away in the Radio 2 schedules on Sunday evening, Davies deserves a more prominent place on the network.

I last saw Russell (above) at the memorial/celebration concert for our dear mutual friend, Humphrey Carpenter, another inspiring broadcaster and writer who had a love of jazz. Davies acted as the speaker spilling out Auden's words to Benjamin Britten's GPO film music, Night Mail. Both Britten and Auden were subjects of celebrated biographies by Humphrey. Some of Humphrey's old jazz band mates played during the concert and afterwards I reminded Davies that Humphrey had given me his 1938 drum kit as a present, something I treasure and used to play in my 1920s jazz band, the Sloane Square Syncopators (see the bass drum in action here).

On Brain of Britain, Davies brings his natural air to the popular format, instantly making it his own. I hope it encourages Radio 4 to use Davies more, especially in music programmes. You get the feeling that some of the younger suits at the Beeb view people like Davies as being a bit old hat. I hope not, because Davies is exactly the kind of presenter we need more of.

Flicking through the Radio Times today I noticed another voice from the past making a bit of a return - the pianist David Owen Norris (below) presents Sunday Morning on BBC Radio 3 this weekend.

I've known Norris (as everyone calls him) for 20 years as teacher and colleague: he was my music history lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music until he, and I, left under unfortunate circumstances (unrelated, I might add!). Then, when I first started at the BBC 16 years ago I was based at Pebble Mill with my daily show, Music Machine, and Norris was the regular presenter of In Tune when it came from Birmingham. He was also presenter of the true precursor to Music Machine, The Works, which I used to listen to avidly as a student. I often appeared on In Tune as a guest in his usually rather chaotic Christmas specials, where he would try and trip me up (successfully) with some totally obscure bit of knowledge. This was easy for Norris, because he knows everything. Everything. He's one of those people who stores away every tiny bit of information so that it's ready to spill out at a moment's notice. But the key to Norris is that he's no geek - he is an infectious music enthusiast with a gift for natural communication. I used to love hanging out with him, even when I felt - as I often did - a total dunce sitting next to him.

Of course, this 'Stephen Fry effect' was also felt by much of the In Tune audience, who thought he was too clever by half and knew it. But I never thought that. I found it refreshing to listen to people like Norris and Russell Davies who actually seemed to know what they were talking about (which now doesn't seem all that important to many radio station controllers).

Cricket bats and Gergiev

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:53:00 +0000

It's been one of those weeks.

On Tuesday it was to Birmingham. First up, filming for a fun CBSO campaign to promote an up-coming project (to be revealed in mid-November). I set up a laptop on a tall table just outside Symphony Hall and invited members of the public to conduct along to a short bit of footage of the CBSO playing the Storm from Britten's Sea Interludes. I used the internal camera on the MacBook as well as my regular camera. Inevitably the results are mad, with people really throwing themselves into the task and looking ridiculous (which was the whole idea, of course). I can't wait to get the films up on YouTube.

It is so much easier to persuade people to do stuff like that these days. When I was presenting for the BBC, I would dread vox-pops (going out in to the street and asking ordinary people questions) because they very rarely produced anything worthwhile. Just watch the news any night of the week and see if you learn anything of value from a vox-pop. There were many days spent in New Street, Birmingham approaching complete strangers and asking them to listen to Verdi or something. Most wouldn't stop at all, and those that did were the very ones you wanted to avoid. But now everyone wants to be on the telly or radio and believes they possess the talent to be the next Chris Evans.

Later on Tuesday I stepped inside Symphony Hall to film an exclusive video for EMI Classics on Valery Gergiev's visit to Birmingham. Gergiev conducted two of the biggest works in the repertoire - Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution and Berlioz's Grand messe des morts (with its 4 brass bands, double-strength strings and 16 timps!). It was a joint performance with the CBSO/Chorus and Gergiev's own Mariinsky Theatre orchestra/chorus. The line-up and the music made it special enough, but the icing on the cake here was that each of the two performances - on Wednesday and Thursday - was recorded by EMI Classics and distributed to the audience immediately after the concerts. For £15, they got to take the concert home with them. So I was there to capture the special event and film an interview with Gergiev which can be accessed only by those who bought a CD.

Gergiev (above), as always, was on terrific form and seemed completely at home surrounded by (literally) hundreds of musicians and singers. These are the great moments he relishes. The Prokofiev is one of his party pieces, a completely outrageous 50 minutes of kitsch propaganda but with absolutely stunning orchestral writing. The overall effect (given great comedy by a group of accordion players) is breathtaking and exhausting; as Gergiev often says, there simply isn't anything else like it in the entire repertoire. The Berlioz comes close in scale (and surpasses it with number of instruments) but most of the Requiem is slow and measured, with only fleeting big moments - powerful stuff though. Symphony Hall was made for this music and the sound produced by the musicians from Russia and the UK together was awesome.

Because of the time pressure, with my film needing to be ready by the following morning, I had to edit all my footage through the night. The rehearsal, conveniently, didn't finish until 9.45pm.

With that finished, it was back down to London and the home of cricket, Lords. I'm filming a promo for Pitch Perfect, as mentioned in a previous blog. To bring the worlds of cricket and classical music together, we cooked up an idea to have percussionists from the LSO play a variety of cricket equipment as 'instruments', which would then run throughout the finished film. So on Wednesday, I met LSO percussionists Neil Percy and David Jackson at Lords to film the footage (which will be revealed next month, after the official launch of the whole project).

What a wonderful afternoon. We're all cricket fans, so the thrill of walking onto the ground and then having the entire stadium to ourselves, was really rather exciting. Neil and Dave were brilliantly inventive with the cricket gear - pads, helmets, gloves, balls, stumps, bails, boxes - and we got some fantastic effects. It wasn't until the last shot - Neil striking a huge old iron roller with a tubular bell mallet, just behind the statue of WG Grace - that we realised what an odd job we all have sometimes!

Working closely with musicians as good as Neil and Dave is a great privilege. Any audience member at an LSO concert will have seen both in action - Neil often on snare drum, David on cymbals. Watch them next time - you'll rarely see better technique and musicianship. I can't wait for you to see them playing men's cricket boxes either.

