How do you listen to music most often?
CDs in the car, iPod in the kitchen but that’s always non-classical (Stones/Led Zep/Ben Folds, et al, while I’m cooking), and on headphones via my Mac.
What was the last piece of music you bought?
My mate Gerry Finley singing songs by Samuel Barber.
What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
Led Zeppelin IV – at the moment I prefer this one to the others, but it’s a close call between that and I and III.
If you found yourself with six months free to learn a new instrument, what would you choose?
Piano. I play it really badly. My dear mum tried to teach me when I was young – it’s not a good idea parents teaching their kids!
Is applauding between movements acceptable?
I don’t like it, but I’m not going to get uptight about it if people do.
What single thing would improve the format of the classical concert?
This is almost impossible to answer as it depends on the type of classical concert. When we perform sacred music it’s always lovely to be doing it somewhere like Canterbury Cathedral where the music fits the building and the audience can enjoy magnificent surroundings while listening to glorious polyphony. Concert halls can be impersonal – we can never get away from that, but as long as performers communicate and engage with their audiences we will win through. But it’s not good enough for instrumentalists and singers to just sit there like robots. I think the more we can use alternative, more unusual venues (in addition to performing in concert halls) the more we will encourage younger people to come. Many festivals do this – I’ve always found Spitalfields festival in London gets it spot on.
What’s been your most memorable live music experience as an audience member?
John Barber’s community opera We Are Shadows, commissioned by Spitalfields festival a few years ago.
What was the first record you bought?
Brahms Symphony No 1 conducted by Antal Dorati and it was vinyl of course, bought from Forwards music shop in Canterbury – I was 16.
Do you enjoy musicals? Do you have a favourite?
I’m not a great fan except for Oliver! and The Muppet Christmas Carol
How many recordings of the Goldberg Variations and/or the Beethoven symphonies do you own? Do you have a favourite?
I don’t possess a single recording of the Goldbergs. As for Beethoven, I have a lot of single symphonies conducted by all sorts of people, but I did buy Harnoncourt’s box set, which is just brilliant. He really gets Beethoven.
Which conductor from the past do you most wish you could have worked with?
Leonard Bernstein – he just oozed musicianship.
Which non-classical musician would you love to work with?
Pete Townshend of the Who.
Imagine you’re a festival director in London with unlimited resources. What would you programme for your opening event?
Purcell’s Fairy Queen in somewhere like the Festival Hall or Hayward Gallery, where every available space was used. Actors (Simon Russell Beale as Bottom, Joanna Lumley as Titania) and musicians moving round the various spaces – every space designed beautifully – TV screens everywhere so that the audience can be in touch with all the action. The final scene on the highest level where everyone experiences a lavish banquet. It’s all in my head! One day ...
Harry Christophers and the Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage continues across the UK. Details: www.thesixteen.com
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion