Peter O'Toole, star of Lawrence of Arabia, dies aged 81

Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia. Photo courtesy Britannica

Actor who shot to fame in David Lean's 1962 masterpiece and received eight Oscar nominations has died in hospital in London

By Robert Booth

The actor Peter O'Toole who found stardom in David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, has died aged 81, his family has announced.

The acclaimed leading man who overcame stomach cancer in the 1970s passed away at the Wellington hospital in London following a long illness.

His daughter Kate O'Toole said: "His family are very appreciative and completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us, during this unhappy time. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts."

O'Toole announced last year he was stopping acting saying: "I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."

He said his career on stage and screen fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing him together "with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits."

The president of Ireland, Michael Higgins, was among the first to pay tribute: "Ireland, and the world, has lost one of the giants of film and theatre."

"In a long list of leading roles on stage and in film, Peter brought an extraordinary standard to bear as an actor," Higgins said. "He had a deep interest in literature and a love of Shakespearean sonnets in particular. While he was nominated as best actor for an Oscar eight times, and received a special Oscar from his peers for his contribution to film, he was deeply committed to the stage. Those who saw him play leading roles on the screen from Lawrence in 1962, or through the role of Henry II in Becket, and The Lion in Winter, or through the dozens of films, will recognise a lifetime devoted to the artform of the camera.

Higgins, who knew O'Toole as a friend since 1969, said "all of us who knew him in the west will miss his warm humour and generous friendship.

"He was unsurpassed for the grace he brought to every performance on and off the stage," he said.

The British prime minister, David Cameron, paid tribute to the actor, saying that Lawrence of Arabia, his favourite film, was "stunning".

O'Toole's agent, Steve Kenis, said: "He was one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field."

The O'Toole family announced there will be "a memorial filled with song and good cheer, as he would have wished", but until then they would like to be allowed to grieve privately.

Early in his career O'Toole became emblematic of a new breed of hard-drinking Hollywood hell-raiser.

"We heralded the '60s," he once said. "Me, [Richard] Burton, Richard Harris; we did in public what everyone else did in private then, and does for show now. We drank in public, we knew about pot."

In the 1990s he found stage fame starring in Keith Waterhouse's play, Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, about a hard-drinking journalist who propped up bars in Soho. O'Toole's version sold out the Old Vic theatre in 1999.

Last month it was reported he had been coaxed out of retirement to act in a film about ancient Rome called Katherine of Alexandria in which he would play Cornelius Gallus, a palace orator. It is believed he completed filming on the project alongside Joss Ackland, Steven Berkoff and Edward Fox and the movie is due to be released next year.

O'Toole is believed to have been born in Connemara in County Galway in Ireland, and lived in London. He shot to stardom in the 1962 film of TE Lawrence's life story and went on to take leading roles in Goodbye Mr Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man and My Favourite Year. He received eight Oscar nominations and no wins – an unassailed record – though he was given an honorary Oscar in 2003. 

He considered turning it down and asking the Academy to hold off until he was 80, on the basis that "I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright."

He finally accepted, saying: "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot".

He is survived by his two daughters, Pat and Kate O'Toole, from his marriage to actress Siân Phillips, and his son, Lorcan O'Toole, by Karen Brown.

 This article was amended on 18 December 2013 to clarify Peter O'Toole's record of Oscar nominations.

First published at The Guardian, December 16, 2013

Lou Reed, Velvet Underground frontman, dies at 71

Lou Reed. Photo courtesy Britannica

US singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed has died at the age of 71.

Known for tracks including Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side, Reed was considered one of the most influential singers and songwriters in rock.

The Velvet Underground became renowned for their fusion of art and music and for collaborating with Andy Warhol.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Reed's literary agent said he died of a "liver-related ailment".

Andrew Wylie said the musician died at his home in Long Island, New York, on Sunday morning and had not been well "for a few months".

Reed's former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale wrote on his website : "The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I've lost my 'school-yard buddy.'"

Other stars paying tribute included The Who, who tweeted : "RIP Lou Reed. Walk on the peaceful side." Iggy Pop said it was "devastating news".

An admitted hard drinker and drug user for many years, Reed had a liver transplant this May after suffering liver failure.

"I am a triumph of modern medicine," Reed posted on his website on 1 June.

The Velvet Underground never achieved commercial success during their 1960s existence, but their influence on music in later decades was widely recognised.

The punk, glam and alternative rock movements of the 1970s, '80s and '90s were all indebted to Reed, whose songs were covered by the likes of REM, David Bowie, Nirvana, Patti Smith and countless others.

Music producer Brian Eno once summed up their influence by saying: "The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band."

The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

After quitting The Velvet Underground in 1970, Reed released his self-titled debut in 1972, but it wasn't until the Bowie-produced LP Transformer later that year - which featured both Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side - that he achieved chart success.

Perfect Day enjoyed a second bout of success in 1996 when it was featured in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, and again a year later when it was re-recorded by a celebrity cast for a BBC charity single.

As a solo artist, he released 20 studio albums. His last, Hudson River Wind Meditations, was released in 2007.

He is survived by his second wife, the musician and performing artist, Laurie Anderson.

