Defend the arts … before it’s too late

THE HARPSICHORDIST MAHAN Esfahani tweeted the other day asking, how many handshakes to Hitler? Most respondents touched Adolf at three or four removes. I managed it in one contact. John Denison, his name was. A 20-ish horn player in the London orchestras, he was sent by Sir Thomas Beecham to Bayreuth in 1934 to buy Wagner tubas for a Covent Garden Ring cycle. John located the pub where the brass players drank. After a couple of steins, he was urged to play Rheingold with them the following night. “Hang on, I haven’t got a black suit,” said John. “In the pit no-one can see us,” laughed the musicians. “We wear vests and shorts.” All went noisily down the Rhine until, as the curtain fell, two men in black uniform ordered…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August/September 2024

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