Comments on: Edward Greenfield, Music Critic

By: David Milne.

David Milne. — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 17:58:03 +0000

It is with great sadness that I write that this afternoon our longtime friend and neighbour Ted passed from this life this afternoon. He will be greatly missed.

By: David Lord

David Lord — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:22:34 +0000

Should Ted read this I would much appreciate him getting in touch (via my George Malcolm website: http://www.georgemalcolm.co.uk). I knew him many years ago when I was a composer who he reviewed a number of times, and have been unable to track down an email address for him – as someone else has noted, his website appears to be offline.

By: william hughes

william hughes — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:02:06 +0000

I considered Edward Greenfield’s reviews of Puccini’s operas to be far superior to all
his other reviews and there were many. After all he did show his love for Puccini by writing Puccini: Keeper of the Seal , a much treasured book.
It is disappointing when Giacomo’s name is not mentioned and a picture does not appear
on the wall behind my “gentle friend”.
I miss your opera broadcasts terribly, Sundays after lunch if I remember correctly.
I wish the Gramophone would give you more opera to review.
You are irreplaceable and much loved.

By: Jorge A. Fiedler

Jorge A. Fiedler — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:45:45 +0000

Dear Gentle Author,

A Google search for Edward Greenfield brought me, first, to this wonderful article on a most cherished personality, and second, to your marvelous Spitalfields blog, a modern-day Panopticon inhabited by various peoples, buildings, cobblestone streets, manhole covers, etchings, maps, memories, ghosts, and ghosts to be…

Two of the previous comments —John Otim’s and Robin Pidcock’s— rekindled a few memories.

Mr. Otim mentions the same sense of loss I feel and which regularly leads me to do random and rather hopeless searches for old recordings of Mr. Greenfield’s BBC World programs. Mr. Pidcock, on the other hand, brought to mind the BBC’s selection of Händel as Composer of the Month (July 1996), in what must have been one of the high points of the show’s history.

Would you, Gentle Author, kindly tell dear Mr. Greenfield that his website

http://www.edwardgreenfield.co.uk

is not online? I am sure not the only one who would very much welcome to read his memoires.

And (if I am going to impose I might as well do a good job of it) would you ask him if he has the time or the inclination to work on a selection of his BBC programs, should he still have a few of his old notes around?

His signature was the eclectic mix; we listeners joined his peripathetic search for this or that dusty jewel in his collection, almost smelling the humid basement and the old carboard record sleeves which you have now described for us.

I’d gladly help Mr. Greenfield in putting together some of his stories, if he wanted to work on this with a long-distance fan.

Thank you again, gentle friend.

By: Robin Pidcock

Robin Pidcock — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:04:32 +0000

Dear Mr Greenfield – Re your review of Handels “Rodelinda” in the current Gramophone,the venue was actually Sadler’s Wells. I was the set and costume designer (on an inevitably ‘shoe-string’ budget) but stiillremember it as enjoyable experience. There was amassive row during the general rehearsal between Ricky Bonynge,Winton Dean and the director Anthony Besch,concerning cuts. I leave it to you to guess which one of them eventually prevailed! With best wishes – Robin Pidcock.

By: Conrad Wilson

Conrad Wilson — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:12:12 +0000

Dear Ted, Having been out of touch with you for ages, I thought it was time to look you up. I’ve just spent a fascinating morning browsing through your documentation. Myself, I’m still scribbling, mostly for the (Glasgow) Herald these days, but also books and programme notes, which I now have more time to write. All best wishes, Conrad

By: john otim

john otim — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:06:27 +0000

the mood called for music but i did not reach for my mp3 player. my thoughts went instead to the days of the mid nineties when i revelled in edward greenfield’s weekly broadcast called simply – the greenfield collection, then running on bbc world program. greenfield’s delights in the music he presented, in the personalities behind the music, and the events that produced the music opened for me a new experience. when the broadcasts ceased i felt a light had gone out of the world

By: Alan Hawley

Alan Hawley — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:11:36 +0000

As a resident of Petticoat Square on the Middlesex Street Estate, currently living part-time in south-west France, I want to tell you how much I appreciate these Spitalfields blogs.
The Penguin Guides to records and CDs are among the top ten books of my life, particularly important for me as my musical education stopped after a few years as a boy chorister. Like many with a similar musical background, or lack of it, I refer to them not just to read evaluations of performances, but to find gaps in my knowledge of the classical repertoire – to track down new delights that I might have missed.
When I first arrived in London in my twenties, I used to live in Bayswater next door to Financial Times music critic Ronald Crichton, who kindly took me to the Proms and lots of other concerts in the days when critics were all given two tickets. (Someone told me that this does not happen now.) Ronald lived in the same building as Dame Eva Turner, who occasionally used Ronald to tick us off about the state of our rubbish bins.
I hope that this slightly irrelevant rambling is in tune with your blog. Anyway, to establish a tenuous connection, Spitalfields is not so elegant as Bayswater, but its marvellous to learn about its riches from your pages, and to hear that once again I have one of my musical mentors living not far away. Many thanks to you both.

By: Jane Wilson-Marquis

Jane Wilson-Marquis — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:11:04 +0000

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this great eccentric and reminded me of a great friend of mine who came to Spitalfields some years before Ted ;while he did not drink in the morning he lit candles when we sat down for breakfast.