Last night it was back to Symphony Hall to see the second Gergiev concert. Afterwards, I filmed more footage for EMI, this time of the long queues of people waiting to collect their special CD of the evening's performance. A team of young guys were pressing the discs right there in the corridor, with a huge bank of CD-R machines, then flicking them out of the trays and straight into CD sleeves which were picked up by the audience. It was very impressive. And very popular. It's damn expensive to record and produce a CD and all its packaging on the night but I hope they find a way of making it pay - it's a terrific idea and the audience clearly has a hunger for it.

I'd be fascinated to know whether those CD buyers enjoy the recording as much as the live performance. There is always something very special about 'the moment' that a live performance gives you - the atmosphere, the fresh excitement - which isn't always present on a recording, even if it's the exact same performance. The two experiences are so different. I was always shocked and surprised by the statistic that demonstrated that the majority of concert-goers do not buy CDs, and vice-versa. Amazing. Maybe the instant availability of a CD straight after a concert will change that?

Thank you very much...indeed

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Most professional broadcasters develop techniques for dealing with various on-air and live situations, especially when it comes to 'throwing over' to other presenters (where one presenter intros another presenter: "And now Brian with the sport...") and the often complicated issue of moving from one subject to another, perhaps from one interviewee to another, without it sounding like a nasty gear change. Andrew Marr is a master at the latter on his Sunday morning BBC1 show ("Thank you Prime Minister. Now, Myleene Klass is..."), and other experienced broadcasters on radio, like John Humphreys, Jenni Murray and Simon Mayo are just as smooth with their judgement and pacing.

But there's a virus spreading around the BBC and beyond, particularly in news broadcasting: when a contributor - a guest in a debate, an interviewee, another presenter, a weatherman - finishes their spot, presenters thank them VERY MUCH INDEED. Listen to BBC radio for just a few minutes and you're bound to hear this phrase at least once, if not 20 times - from continuity announcers, news presenters, weather forecasters, feature presenters. Also on TV, where the worst offenders are on BBC Breakfast. Thank you VERY MUCH INDEED. It becomes most irritating when the last three words are staggered, slowed down, so that it becomes "Thank you very much...indeed" (guilty as charged - Carolyn Quin on Radio 4's PM, Victoria Derbyshire on 5Live and everyone who sits on that damn sofa on BBC Breakfast) or worse, "Thank you very much...in..deed".

Why does every guest on a programme have to be thanked VERY MUCH and, indeed, INDEED? What makes them so special? Did they appear for nothing? Do it out of the goodness of their hearts? What's wrong with a simple "Thank you" or even "Thanks".

The answer, I fear, is that it's a simple presenter delaying technique. Those few seconds saying a phrase that demands no thought whatsoever can provide the presenter with the opportunity to prepare for the next item. It can be difficult, particularly on television, to move seamlessly from one item to the next, knowing which camera to look at and what questions to ask; these are things that seasoned presenters learn with experience (although not, on current evidence, the ones picked for BBC Breakfast). But it seems that the phrase "Thank you very much indeed" has become the accepted standard, as if it was issued in a memo from the Director General, alongside the demand for women over 50.

It's getting ridiculous. It reminds me of the time, some years ago, when my mum complained bitterly that everyone in the media seemed to be saying the word 'basically' in every sentence. Once she'd pointed this out, there was no missing it. Basically, she was absolutely right. And any regular listener to radio or viewer of television can spot phrases and words that become trendy and spread like wildfire. Footballers and managers speak almost entirely in cliche, every word copied from some 'How to Talk Football' manual. But professional broadcasters should know better; after all, their business is to be aware of what they are saying. Thanking everyone in sight VERY MUCH...INDEED is a habit that has to be eradicated. And soon.

I've invented a new game. With your friends, assign each person with a version of the phrase. Player One has "Thank you very much"; Player Two has "Thank you very much indeed"; Player Three gets "Thank you very much...indeed"; and Player Four gets "Thank you VERY MUCH...IN...DEED". Listen to the radio or watch TV, during a news programme, and every time your phrase comes up, you get 10 points. First one to 50 wins. It won't take very long. (At the end of the game, don't forget to thank your fellow players very much indeed.)

*Heard any classic Thank you very much indeeds that you think should be reported? Email us NOW!

On the Southbank with John Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:04:00 +0000

Goodness, my first blog since June! It's been a busy summer, to say the least - making films and promos for the likes of the LSO, CBSO, EMI Classics, Bite Communications, the Barbican Centre and others. Some of the results can be seen on the Red Ted Films website.

This week I completed a short promo about the extraordinary 'concert opera' Phaedra by Hans Werner Henze, which will be on the Barbican website shortly; interviewed Valery Gergiev ahead of his appearance with the CBSO in October; put together a rough edit from footage of the Belcea Quartet recording Schubert for EMI Classics; continued to assemble footage from 6 days of filming composer Karl Jenkins as he recorded his Christmas album; and planned future filming projects.

Some of those projects coming up are going to be huge fun. Tomorrow I'm with the CBSO and Andris Nelsons at Birmingham's Symphony Hall filming a viral ad for a big promo they've got planned (more details as they get announced) and later in October I'll be completing my filming of various members of the CBSO as they profile/demonstrate the different sections of the orchestra. That's for the CBSO's website, designed to be an approachable introduction to the instruments of the orchestra for audiences that might not know much about classical music.

Also in early October I'm making a film about Verdi's Don Carlos for Chandos. Instead of the standard 'behind-the-scenes' footage, we're producing a mini-documentary on the opera to sit alongside the recording. It'll feature principal singers Janice Watson and Julian Gavin, the conductor Richard Farnes and the broadcaster Stephen Johnson.

And then there's cricket. The LSO's Discovery department (education etc) is one of two organisations that will receive money from the Lord Mayor's Appeal Fund this year, together with The Cricket Foundation. I'm making a film about their joint project, Pitch Perfect, and one of the great pleasures to come will be a chance to film at Lords.

A more immediate pleasure is on Sunday. I'm hosting a pre-concert talk with the American composer John Adams at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank, before Adams conducts the London Sinfonietta in a concert of Cage, David Lang, Paul Dresher and the UK premiere of his own Son of Chamber Symphony. Here is Adams talking to me about the concert, filmed in New York in January.

