Tag Archives: Kennedy

… and yes, I’m enjoying every note…

Saturday night listening: Hans Werner Henze’s too-rarely-performed opera “Elegy for Young Lovers”. I know, it’s light listening as usual. An old college friend reminded me earlier today that I would often assert that “music should be rigorous”; that sentiment has changed little in 30-plus years.

The Henze recording features Lisa Saffer (she can sing anything, and I mean anything), Roderick Kennedy, a stunningly good supporting cast, and the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by the much-underrated Reinbert de Leeuw. It’s part of a 27-disc set documenting Schoenberg Ensemble recordings of 20th century music issued about five years ago by Dutch indie Et’Cetera. The performances are consistently excellent.

Inside “The Great Game,” 1968

… or, more accurately, as inside as Allen Dulles would allow the media to go in 1968. “We’re not spies. We’re intelligence gatherers.” Newstalgia has posted the audio of an amazing interview with then ex-CIA director Allan Dulles, first broadcast in 1968 on NET (now PBS). It’s a must hear for all students of “The Great Game” then — and now.