Ron Chaplin wonders:

>BMG has "Powder Her Face" as a clearance item for $11-12.  I was wondering
>if I should get it, even though I am not sure if I like Ades music,
>especially if it is like "Living Toys."

I'm not familiar with much of Ades' music, but what I have heard I haven't
much liked.  He has been heavily promoted by the industry in the UK, who
seemed to see him as a media-friendly face for "new music".  I have a
feeling that his star is now sinking almost as rapidly as it rose a few
years ago.

This summer's Proms season will contain a performance of his piece Asyla
(Sunday August 15 and Sue and I will probably be there, but mainly for
Yefim Bronfman playing Bartok Piano Concerto No.2 and Jiri Belohlavek
conducting Shostakovich 5).

The Proms guide says: "In Asyla, already performed to great acclaim in
Birmingham, his uniquely questing imagination approaches symphonic form,
only to make it entirely his own by such touches as an out-of-tune upright
piano and rhythms from the contemporary dance scene.  The title - the
plural of asylum - carries connotations of both refuge and the madhouse
(snip)"

I may well report back after the concert.

Ian Crisp <[log in to unmask]>