Even though I've been doing this job for a long time now, I still get a thrill from working with people like John Adams. His 'The Chairman Dances' was the piece that made me want to write music again - I was a teenager, immersed in music 24/7, but getting bored; I'll never forget hearing the piece on Radio 3 and literally leaping out of my chair excited and desperate to get writing. Much later, when I was at the Royal Academy of Music as a composition student, Adams was one of the first composers to visit during the first term. He was there to rehearse the London Sinfonietta playing Fearful Symmetries and I sat in on the rehearsals, spellbound. It remains one of my favourite Adams pieces - a confection, but an exciting one and probably the grooviest piece he's ever written. It was certainly one of the most influential pieces on me and my work. In fact, listening to it now I notice more and more direct influences!

It's fascinating to listen to a piece like Fearful Symmetries, written in the late 1980s, and compare it to the music Adams is writing now. The move away from minimalism, during the years between, is gradual but deliberate and you could hardly call Adams a minimalist now (although that doesn't stop people in the press - journalists love a pidgeon hole). It serves no purpose to lump Adams in with Reich and Glass. Just listen to the rich, varied, tremendous score for Adams's recent opera, Doctor Atomic, probably the most exciting and stimulating musical experience I've had this year. It's a world away from the repetitive noodlings of Glass these days, and shows Adams to be that rare thing - a living composer who writes important, serious works, but is performed every day, all over the world.

If you're in London on Sunday and got a moment, join us at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The talk starts at 6.15pm, concert at 7.30pm.

Only the Best Song Oscar

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Those of you who, like me, follow the Academy Awards and the music categories in particular will probably view with relief the latest news - that only good songs will be nominated next year. According to the BBC website

New rules mean that every song entered must get a minimum score of 8.25 on a scale of six to 10 when voted for by Academy music members. "We're trying to improve the quality," said composer Bruce Broughton, head of the Academy's music branch.

Well about time too. So few songs are written for movies these days (let alone good ones) that it's got to the point where if you have a song in your movie you're practically guaranteed a nomination. There hasn't been a decent song that has won in years. The last 7 winners are:

'Jai Ho' from Slumdog Millionaire (bound to win, despite quality, on the back of film's success)
'Falling Slowly' from Once (wishy-washy but Irish, so Academy liked it)
'I Need to Wake Up' from An Inconvenient Truth (totally directionless and dull)
'It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp' from Hustle and Flow (a total disgrace - how did it win?!)
'On the Other Side of the River' from The Motorcycle Diaries (tinkly and dull but 'ethnic' to LA ears)
'Into the West' from Lord of the Rings (I'm still reeling from this one)
'Lose Yourself' from 8 Mile (every other song nominated was better)

Even 'If I Didn't Have You', which finally won Randy Newman his first Oscar, wasn't Newman's best (everyone knows he should've won 2 years before with 'When She Loved Me' from Toy Story 2 - one of the greatest narrative songs ever written for a movie).

So it's certainly time for a shake-up. Read the whole BBC website article HERE.

Of course, this means there is the distinct possibility of no songs being nominated next year, which would be quite fun. I guess it's a matter of taste. Presumably, Academy members could still give a song a high score if they wanted the film to get some notice (it's often the song that gets a nomination even if the film itself gets nothing else - that way, distributors can take advantage of the words 'Oscar Nominated...' on posters and in trailers).

But the whole situation reflects a general trend - songs aren't used in films much any more. Randy Newman is one of the very few who (a) gets films that ask for songs that are part of the story narrative and (b) is a good enough songwriter to cope with them. His songs always make a mark. But there aren't many others up to the job.

Even Slumdog Millionaire, which had music all over it, didn't actually use its Oscar-winning song within the film - it was a pop video style add-on at the end. Terrific dancing, but the song doesn't stand up to much scrutiny.

You can pour over all the nominations and winners in the Best Song category of the Academy Awards HERE. It makes interesting reading and trips many memories of old.

Ken Russell - Seriously out of touch

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:00:00 +0000

For the second time this week I've been shocked by an ignorant, out of touch view from someone who should know better.

First it was Michael White, critic at the Daily Telegraph, who - with astounding stupidity - showed his ignorance of anything beyond classical music by blaming the success of the Britain's Got Talent winners, Diversity, on "the socio-politics of 21st-century Britain, which is far too indulgent towards the vulgar, anti-feminist and homophobic subculture of rap." In his blog, White describes Diversity as a "rap dance troupe". Setting aside the fact that no such dance style exists, if he'd bothered to actually watch the dancing (or at the least knew SOMETHING about the culture from which it's derived) he would have known that rap had absolutely nothing to do with any of the extraordinary routines we saw. Indeed, this group of intelligent boys and young men seemed to me the perfect advert against such ridiculous prejudice (the idea that if they are black, and dance in a style that isn't ballet, they must be involved in rap or some such). Michael makes good points about the runner-up, Susan Boyle, but spoils the article with his silly comments about Diversity, who deserved to win with their creative, brilliantly-executed and fresh routines.

And now there's film director Ken Russell, guest editorial writer this month for the website Classical Source.

The site is home to a huge number of reviews of classical concerts, many of them amateurish in the extreme. I suppose getting someone like Russell, once the king of movie/TV composer biopics, is a bit of a coup. But publishing what is, in essence, an old man's rant is not helpful. And it's a seriously out of touch rant at that. Here's the opening paragraph:

Happy 10th-birthday to Classical Source, and many more!

I’d suggest a night out at a concert in celebration, but the current dumbing-down of our museum concert programming – certainly in London – means too many of the same tired old war-horses are being trotted out. From a London standpoint, the LPO, LSO and the Philharmonia Orchestra are performing (however dedicatedly) almost-identical programmes – the usual-suspect composers sometimes in mediocre renditions, whilst unknown or neglected composers are ignored. Even the early symphonies of Dvořák and Bruckner are rarely heard; and whilst Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Delius are close to my heart, there are many other British composers that never get a look-in and are shamefully forgotten.

Today conductors and orchestras tend to find it easy to bash out what they know well, rather than take the time required to perform unplayed and unknown works. Orchestral standards in London now seem lower than in previous times, contemporary recordings of the classics sounding like dull and bland ghosts of the same orchestras from previous generations. If Otto Klemperer were around today, he certainly wouldn’t allow such low standards nor tolerate such lacklustre playing.

