MUSIClassical ALLEGRO
Topic: CLASSICALmanac.com
"Brigg Fair" is an English folk song. It is best known in a choral arrangement by Percy Grainger and a subsequent set of orchestral variations by Frederick Delius. In 1907, Delius heard the setting and was impressed by both the tune and the arrangement. With Grainger's permission, Delius used the song as the basis of an orchestral work. The first public performance was in Liverpool, on 18 January 1908, under Granville Bantock. There was an earlier private performance in 1907 shortly after completion in Basle under the direction of Hermann Suter. The work was dedicated to Grainger, who claimed to have suggested the form, which he described as in the manner of a passacaglia. 
Giuliano Ciannella, an active exponent of the lyric tenor and Verdi repertory in the 1980s, has died, 13 JAN 2008. A student of Carlo Bergonzi, the tenor made his professional debut at Teatro Nuovo, Milan, in 1974, and arrived at La Scala in 1976, as Cassio in Otello. His first appearances with the Met were as Alfredo in spring 1979 Parks concerts of La Traviata: his official Met debut came the following autumn, as Cassio in a season-opening Otello that was also telecast on Live from the Met. 
Sergej Larin, a Russian tenor who found praise in European and American houses singing lirico-spinto roles as well as Russian repertory that included Boris Godunov's Grigory and Onegin's Lensky, has died following a long illness. Larin, who would have been 52 in March, died on January 13, 2008, in Bratislava. 
Manchester's Halle Orchestra is 150 years old. And what a difference it's made to the cultural life of the city...... The Hallé's 150th Anniversary Concert is at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (photo) on 30 January. The Hallé 150 season continues throughout the year... 
Today, the Honolulu Symphony has begun its second century of bringing great music to the Hawaiian Islands. Founded in 1900, the Honolulu Symphony claims the distinction of being the oldest American orchestra west of the Rocky Mountains! The Honolulu Symphony has undergone a series of transformations over the course of its first century, responding to the challenges and opportunities of the times. It has endured two World Wars, the Great Depression, financial crises, and changing musical and cultural fashions. The orchestra of professional musicians that performs today on the stage of the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall may bear little resemblance to the first group of amateur musicians which met in a clubhouse on the slopes of Punchbowl nearly 104 years ago. However, one thing remains constant, the mission of the Honolulu Symphony is to enhance the quality of life of the people of Hawaii by sustaining a symphony orchestra of the highest artistic quality... 
In a step beyond the pay-what-you-wish experiment undertaken by Radiohead and Barbara Hendricks, British violinist Tasmin Little is issuing her next recording as a digital download available completely free of charge. 