Others paying tribute included US rock band Weezer, who said The Velvet Underground were "a big influence" when they were starting out.

Chic guitarist Nile Rogers said: "I did the Jools Holland show with him last year and we yucked it up. I didn't know he was ill."

Meanwhile, singer Marianne Faithfull said: "He was a great friend, musician, songwriter and band leader. One of the most intelligent musicians I've ever known and a great guitarist.

"His songs will live for ever... Perfect Day, Sweet Jane... In my opinion he was a genius. I will miss him terribly."

And Def Jam founder Russell Simmons tweeted: "New York lost one of our greatest gifts today.”

First published at BBC News, October 27, 2013

Lou Reed short biography

Lou Reed. Photo courtesy Britannica

By Jon Dolan

Lou Reed grew up in Long Island, New York. During his teens, he received electroshock treatment for depression, and would later cite the experience as damaging and transformative. He formed the Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s with multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Maureen Tucker.

After being discovered by Andy Warhol and performing in his multimedia happening Exploding Plastic Inevitable, the band, now with the German model Nico sharing lead vocals, released its debut The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1967. Reed’s songs about the dark side of sex and drugs and the band’s dissonant sound had an enormous influence on punk, glam, metal, and indie music. The Velvets released three more LPs – 1968’s howling  White Light/White Heat, 1969’s gentler The Velvet Underground, and 1970’s poppier Loaded–each exerting a deep impact on future artists, despite selling poorly at the time. 

Reed’s solo career in the 1970s went from the David Bowie-produced glam of 1973’s Transformer (which had the hit “Walk On the Wild Side”) to the grim rock opera Berlin to the pure-noise experiment Metal Machine Music. His excessive drug use and genderqueer sexuality made him an icon of punk experimentation and decadence, but he toned down his wild side in 1980s and 1990s, marrying twice (to the dancer Sylvia Morales, and musician-performance artist Laurie Anderson), and becoming a student of tai chi. In the 2000s, he worked with the trans artist Anohni and hard-rock icons Metallica.

Lou Reed died October 27, 2013 of liver cancer in 2013.

Notable albums:

The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967); White Light/White Heat (1968); The Velvet Underground (1969); Loaded (1970); Transformer (1972);

Berlin (1973); Metal Machine Music (1975); Rock and Roll Heart (1976) New Sensations (1984); New York (1989)

First published at Rolling Stone, no date give. Uploaded to this blog on his death date (October 27, 2013).

Carl Dolmetsch (1911 - 1997)

Carl Frederic Dolmetsch CBE, Dr (Honoris causa, Exeter), Hon.F.T.C.L.

Musical Director of the Society from 1937 until 1988

Edited from the obituary in The Recorder Magazine, December 1997 by Edgar Hunt

Last updated 31 May 2013

Carl Dolmetsch. Photo by permission of Dr. Brian Blood

Carl, the youngest of the four children of Arnold and Mabel Dolmetsch, devoted his life to music and the recorder. From his father, Carl learnt to play the violin and the treble viol and he grew up in an atmosphere where harpsichords and viols were normal, not “quaint”. Having lost a treasured Bressan recorder at Waterloo Station in 1919, it was his destiny to lead the revival of that instrument in the 20th century.

In 1919 he was already part of the family’s ensemble giving lecture-recitals of what we now call “Early Music”, leading to the first of the Haslemere Festivals in 1925 where the treble recorders were presented in the F major harpsichord concerto of Bach. On this occasion the recorders were played by Carl’s older brother Rudolph and Miles Tomalin. The following year the whole consort of descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders made their debut, led by Carl’s descant.

About 1930 Arnold Dolmetsch was dividing the three main sections of the workshops among his children and their husbands. Cecile and Leslie Ward were in charge of Harpsichords, Nathalie and George Carley were responsible for Viols and Violins while Carl was in sole command of Recorders.

Not only did he make descant, treble, tenor and bass tuned to A=415, the pitch adopted by Arnold Dolmetsch for all his concerts from the 1890s, but A=439 (New Philharmonic) which was becoming normal in the UK (military bands had been almost a semitone higher). All this was no mean achievement. Carl could not go to college in London to learn Recorder Making. There were no books on the subject. Nor was he free to travel to see the instruments in the museums of Europe. He would see a few antique instruments which came to Haslemere for repair. He was not in touch with other makers with whom he could compare notes.

In 1932 Carl began his partnership with Joseph Saxby (harpsichord and piano) which took them on concert tours to Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Japan – a partnership which lasted some 50 years (Joseph Saxby died 23 June 1997).

In 1936 Edgar Hunt joined the staff of Schott & Co. to promote recorder music, much of which was being produced in Germany. He had formed a recorder trio with Max Champion (treble), his wife Stephanie (tenor) and himself (bass). They thought it would be a good idea to form a recorder society so that players who were scattered about the country could be in touch with each other. The Champions heard that Carl was planning something similar: so they all got together and started the SRP in 1937. Max was Chairman; Stephanie, Secretary, while Carl Dolmetsch and Edgar Hunt became joint Musical Directors. Arnold Dolmetsch was the Society’s President until his death in 1940.