Pardon? Is he serious? Has Ken Russell actually been to a concert in London in the last 30 years? "Orchestral standards in London now seem lower than in previous times". That's quite a statement, and has no relation to what I experience in the capital on a weekly basis. The LSO is still one of the greatest orchestras in the world. The LPO, with a couple of exciting new conductors, is playing better than ever. The Philharmonia is also producing stunning performances. The BBC Symphony Orchestra continues to lead the way in innovative programming.

Sadly, Ken goes on...

Today the global culture industry manufactures and markets sexy stereotypical conductors and standardised-sounding orchestras, producing a homogenised, streamlined smoothness. The genius-tyrant conductor, such as Toscanini and Klemperer, would never be allowed today – and would never survive in our politically-correct culture, which celebrates glossiness and superficiality. Conducting is now about acting and appearance...

If real conductors – Klemperer, Toscanini, Cantelli, Koussevitzky, Reiner, Szell, Monteux and Mravinsky – were around today, standards would undoubtedly be so much higher...

Political-correctness has destroyed the authoritarian art of conducting and lowered orchestral standards – weak conductors allow lazy orchestras to get away with sloppiness. Today’s conductors are far too accommodating, appeasing, conciliatory, compatible, deferential, negotiable, obsequious, servile, subservient and pusillanimous: all the very things a conductor should not be!

Anyone who goes regularly to concerts in this country will not recognise this bizarre description. It's true to say that orchestras have managed to rid themselves of the tyrannical bullying that so often marked out some of those names Russell is keen to mention through his rose-tinted spectacles. But to describe Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Jurowski, Mark Elder, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Kristjan Jarvi, Esa Pekka Salonen, Andre Previn, Tony Pappano, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Andris Nelsons - to name just a few - as 'too accommodating, appeasing...obsequious, servile...etc etc' is simply insulting.

There's more...

...instead of hearing yet more war-horses conducted badly, why not play our neglected British composers – Robert Simpson, Alan Rawsthorne, George Benjamin, Ernest John Moeran, William Mathias, Colin Matthews, Alan Bush, Arthur Bliss, Granville Bantock, Edmund Rubbra, Thea Musgrave, John Ireland, Alun Hoddinott and Humphrey Searle?

I take his point that some of those names are a bit neglected, but that's more to do with fashion than anything else. And a few of those composers really aren't up to much anyway. But to say that George Benjamin and Colin Matthews (two of our finest living composers) are neglected shows just how little Russell actually bothers to scan the programmes of the UK orchestras.

I'm not sure which London Russell is referring to, but the one I spend most of my life in has a jaw-dropping amount of world-class classical music performances every single day, and hardly a week goes by without a premiere. No other city in the world offers such depth in repertoire, from the old war-horse to the most recent commission. Even the most casual glance at the brochures of the Barbican, SouthBank Centre, King's Place, Royal Albert Hall (lets not forget the Proms), Linbury Studio, Sadlers Wells and dozens of other venues around the capital supports this.

I have always thought of Ken Russell as a visionary film-maker who was simply allowed to be too indulgent - with a few wonderful exceptions, like Song of Summer (the story of Delius) and the Elgar film for Monitor (and I have a soft spot for The Devils, with its Peter Maxwell Davies score). He always had a great feel for music. But sadly, with this article, he appears out of touch and ill-informed.

Seriously, is there anyone out there who shares his views on this?

Karl Jenkins film (and other news)

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:22:00 +0000

The first of my films about Karl Jenkins (above) is now available to watch on the Boosey & Hawkes website. Although I made another version of the film some time ago, it was only seen by delegates at the American Choral Directors Association conference earlier this year. Now this new version is available for all to see.

There's a lot more going on at Red Ted Films and with me generally. Here's a quick overview:

EMI - We spent a day at Potton Hall in Suffolk filming the pianist Ingrid Fliter as she recorded Chopin Waltzes for EMI Classics. So I'm currently editing the footage for the official EPK. Next month we're back at Potton Hall to capture the Belcea Quartet (+1) recording Schubert's C major quintet, also for EMI Classics.

Robert Cohen - my project with the cellist Robert Cohen is nearly complete. Robert, in conversation with Sir John Tusa, Tariq Ali, Gillian Moore, Sir Mark Elder and Michael Berkeley will be released soon. I also recorded Robert playing an incredible solo cello piece by Kodaly which will be the theme music for the series.

Film Music - On the 8th May I hosted the annual Filmharmonic concert at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonnic Orchestra. It's always great fun, packed to the rafters, and this year added pleasure because my old mate David Arnold conducted his music from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace - with a red pencil. And Debbie Wiseman conducted a suite from Lesbian Vampire Killers, which gave me the opportunity to make the obvious jokes.

I've also been preparing for a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican on 7th June, when film and TV composer George Fenton will be conducting his own music. You can see info on the concert (and buy tickets) HERE. I will be hosting a pre-concert talk with George and one of his regular collaborators, the director Stephen Frears. That's at 6.15pm and free to all concert ticket-holders. Should be a terrific night.
And I'm currently producing a huge, star-studded film music concert which will be held later this year. Can't talk about that one at the moment...

Conductors - I've been working with the conductor Joseph Wolfe, son of Sir Colin Davis. I've worked on stage with Joseph before, with the CBSO; I'm now editing together some footage of Joseph's recent appearance with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for a promo DVD.
And this week I was also filming with Andris Nelsons up in Birmingham, for a little film promoting the CBSO's 2009/10 season. That will be on the CBSO site in late July.

Podcasts - The latest CBSO podcast has been on the site since the beginning of May, with a feature on the City of Birmingham Young Voices, celebrating their 10th birthday, and a new regular feature - an A-Z of musical terms/phrases presented by the brilliant Richard Bratby. The June podcast is coming up next week - Andris Nelsons looks back on his first season as CBSO Music Director, there's a special interview with soprano Claire Booth, and Stephen Johnson discusses Haydn's Nelson Mass. You can hear all past podcasts on the Podcast page of the CBSO website.

Concerts - On the 19th June I'll once again be presenting the CBSO school concerts at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Andris Nelsons conducts the Romeo and Juliet fantasy by Tchaikovsky and I'll be taking the orchestra apart and putting it back together again for about 4000 nine year olds - always fantastic fun, and very noisy.

There's more, but it will have to wait!

