Yes, more Chopin...

If you missed Tom Service's terrific Music Matters programme on R3 devoted to Chopin, you can download it as a podcast. In-depth interviews with "Maurizio and Krystian" take centre stage, but there's also fascinating material about the exhibition at the British Library 'Chopin, the Romantic Refugee' (free, til May) and much more... I'm not sure if the download works outside the UK, but for those who can get it, here's the link: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio3/musicmat/musicmat_20100313-1300b.mp3

Arnold Schoenberg has not had the greatest press in recent months, thanks to noisy explosions from the anti-modernist backlash department, so it's time to fight his corner by hearing from him in person. For Friday Historical, here is a three-part exploration: first of all, a fascinating interview with him about art, music and more, recorded at the University of California in July 1949 (thanks to Brendan Carroll for alerting me to it).

Much saddened by the news that Philip Langridge, one of the finest British tenors of his day, has died aged 70.

"New York, New York, it's a helluva town! The Bronx is up and the Battery down..."

Ooops. "Helluva" was not deemed acceptable and Bernstein ended up writing that tune to the word "Wonderful" instead. Having just been back to the Big Apple after an absence of seven years, I'm pretty sure "Helluva" is the right word. It is wonderful, up to a point; but also noisy, to a degree that makes life under the flight path seem extraordinarily peaceful; crazy, to the point that even most of the cats are 'barking'; energising to the spirit, emptying to the bank account (seduction by tourist discount in Macy's and hidden taxes in restaurants), and so full-on that a long weekend felt like a fortnight. As for the bagels...! That's not "Wonderful." That's "Helluva".

...but my final blogpost about him for BBC Radio 3 has only just gone up. Here it is: Farewell to Felixcitations!

Mendelssohn, of course, has dropped straight through the bottom of the barrel since the end of his anniversary year, while everyone screams about Chopin instead. Just wait until they get started in earnest on Mahler.