Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I doubt it has much to do with his life, since most people don't know a lot
>about Delius's life.

I had the impression that he spent some time in Florida and then later
lived in France.

>1.  Much of Delius's achievement is in opera.  Most opera houses don't do
>operas in English, including those companies in English-speaking countries.
>About the only English opera that gets performed is by Britten.

The English National Opera, that perform mostly in English, did Fennimore
and Gerda a few years back.  It was rather a surreal production with
someone dying in a piano and paint being thrown against a white backdrop.
This rather distracted from the music.

>2.  Delius's music is very difficult to perform, not because it's so complex
>but because it's so individual.  Very few conductors have been "with" him,
>Beecham and Barbirolli two notable exceptions.

The Mass of Life is worth listening to.

Tim Horwood