In 1937 Carl married Mary Ferguson from Dumfries (Scotland). They had four children: Francois, who now lives in Columbia, twins Jeanne and Marguerite, and Richard, a brilliant young musician who died tragically.

Carl Dolmetsch was always forward-looking and seeking ways to improve the recorder and give it a contemporary role; hence the F# key, the echo key and the tone projector. On 1 February 1939 he gave his first full-length recital at London’s Wigmore Hall with Joseph Saxby at the harpsichord. In the absence of any 20th-century solos he composed his own Theme and Variations to show what the recorder could do. This was the first of his annual “Wigmores”, a series which continued for 45 years. The report of this concert in The Recorder News No 2 (1938-40) was written by “Terpander” (= Manuel Jacobs), an enthusiastic young recorder player who also wanted a “modern” repertoire for the recorder and had been encouraging his friends among composers to write Sonatinas for recorder and piano. These were not in time for Carl’s first Wigmore; but Carl and Edgar Hunt played four of them at a meeting of the London Contemporary Music Centre on 17 June 1939. The two which Carl played were by Stanley Bate and Lennox Berkeley, and he included the Berkeley in his second Wigmore which was on 18 November 1939. Most of these works were published by Schott.

During the War the Dolmetsch workshops turned over to making aircraft components, and there were no more recorders for the duration. But, after the War, excellent plastic recorders were produced to Carl’s design while the hand-made ones continued in the hands of Jeanne and Marguerite with the addition of son-in-law Dr. Brian Blood.

The end of the War saw the revival of the SRP and the addition of Walter Bergmann and Freda Dinn to the Society’s Musical Directors. The four MDs worked together to found the Recorder in Education Summer School, originally at Roehampton, but gradually moving further north. Meanwhile Carl Dolmetsch started the Dolmetsch Summer School nearer to Haslemere.

Carl was always faithful to his father’s teachings but he continued to seek a place for the recorder in the present and, as his Wigmore recitals continued, he commissioned new works from leading composers, including some with string quartet and other instruments. Among the composers who contributed to this repertoire were Herbert Murrill, Cyril Scott, York Bowen, Hans Gal, Arnold Cooke, Gordon Jacob, Edmund Rubbra and many more.

Carl Dolmetsch had already, in 1937, been given responsibility for the Haslemere Festival. He kept it going during the War years (in reduced form), and celebrated the Silver Jubilee in 1950 and the 40th anniversary in 1964. He also adopted British Standard Pitch for the Festivals and his own recitals to encourage cooperation with artists, particularly singers and string quartets from the outside world of music.

Published at The Society of Recorder Players, article last updated May 31, 2013

Addendum by site administrator Tony Magee (August 19, 2024): Cover from a CD series, The Arnold Dolmetsch Years, on the Allegro label, featuring Carl Dolmetsch and twin daughter's Jeanne and Marguerite (recorders), as well as Rafael Puyana (harpsichord) and others. Plus, a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt, confirming an invitation for Arnold Dolmetsch to play the clavichord at The White House, dated December 14, 1908.

Related post: Tributes Paid to early music revivalist Jeanne-Marie Dolmetsch

Related site: Dolmetsch Online

Popular piano play bucks British trend

by Jenna Clarke

Canberrans are tuning in and paying thousands of dollars for pianos while those in Britain are trashing rather than tickling the ivories.

DW Music sells more than 175 new Yamaha acoustic pianos from its Fyshwick showroom every year whereas, on average, only 4000 pianos are sold throughout the whole of Britain.

TUNED IN: Tony Magee, manager of DW Music's piano showroom in Fyshwick, says that their acoustic pianos still outsell the digital.CREDIT: Photo MELISSA ADAMS

According to music industry experts in Britain, demand for piano removal and scrapping services have been rapidly outweighing sales due to the expensive maintenance involved in owning pianos.

"Canberra is not typical of international trends. We are quite the opposite, and have always enjoyed healthy sales," DW Music piano manager Tony Magee said.

According to Yamaha statistics, the store has sold more of its pianos than any other retailer in Australia since 2010.

In 2012, grand pianos, which can cost up to $200,000, accounted for 20 per cent of DW Music's sales.

"We are the last piano shop in Australia where acoustic pianos still outsell digital.

''You can put that down to the middle class affluence of Canberra but also the highly educated population here," Mr Magee, who is also an accomplished pianist and performer, said.

"There are hundreds of piano teachers in Canberra and they have all pretty much got full books as well, and the tuners are all busy, and these are all signs that this is a healthy piano industry."

He added that retirees rediscovering or taking up the art and families of young children learning how to play form the largest customer base. Customers such as these spend between $6000 and $8000 for a brand new upright model.

Second-hand sales in the capital are also doing well, according to Chris Leslie, who operates an online classified advertisement service dedicated to buying and selling pre-loved pianos.

"Listings for those selling and those looking to buy are constant and are about equal," he said.

Mr Leslie also works as a piano tuner in Canberra. Three years ago, reconditioning and tuning were his passions, passions which have now turned into his full-time day job.

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald, January 22, 2013