RPS v Classical Brit - No Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:02:00 +0000

Last year I wrote about the crass and meaningless Classical Brits, mentioning that not a single album in the 'Album of the Year' nominations featured any classical music. This year's awards, held earlier in the week, excelled themselves - with Album of the Year won by (I'm not making this up) the Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Howard Goodall, a tremendous TV theme writer and even better TV presenter, writes deeply dull 'serious' music but nevertheless won 'Composer of the Year'. Trumpeter Alison Balsom won 'Best Female' or something.

I agree with Michael White, who writes about it all with suitable disdain in his Telegraph blog.

Much better to mention, as Michael does in an earlier blog, the award ceremonies that actually count. The Royal Philharmonic Society awards, also held this week, have integrity and honour; they are created out of knowledge and craft, not sales and commercialism. So, George Benjamin rightly received an award for his beautiful chamber opera, Into the Little Hill; Hackney Music Development Trust won an award for its work with under-privileged children in East London; Thomas Quasthoff got a special award; conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin won the newcomer award; the late Richard Hickox was honoured. A proper reflection of what classical music was up to last year.

Unfortunately, all the press will be about the Classical Brits with its pretty, glitzy stars and once again the general public will be fed an entirely false image of classical music. Nothing in the Classical Brits reflects the great vitality and energy of British classical music at the moment: the fact that we have a good number of terrific young conductors coming through; that our best composers are producing fascinating and challenging work; that we continue to produce world-class orchestral musicians; that fine community projects are bringing serious music to many thousands of people, young and old, without apology.

It's a shame, because that's something of which we can be truly proud.

BBC Radio 3 - UK Station of the Year (finally)

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Congratulations to everyone at BBC Radio 3 for winning UK Station of the Year at the Sonys - finally. It's about time the network got some recognition for all the quality programmes it broadcasts, and some credit for the incredibly hard-working producers who mostly put together consistently interesting and challenging programmes under great pressure and with totally ridiculous, miniscule budgets that barely cover the presenter's fee and a cup of tea in the break.
It's very satisfying to report that the Sony jury did not, as I fully expected them to do in a previous blog, let down Radio 3 after all. I still think the jury selection needs a total overhaul but lets settle in the warm glow of success just for a moment (and I should say that I have nothing whatever to do with Radio 3 these days - I've had no official connection with the network for over 3 years).

I'm particularly pleased that the programme 'Vaughan Williams: Valiant for Truth' won a Gold Sony in the Music Special category. Stephen Johnson (above), the presenter, is always brilliant and this was absolutely his area in which to shine; the producer, Jeremy Evans, is one of the Radio 3's treasures who quietly goes about making excellent programmes that have shape, movement and compelling content. This is the kind of programme we should have more often; it rewards the listener by being challenging, thoughtful, intelligent and - very important this - it was in no rush. The story and the journey unfolded naturally. I hope it gets a repeat to mark its success.

Radio 3 is not the perfect station - there's no such thing - and, of course, there are programmes I love and others I can't stand. But with quality presenters like Rob Cowan, Donald Macleod, Stephen Johnson, Michael Berkeley and Geoff Smith - the very best at what they do - and the many very talented producers, sound engineers and assistants the network can boast, it's about bloody time Radio 3 won station of the year. Whether this year, more than any other, was particularly special is up for debate but that's beside the point. The important thing is that, as a result of this award, Radio 3 might just get some publicity for what it is actually rather good at - classical music broadcasting that treats the listener as intelligent.

Listen to Composer of the Week, day in, day out, and tell me that's not public service broadcasting at its best.

Death of South Bank Show

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:59:00 +0000

It's been a while, for which I apologise. Things have been so busy, and I was away in Florida with the London Symphony Orchestra for 2 weeks, I've hardly had time to think.

Still, nothing stirs me more than reading about the continuing demise of decent arts programming on British television. This week, the inevitable was announced - when Melvyn Bragg retires, his beloved South Bank Show will go with him.

Frankly, ITV has been waiting for this moment for years. It was clear the channel didn't really want SBS - shoving the programme later and later in the schedule, apart from the odd celebrity-led edition at maybe 1045pm. The only person that kept it on the air, bullishly fighting his corner, was Melvyn. It's true that many SBS in recent years had been little more than publicity puff-pieces; certainly not the historic portraits of old, anyway (Francis Bacon, Dennis Potter etc). But no-one understood how to survive on the modern ITV better than Melvyn and it's hard to blame him for resorting to the 'popular stuff' once in a while. I can imagine his meetings with dunderhead executives, trying to persuade them into another series, were quite tiresome after 30 years.

The great shame is that it is unimaginable that ITV will replace SBS with another arts-based show, especially now Michael Grade (who originally commissioned the programme when at LWT) is off too. If ITV decided to make distinctive, quality programmes instead of watered-down, populist crap all the time, it might have a better future. Alas it ain't going to happen. And as Charlotte Higgins points out in her Guardian blog, the BBC doesn't have an alternative either.

The arts on television has been desperate for a while now. The demise of SBS is one more nail in the coffin.

There's a lot being written about the cancelling of the South Bank Show (a lot more than when it's on the air...). I nominate Mark Lawson as having the last word, since Mark now presides over just about the only serious arts programme on the BBC, Front Row - on radio, of course.

Read Mark's article here.

David Lister blames Proms, not his own paper

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:18:00 +0000

Was someone in the news editorial department of the Independent having a laugh yesterday?
Or is Arts Editor David Lister just being a typical journalist?

On page 5 of the paper yesterday was a full page report on the launch of this year's Proms. About four-fifths of the page was a general report on the season, and at the bottom a 'Comment' article by Lister. Nothing too bothersome so far. Lister's comment was a moan about how the Proms executives, including Roger Wright, spend far too much time talking about what Lister calls 'the sideshows', rather than the main classical music events. This year, that means a piece by drum 'n' bass star Goldie, another by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and songs from Bollywood. Lister dreams of a day when the headlines will be about

"...Brahms, Rattle, Barenboim. A little fanciful, I know...[The Proms] doesn't actually need Goldie to make it world-beating, nor even to make it newsworthy. Those who run the Proms should have faith in the Proms and the power of classical music."

Read his article HERE.

So what is the headline in the main article about the Proms in the Independent, directly above Lister's article? 'THE PROMS ARE TAKING A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE OF MUSIC - Goldie, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Bollywood included in this year's line-up at the Albert Hall', accompanied by large pictures of Greenwood, Goldie and the Bollywood dancers. Read the whole article by Arifa Akbar, an 'arts correspondent' who appears to know very little about music, HERE. It mentions that there are 100 concerts this year, but Akbar only concerns himself with about 4 of them - the ones featuring the artists above.

