Gareth Goes to Glyndebourne

I watched the first episode of Gareth Malone‘s latest exploits on BBC2 last night. In Gareth Goes to Glyndebourne, the ever-charming and delightfully enthusiastic Gareth follows the now-familiar pattern of taking a bunch of ordinary working-class kids and introducing them to a whole new world of music and singing, in this case by getting them to perform in a specially written opera at the world-renowned Glyndebourne opera house.

Yes, we’ve seen similar stuff before, and in the hands of almost anyone else it’d be quite boring by now, but somehow Gareth Malone manages to keep our interest. A great deal of this has to be due to his infectious passion for singing and his refusal to give up in the face of the kids’ initial indifference. It really is lovely to watch, despite a certain predictability. I’ll be glued to the remaining two episodes and to whatever Mr. Malone comes up with next.

Classical Music Rocks!

I’ve always rather liked classical music. My mother played a lot of it when my brother and I were kids and much of it went in and stuck. However, I’ve never really known a great deal about it or explored it in any depth. I’ve found myself listening to it a lot more recently, and I’ve even bought the odd CD and MP3. And you know what? I’ve discovered that I more than rather like it. I’m still figuring out exactly what I do and don’t like, and I know next to nothing about any of it, but it feels as though I’m starting out on a real voyage of discovery, to use a rather tired metaphor. It’s exciting and new and, above all, fun. So, I’m trying a bit of everything and doing my best to keep an open mind and approach what I hear with fresh, unbiased ears. Any and all recommendations will be exceedingly welcome.