Readers who access TheOmniscientMussel.com directly, rather than via feedreaders, may have noticed the sidebars becoming wallpapered with adverts in recent days. Google adwords have been on the site for a while but they were unsatisfactory for a number of reasons:…
Ok folks, as part of the new, improved TheOmniscientMussel.com which aims to be a source for classical music news rather than simply a recycler of everyone else’s brilliance, the marketing people at OMHQ have decided that social media is the…
Just as Miss Mussel was gearing up for the press histrionics sure to surround the North Korean Orchestra’s tour of the UK, she discovers that they are not coming. The reason has nothing to do with politics but rather it…
They must have….uh….practiced a lot. Ok, now that that groaner is out of the way, we can get on to bigger and better things, namely an excerpt of an interview with TSO conductor Peter Oundjian about his band’s gig in…
Coming in at #108 on the Stuff White People Like list is: classical music. The piece picks up speed as it goes along and is well worth a full read. Here are some highlights: “If a white person starts talking…
Well sort of. Nearly. Lots in the works for this space in the upcoming months. The Quiz and Spine Tinglers are back as well as some new features and the usual commentary/recycling of other people’s news. Things will be gearing…
Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) [pronounced: Eye-know-joo-ha-nee Row (rhymes with now)-tah-VAH-rah] Piano Concerto No.1 Op. 45 (1969) Con grandezza Andante Molto Vivace Like most composers who have been afforded the luxury of sixty plus years in which to refine their craft,…
Here is a quick variation on the iTunes meme from yesterday intended specifically for those who have written books. All you need to do is: Copy the entire text of your book to the clipboard. Go to Wordle.net, open a…
Every day you chase the carrot and are about 99% certain you’ll never get to cut it into sticks and serve it along side a tuna melt and some 5-Alive. Today, fate has intervened and granted Miss Mussel a small…
Courtesy of Philly Markowitz at the CBC Radio 2 blog: All The Great Operas in 10 Minutes by Kim Thompson
Posting has slowed to a crawl here at OM headquarters although that is not in anyway indicative of a diminishing in the Things That Need Doing department. Miss Mussel will be away from the internet [GASP] most of next week…
The London Eye, 2006
(c) XKCD (click to enlarge)(it’s worth it)
From The Tate, Albert Docks, Liverpool
Tony Blair may have wanted everyone to believe that class divisions are no longer relevant but this morning’s batch of spam has proved him to be foolishly blind to reality. “I very much enjoyed visiting your middle-class guestbook. I will…
Patty at OboeInsight has the tip of the iceberg on this newflash. Here’s some of the remaining 9/10ths. The Guardian reports that, “[Thom] Yorke is one of 11 musicians – among them Simon Tong from Gorillaz, John Maclean of the…
Alex Ross writes about Tan Dun with a little more finesse that this bivalve can muster on the subject. “Tan quickly gravitated to New York’s downtown scene, particularly to the world of John Cage. By combining Cage’s chance processes and…
Just when Miss Mussel was about to enter the depths of despair regarding her career choice on a more permanent basis, Musical America brings news that Anne Midgette has been hired as chief classical music critic at the Washington Post….
via Oboe Insight via Wolf Trap via Stages.
It’s Canada Day today, folks. Miss Mussel’s seal skin trousers are at the cleaners, so she’ll be attending the fireworks in the usual cotton fibres. Here’s a gallery of things that make Miss Mussel proud to be from north of…