So on the one hand, Lister - the Arts Editor - moans about the Proms people talking about the novelty stuff, but then on the other sees his own paper, on the very same page, do exactly the same. It would have been very easy for the Independent to talk more about the incredible diversity of classical music performance that is promised at this year's Proms, and mention a little about the Goldie and Greenwood pieces. But no, it's as bad as everyone else. Newspaper journalists can't possibly be expected to take an ounce of responsibility; it's clearly everyone else's fault. Lister's big quote, the most prominent in the article, is "Why does there seem to be such a reluctance to trumpet the glories of classical music?" Well quite. That question needs to be put to the Independent itself.
It's as if The Independent is saying 'It's not our fault our article concentrates on Goldie, we're just reporting the press conference.'

But actually, according to at least three people I know who were at the Proms launch, most of the talk WAS about the classical music performances. Perhaps Lister had already decided what the story was going to be, regardless. It means that people like Roger Wright cannot possibly win. Talk about all the unusual stuff, the newspapers report that; talk about the classical stuff for 90% of the time, the newpapers will write about the other 10% anyway.

The most galling thing is that the Independent chose to run a comment piece that was entirely contradicted by a huge article ON THE SAME PAGE!

As I say, someone must've been having a laugh. But I didn't find it very funny.

Proms 2009 Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:44:00 +0000

This year's Proms season was announced yesterday, an exciting moment for any of us that love the greatest classical music festival in the world (by far). Once again I will desperately miss presenting the concerts on Radio 3 or BBC Four and I'll probably be too busy to go to many this year (last year I managed a pathetic three) but I will still look forward to thumbing through the Proms Guide, an annual ritual I have been carrying out for as long as I can remember.

I'll be giving my over-view of the season and nominating some highlights in the coming days, once I've got the Proms Guide in my hands. I thought Roger Wright's first season in charge, last year, was extremely strong; the inclusion of more contemporary music, the return of international orchestras, fewer season 'themes'. Much of that season would have been in place before Roger got started, but this year is presumably more 'him'.

I'm not going to get an idea of the season proper until I have a copy of the Guide; the massive Proms website certainly isn't going to help me. The full concert listing is confusing and messy. And many of the links from the 'Proms by Artist' page take you to the wrong concert (clicking on Bernard Haitink, for example, takes you to info on the English Consort's prom).

I get my information on nearly everything online these days, but sometimes there's no substitute for a book or brochure to hold and in the case of the Proms it's essential. The website listings are horrible. Why didn't they notice the brilliant online brochures of, say, ENO or the LSO? They have digital versions of their brochures, which have multi-media content (like films, audio etc) embedded within a design that's exactly the same as the print version. All extra content is accessible from one central design. They are easy to use and a much more satisfying, user-friendly experience for us punters. Anyone from BBC Online reading this should check them out immediately.

Maybe they didn't want to replicate it online because, unlike absolutely everybody else's season brochures, you have to actually buy a print version of the Proms Guide (£6 rrp!).

Still, there are some things online that will be worth looking at during the season: I particularly enjoy the reviews section, where anybody can post their thoughts on a concert; and the regular podcasts from Sean Rafferty and Petroc Trelawny will be a nice addition.

The only thing that has so far made my heart sink can be found in the broadcast pages of the proms site, and the promise of a 'Maestro Cam'. "During certain Proms, digital viewers can press the red button to see a close-up of the conductor and hear expert commentary." I like the idea of a camera locked onto the conductor (a bit like the option you get in sports coverage sometimes, when you can follow a single player) but 'expert commentary'?! Yikes.

Please, please BBC, I'm begging you, please don't give the job to the person I assume you're asking (the only person the BBC can think of when it comes to classical music broadcasting these days). Please?

Anyway, more on the actual concerts soon.

Sony Jury Fails Radio 3

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:01:00 +0000

The Sony Award nominations have just been announced. These are the radio industry Oscars and a glance across the growing number of categories I'm reminded of how much good radio there is in this country. Shame much of it is completely ignored by the Sonys. The complete list of nominations is here.

BBC Radio 3 must, once again, be bitterly disappointed with the nominations - just three programme nominations plus Station of the Year. One of the those programes, Vaughan Williams: Valiant for Truth, was a brilliant and moving exploration of the composer's life and loves - head and shoulders above most of the other nominations in that category (the 'Music Special Award'). That doesn't mean it has a chance of winning though. The Chopin Experience ('Themed Programming Award') was always going to get a nod - that kind of massive undertaking by a station always does. I didn't hear it, but can bet it was delivered with great skill and knowledge. Between the Ears: Staring at the Wall (the 'Feature Award') was another imaginative feature, the sights and sounds of everyday life outside the walls of Pentonville prison.

It's my belief that Radio 3 never stands a chance in the Sonys these days because most of the jury simply don't listen to it. They'll hear the individual programmes submitted to the shortlist but won't have a clue how those shows fit into the station as a whole. When the jury was smaller and more carefully selected, many years ago, Radio 3 did better. I note that, amongst the dozens of jurors for this year's Sonys - including a number of representatives from Classic FM and many pop stations - there isn't a single name from Radio 3. Why is this? Jez Nelson is there (presenter of one jazz programme on R3) but I would imagine that's more because he runs a very successful production company, Somethin' Else. How come the BOSS of Classic FM is allowed to be on the jury, but not a single presenter or producer from Radio 3? Christine Ohuruogo is on the jury, though (yes, the British athlete).

This ends up being nothing less than a snub. I hope Roger Wright, the station's controller, makes a fuss about it.

Still, he must be rather pleased with a Station of the Year nomination (although, if it deserves that, why not more individual programme nominations?). But, like me, he probably can't believe that once again one of the other nominees is Classic FM - the station that never changes, never innovates, specialises in presenters who don't know anything about classical music, and seems to get more and more bland every year. Why do the Sony jurors consistently vote for it? Whilst other networks put great effort into producing original and creative content, treating their audiences like adults, Classic seems to do the opposite, sticking with the same dull formula and style. But the jury doesn't hear it, clearly. My god, even Alex James - the most ubiquitous pop musician in history, surely - gets a 'Music Broadcaster of the Year' nomination for his Classic FM show (all the nominees are pop/rock show presenters). Are they joking?!

