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John Miller |
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Retired geologist (BSc, PhD) and former Senior Lecturer and Director of Open Studies, Edinburgh University. Published a number of geological research papers, but Classical music has been a life-long love. I played piano and church organ as a youth, bought my first "hifi" at the age of 15 and have been upgrading ever since. I taught music courses in the Edinburgh Adult Education programme for many years, especially social history of music, illustrated studies of composers including Bach, Beethoven, Elgar, Sibelius, Richard Strauss and Mahler. Several courses attempted to introduce people to post-Impressionism musical developments, and I also ran courses on Scottish classical music history. I was particularly interested in the period instrument movement and did extensive research on this. Gave pre-concert talks for the then Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow and Edinburgh and Festival Lectures on featured composers at the Edinburgh Festival for over 10 years. Despite the classical bias, I have wide tastes in music. Also, I enjoy painting in watercolour, pastel, acrylic and oils. |
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Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Having had to take early retirement, I sold my 2800+ CD teaching collection in 2005 to take up high-definition multichannel and begin an SACD and DVD-A collection (much smaller!). Have upgraded several components since then, and present system is approaching personal nirvana... or so I think at the moment!
Sony SCDXA5400ES SACD multichannel
Denon 4308b multichannel receiver; top quality HDMI cables & other audiophile cables.
Magnaplanar MG5/QR front speakers, Magnaplanar CC3 centre, Magnaplanar wall-mounted LM1 surround speakers, Quad Lite subwoofer. I consistently use the Marigold Signature Mat v2 when playing discs, it helps the transport recover more information and makes an astonishing improvement in definition, ambient information, instrument location and sheer musicality. |
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Today 04:09 am
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Leos Janacek (1854-1928) is arguably the greatest Czech composer of the C19th. His operas, symphonic works and some of his chamber music regularly appear on concert programmes. Yet his piano works remain the province of keyboard connoisseurs. In fact Janacek had a genius for writing in the genre; ... more |
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March 10, 2010
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Audite has reissued its previously released two discs of Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos in a convenient slim dual jewel box. Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was one of the most amazing childhood prodigies in musical history. He gave his first public concert as a pianist at the age of 10, including a concerto ... more |
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March 5, 2010
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The forthcoming celebrations for Liszt's 200th birthday anniversary in 2011 has prompted a new Liszt Lied Edition on disc, which will be accompanied by publication of a collected edition of scores and a companion book. Wisely, the producers have elected not to present the songs in chronological ... more |
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March 4, 2010
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Most music lovers are surprised to learn that Franz Liszt wrote over 80 songs for voice and piano (over 120 if revisions are counted). Despite renewed interest in his music over recent decades, just a few of these appear on disc, mainly in general song recitals. These few, such as 'Die Loreley' and ... more |
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March 2, 2010
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"Twixt boulevard and church, portrait of an acoustic magician" runs the title of the insert notes for this SACD. A very apt summary of Francis Poulenc's career. His lively spirit, combined with cheeky and mischievous tendencies disguised a deeply sensitive nature, and these qualities appealed to ... more |
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Today 06:08 am
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| I've been following this excellent Beethoven Cycle which features gut strings, period brass and modern woodwind - truly a hybrid orchestra (Kammerorchester Basel). Antonini's dynamic interpretations, from the New Beethoven Edition scores, are very similar to Järvi's except that Antonini is more inclined to vary the basic tempi somewhat - and he ... more |
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January 29, 2010
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| Hi,
I can't see any information in the booklet about version. I can say that I followed the performance using the libretto from the Pinkas, and didn't notice any major discrepancies, although my Czech is non existent and it is very difficult to precisely follow ensemble pieces where everyone is singing at once! I suspected a few small cuts, but ... more |
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January 16, 2010
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| I did actually attend a performance of The Jacobin at an Edinburgh Festival performance while teaching a Festival Music Course some years ago. Performances are vanishingly rare these days, but the opera is full of glorious Dvorak lyricism, and the students enjoyed it greatly. You have prompted me to re-explore the Foné recording, from which I ... more |
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December 31, 2009
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| A Happy New Year to everyone from a snowy Scotland. It has been a good year for excellent SACD releases, with continuing high standards of musicality and engineering. Despite a tightening economic scene, there have still been amazing opportunities to escape the usual repertoire and expand one's musical horizons. My thanks to the artists and all the ... more |
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December 21, 2009
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| Thanks for your interesting comments. I agree to some extent about the nature of Bernstein's original Narrator's text, but in the context of its time, around the assassination of Kenedy, like the not dissimilar argument with God and other text in Bernstein's Mass it was a heartfelt expression of his feeling and very much part of his whole ... more |
