Where's Runnicles

The recent publication of the Edinburgh International Festival programme for August 2007 prompted my brother to muse on how he'd like to do something to set down his thoughts on it. He also said the word blog. Something that hadn't occurred to me (in past years I've used the Naim Audio forum , in particular the music section, but given he's not rea... lly a hi-fi nut, that isn't for him). So a blog it was. All we needed was a name.... Donald Runnicles is a favourite conductor of ours. In my case he has been ever since two magical concerts he gave at the 2005 festival (Verdi's Requiem and Mahler's 3rd symphony), with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Further concerts and CDs have only enhanced our view of him. Which made it all the more of a shame when he was unable to bring the New York based Orchestra of St Luke's to last year's festivities, owing to the terrorism scare related chaos . Sadly, he is even more absent this year. We wish he wasn't. However, as one of Scotland's foremost conductors, even if much of his work is abroad, a name paying tribute to him seems a natural choice. Of course, it goes without saying that should Maestro Runnicles or his management take issue with this we will rethink. So is this just a bitter, twisted rant? Not a bit. Our aim is to be positive, where possible, and open-minded about the new director and his programme. Hopefully we'll say the odd interesting or thought provoking thing along the way. We'll also cover far more than just the festival or Runnicles, but that can wait for future posts.Read More