The Sonys need an overhaul. There needs to be a smaller and more representative jury. No station boss should be allowed anywhere near it. And certainly no randomly selected athletes. On the Sony Awards website it says of its jury "The judges represent a broad cross-section of backgrounds, be they presenters, journalists, producers or broadcasting professionals". Quite where Christine Ohuruogo fits into that is anyone's guess.

Znaider Plays Bach in latest LSO Vodcast

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:25:00 +0000

The latest LSO Discovery video podcast has just been released, a little film I made nearly a year ago with the sensational violinist (and fab interviewee) Nikolaj Znaider. It's basically a guide to the violin, or rather Nikolaj's violin, which is the Guarneri del Gesu 1741 that used to belong to Fritz Kreisler (who played the premiere of the Elgar concerto on it). Znaider is a compelling and natural guide.

I wrote about the filming at the time and today I'm reminded, watching this film so long after I made it, of how much fun we had working with the lovely Nikolaj. The film is being released now because he'll be resident with the LSO in May, performing concertos by Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Brahms as well as taking part in a Q&A at St Lukes and a concert with the LSO Chamber Ensemble.

Full details - and the film - are on this LSO page. You can also subscribe for free to all the LSO Discovery video podcasts there.

Memories of Maurice Jarre

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:15:00 +0000

Sad news from LA today - the Oscar-winning composer Maurice Jarre (above, centre) has died of cancer aged 84.

He was rightly a legend in film music history, responsible for at least two of the most memorable and popular themes ever written. He was also a lovely man and I had the privilege of working with him on a number of occasions in the last few years or so. I'm going to write a longer piece on Jarre's film music later on, but just a few personal memories of him here for now:

I first met Maurice at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent years ago, before I became the concert host of the festival. I was there for the BBC and my programme, Stage and Screen, and of course we wanted to interview Maurice. He was a dream to talk to, full of stories working with David Lean, the problems of Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, his childhood, learning percussion, being discovered by a new generation of directors, winning his 3 Oscars. The problem was time - our programme was only an hour long and we usually had at least 25 mins in there. After 45 minutes of interview, we were still talking about Lean; I hadn't had a chance to ask about Peter Weir, Adrian Lyne, Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock...let alone anything else! But what an honour, to sit and chat with someone who'd properly lived a life, worked at the very top of his profession and won all the honours.

It was later that I got to know him a little better, as I hosted concerts that featured Maurice and his music, as well as interviewing him on stage. I particularly remember being with him in Berlin, at the European Film Awards (where Maurice was being presented with a lifetime achievement award). We did a concert and Maurice, like all the other composers present, came up on stage to talk to me a little bit about the music we were going to hear. The sheer warmth of the audience toward him was very moving. But the day before, I had given a seminar with a group of European composers and Maurice didn't want to be part of that - he said, in his typically modest way, that he wanted the younger composers to be the focus of attention. So on stage we had Gabriel Yared, Stephen Warbeck, Bruno Coulais and Frederic Devreese, with Maurice sitting quietly in the audience (although I did announce him and give him a special entrance - after all, he was the festival's guest of honour!).
I had selected a number of film clips to show, illustrating each composer's skill - Yared's clip was from English Patient, Warbeck's from Shakespeare in Love, Coulais's from La Choriste. I chose two clips from Lawrence of Arabia: one was a rather strange, atonal cue by Maurice for a scene when Lawrence is halluncinating in the desert; the other, the most famous scene in the film - when Omar Sharif appears as a dot on the horizon and slowly rides his camel towards the camera in the shimmering heat. Of course, there is absolutely no music in that scene and that was the point. The silence was stunning.

As Maurice didn't want to take part officially in the seminar I started telling his stories about Lawrence of Arabia myself. But I looked down at him in the front row at one point, to get his comfirmation on a particular fact, and cheekily invited him to say something. Maurice got up, grabbed the mic, and spoke for about 20 minutes! All the familiar stories poured out, and it was wonderful.

I always loved being around Maurice and the photo above is one of my treasured memories, taken at an after-concert party, with fellow composer David Arnold on the left. Maurice always had a knowing wink for the ladies, flirted outrageously and charmed everyone. He was delightful company. He was French, but always pure Hollywood to me. And those scores - Lawrence, Zhivago, Witness, Is Paris Burning?, Dead Poet's Society, Jacob's Ladder, the riotous Top Secret!, Jesus of Nazareth, The Mosquito Coast; he made a stunning contribution to movies.

In 2007, when Maurice was in Ghent to introduce a documentary about his work, I got my friend Ray Bennett, from the Hollywood Reporter, to record an interview with Maurice. They talked about his work that WASN'T with David Lean, which amused Maurice greatly. Listen to it here at Stage and Screen Online.

If you have any memories of Maurice Jarre or his music, I'd love to hear them.

John Powell - Bourne to Score Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:10:00 +0000

The latest interview on Stage and Screen Online is now live; a 50 minute conversation with the British composer John Powell (above).

I've known John for a few years now and always really admired his music. I think it was the brilliantly jaunty, funny music for Antz that first made my ears prick up. That score was written with fellow Brit in Hollywood, Harry Gregson-Williams and has a charm and nostalgic sheen that they repeated - to even better effect - on Chicken Run a couple of years later, and then on Shrek. That's three absolutely cracking, and very different, animations that bought out the best in both composers.

Writing on his own, Powell has produced music for a lot more very successful animations - Happy Feet, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, Kung Fu Panda and the recent Bolt. And then there are the action films, in particular the three Bourne movies which have been enormously influential - Powell's music is aped in TV drama endlessly (particularly in Spooks, which rips it off shamelessly). Paycheck, Mr & Mrs Smith, The Italian Job and Hancock are other quintessential Powell action scores, often with tongue firmly in cheek. And then there's one of my favourites, the subtle shades of United 93 which is a masterclass is holding back.

Visiting John's house by the coast in LA, it's obvious that he is enjoying the riches of successful film composing. And why not? His music is naturally fluid and serves every film well; it's always skilfully produced and mixed and his musical hooks are often catchy and memorable (how many times can you say THAT these days?!). He delivers. And in this business, the combination of musical skill and reliability are valuable resources.

Hope you enjoy the interview. You can find it here at Stage and Screen Online.

