Forgot this detail in my vacation post. I've sent out a new issue of my newsletter. You can read it here. A lot in it will be familiar to regular readers of the blog, but some issues aren't like that. Go here to subscribe. It's a good way to catch up with things I'm doing and thinking about. Have a great three weeks! This is, really and positively, the last you'll hear from me till September. (The photo shows my son Rafa, excited about art in a museum. See the newsletter for more.) … [Read more...]

No Friday post today. I'm on vacation until Labor Day. My wonderful assistant will approve comments, so anything anyone says here will appear on the blog. But I won't be responding. I hope you all have a wonderful August. Restful, productive, whatever your hearts desire. And I'll leave you with a photo of my little boy doing a vacation thing — standing shin-deep in the water, close to knee-deep, holding one of his cars. Plus a playlist. Some of his favorite videos. You'll see what good taste he has! The Three Stooges, … [Read more...]

Great fun. The Three Stooges sing opera, in a 17-minute 1945 short called Micro-Phonies. Or sort of sing opera. Or fake singing opera (hence the title). For those who aren't Three Stooges fans, the first half might be slow going. But the second half, in which the Stooges sing "the sextet from Lucy" at a rich snob's house party — that's priceless for anyone. And the sextet (abridged) works really well as a trio. Seriously! (Bel canto experts already know that one of the soloists in the piece, the mezzo singing Alisa, is really just … [Read more...]

Just a few items today, as I wind down toward vacation. There's a strong piece on videogame music on San Francisco Classical Voice, the thorough, lively website that covers classical music in the Bay Area. It's not a comprehensive look at the subject, since it's an interview with one producer/composer, who's hosting a videogame concert with the San Francisco Symphony. But still the piece raises all the right questions, and in a thoughtful though playful way. You know, like the old chestnut: Is videogame music art? The real point, as the … [Read more...]