Albeniz Festival 2009

This year is the centenary of the death of Isaac Albeniz, the Spanish pianist and composer.
Though born in Catalonia his father was Basque and his mother was Andalucian.
The annual Musique en Cote Basque festival is dedicating this year's programme to Albeniz.
They are using my portrait of Albeniz on their website, posters, programmes and publicity material.
If you would like to know more about him see the page I have done on www.52composers.com

Genghis Khan on Zazzle (and more)

• On checking my website stats I noticed that there have been a lot of visitors to my Genghis Khan page. They are coming as a result of Google image search where my image appears on the first page - great. So - I have added him to the FineArtAmerica site where they do excellent prints on paper or canvas, framed or unframed.

• he is already in my cafepress shop but I will add him also to my Zazzle shop where they do some excellent giftware.

My new Licensing Agent - Lebrecht Music & Arts

I am pleased to say that I have signed a contract with the Lebrecht Music & Arts Library for them to handle the licensing of my music and literature images. Nearly all my composers have now been uploaded. There are just a few which I want to revise and polish.
I am very pleased about this as it ensures that the boring negotiating and contract side of the business will be handled professionally.
They have signed up my first order - my portrait of Albeniz which will be used for the Basque Music Festival in the south of France this summer.
This year is the centenary of his death.

To see my portfolio there click on Lebrecht.co.uk and put Paul Helm in the search box.

I joined the Tate

Yesterday was the last day of the Francis Bacon exhibition so we all decided to go to see it. With the price of individual tickets so high it makes sense to pay for an annual membership if you live in London.
Three years ago I was given a membership as a gift and I used it a lot. The last two years without it I must say I didn't go to nearly as many exhibitions. When ticket prices are £12 per visit you think twice before going and then only to those that really interest you. It's a bit like broadband v dial-up. You don't have to think of the meter ticking.
As for the Bacon exhibition, it was well worth the visit, plenty to see. It was reassuring to see that his studio was a bigger mess than mine!

To get a copy of the catalogue click the link below.
Francis Bacon

Gaza protest march - London

Today I went to London with my wife, daughter and two grandchildren. We joined the Gaza protest march from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square. My wife threw a shoe at Downing Street! as did many others.

The turnout was impressive. There is the usual discrepancy between the police estimate and the organisers estimate of the number of protesters. The police say 10 - 12,000, the organisers say 75,000.

We heard speeches by Tony Benn, Bianca Jagger, Brian Eno, Ken Livingstone and others.

We got home to find that the Israelis had launched their ground offensive in Gaza. Where will it end?

I usually restrain myself from making political posts in this blog, but this matter is tragic indeed and I feel very strongly about the injustice and the disproportionate action of Israel and the inaction of Britain and the USA.

2009 Composer Anniversaries

Happy New Year everybody!
2009 is a great year for anniversaries of composers. For example:

• Isaac Albeniz - died 18 May 1909 (100 years)
• George Frideric Handel - died 14 April 1759 (250 years)
• Franz Josef Haydn - died 31 May 1809 (200 years)
• Felix Mendelssohn - born 3 February 1809 (200 years)
• Henry Purcell - born 10 September 1759 (350 years)
  
  
  Go to my 52composers.com website for more details
  

Happy Birthday Giacomo Puccini !!

Today, 22 December, is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Giacomo Puccini.

Next year's opera season at the Arena of Verona features two of his operas; Tosca and Turandot.

I have also featured him of course in my 2009 Opera Calendars which are available on eBay UK and on Cafepress