BBC One appearance!

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:06:00 +0000

I haven't been in front of the camera for ages, but last night on BBC One's Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross, there I was - for about 10 seconds! - saying how great the LSO is at playing film music. It was within a nice little feature on the LSO: A Life in Film concert that I have produced and am hosting on 4th April at the Barbican.

UK-based people can view it for a week on the BBC's iPlayer HERE. It's about 24'33'' in.

The only shame was that Neil Percy, the amiable principal percussion of the LSO, says in the piece that Muir Mathieson composed the score for Thing to Come. Not true, of course, it was Arthur Bliss. But only two of my most geeky friends noticed anyway.

Latest CBSO Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:00:00 +0000

My latest podcast for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is now available at the orchestra's website, as well as on iTunes (don't forgot to subscribe!).

This month, I talk to one of the orchestra's Chair Endowers - someone who gives money to the orchestra to essentially sponsor an individual player. In the current economic climate, donations like these are bound to get more difficult to find (just look at what's happening with USA orchestras) but the CBSO has a dedicated - and growing - number of chair endowers who enjoy having a strong connection with the CBSO 'family'. Note that the leader's chair is endowed by Alan Titchmarsh. I also talk to the person responsible for going out and getting the money from individual and business donors, the CBSO's Director of External Relations, Jorj Jarvie. She talks about the challenges of persuading people to give money to arts organisations in these difficult times.

And Stephen Johnson yet again gives a compelling account of a major work, this month Schubert's Symphony No.9 in C 'Great'. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - there is no-one who brings the story of a piece of music to life better than Stephen. I highly recommend him in this podcast once again.

Listen to the podcast now HERE.

Let me know what you think!

New article at FOG

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 08:20:00 +0000

My latest column on film music has just been published on Forces of Geek; a little look at composers who come in to a successful franchise and have to incorporate themes and styles from a previous composer. I mostly talk about the Star Trek movie series as the 11th film is coming out soon, with a score by Michael Giacchino. Jerry Goldsmith established the musical voice of Star Trek in The Motion Picture back in 1979, and returned to score Trek 5, 8, 9 and 10. But the series also helped establish the careers of James Horner (Trek 2 and 3) and Cliff Eidelman (Trek 6) so Giacchino is following in some pretty classy footsteps.

When Barack Obama first walked into the Oval Office as the new President, I imagine he just wanted to sweep away all evidence of a Bush presence and start afresh; make his own mark, come up with new ideas, start a new era. It doesn't work like that, of course. A new president inherits much of a previous administrations' stuff, together with all the traditions that go with such an office, and it's up to the new guy to acknowledge the past whilst creating a new future.

Film composers can have the same problem, although they don't tend to inherit wars, just major film franchises. When a movie has been hugely successful, and has a beloved score, it can be hard for another composer to come in and try and make his mark when all the producers want him to do is repeat the themes and success of the previous score. The trick, of course, is to be like the President - understand the obligations and traditions of the job, but make it your own.

Read the whole article here.

In Conversation with Alex Heffes - tickets

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:30:00 +0000

On Saturday I'm hosting an illustrated talk/interview with the film composer Alex Heffes (above) at the London Jewish Cultural Centre in North London. Some tickets are still available so it would be good to see those of you that are interested in film music (or indeed music generally) at the event.
Saturday 28th February starting at 7.30pm. You can get ticket info at the LJCC website. It's £17, including wine and nibbles.

Alex is a fascinating composer and a very engaging speaker about his profession (listen to my interview with him on Stage and Screen Online, recorded last year) so this event should be good fun. I'll be talking to Alex about all aspects of the film music world and relating his experiences with other composers who have worked in film. It's a great time to be talking since Alex is literally in the middle of scoring his biggest movie to date, State of Play - directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren. So we're bound to get some insider info on that eagerly awaited film. But we'll also be talking about Alex's other movies, including One Day in September, Touching the Void, The Parole Officer and The Last King of Scotland.

During the session we'll also see extracts from famous music moments in films like Psycho, ET, Laurence of Arabia, Torn Curtain, Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Join us!

Red Ted is hiring!

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:23:00 +0000

I am looking for a tech assistant to work alongside me on all the films and video content produced at Red Ted Films. This job advert has been posted on various sites:

Red Ted Films is looking for a part-time technical ace to work alongside producer/director Tommy Pearson for approx 2-3 days per week. Applicants need to be brilliant with Final Cut Pro, audio software and working with Macs. Experience of digital editing is an advantage, as is an appreciation of classical music and the arts. Ability with website creation software a bonus. We are looking for a key member of the team who can bring technical expertise and creative energy to a small but rapidly expanding company.
May develop into full-time position.
Based in London.
Starting at £100-150 per day depending on experience.

Please spread the word! I'm also interested in hearing from students/graduates who are looking for quality work experience - particularly people who can build good-looking websites.

Go to the Red Ted Films website for details.

I am also searching for investment in the company, which is expanding fast. We want to go to the next level and I am interested in hearing from anyone who would like to join us on this exciting journey upwards! Of particular interest are investors who love classical music and want to help us bring the best music documentaries, performances and interviews to as many people as possible on the web.

Get in touch by emailing me direct: tommy@redtedfilms.com

New Red Ted Films online

noreply@blogger.com (Tommy Pearson) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:59:00 +0000

Various new films, produced, directed and edited by me at Red Ted Films, are now online at the LSO website. Lots more to come, on the LSO site, the Barbican Centre website and various other places. I'll keep you up to date as I go.

Here's a brief taster of the interview I filmed with film composer John Williams when I was in LA last month - a little trailer for the film music concert I am producing and hosting with the London Symphony Orchestra on the 4th April. Details here.

Here is a collection of interviews I produced for the LSO with Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, James MacMillan, Jason Yarde and Eva Johansson to promote the orchestra's 2009/10 season.

Just available is the LSO's digital brochure for the 2009/10 season. It's really terrific and neatly involving - you can view videos, read interviews, listen to music, straight off the pages of the brochure. I'm very proud of my work on this brochure - we made all the videos, co-ordinated the photo shoots and provided the interview texts and quotes. Here's a link to the brochure; just click 'Browse the digital season brochure' on the right.

Finally, here's the latest LSO video podcast which I made last summer but which has just been released. Rob Cowan and Colin Davis talk about the big choral works being performed by the LSO this season.