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Tony Duggan has died
Posted by Len Mullenger on February 25, 2012, 11:19 am 217.155.206.169
The following has been received from Tony's sister:
Dear Len
I’m afraid I have to let you know some very sad news about my brother, Tony Duggan.
There’s no easy way of telling you. Early on Wednesday morning he apparently suffered a massive cerebral bleed – a form of stroke or aneurism – and died at lunchtime today (Thursday 23rd).
As you can imagine, I’m absolutely devastated. We were very close, and had so much in common. There was no warning whatsoever, but there’s some comfort in hearing from the medics that he simply dropped from full consciousness into deep unconsciousness in the space of a couple of minutes.
Tony always spoke so warmly and so admiringly of you, and he greatly enjoyed writing and researching his reviews for music-web-international. Although Mahler remained his first love, as you know his tastes were wide, and latterly he had become deeply interested in opera.
I would be very grateful if you could pass the news to any of your colleagues and associates who would have known him.
Very many thanks, and all best wishes,
Bridget Wood
Re: Tony Duggan has died
Posted by Tim Perry on February 25, 2012, 11:44 am, in reply to "Tony Duggan has died" 211.30.213.61
This is dreadfully sad news. I was a young Mahlerian when I first stumbled across Tony's newly minted synoptic survey back in 1999. His genuine enthusiasm for the music and his entertaining and eloquent prose fired my imagination and sent me hunting around CD stores and second hand LP shops for the various recordings he recommended so highly. As my own knowledge of the scores and my tastes in Mahler interpretation developed, I frequently returned to Tony's writings, and I continue to do so. Though I never met or corresponded directly with Tony, I feel like I have been arguing the toss with him on the merits of various Mahler recordings for well over a decade. The last sentences of Tony's profile on the musicweb site read as follows: "In reviewing recordings I believe something of the experience of listening ought to be communicated to the reader by writing that should be enjoyable of itself. Whether I have ever succeeded in this laudable aim I leave others to judge." He succeeded as few reviewers do. My thoughts are with his friends and family.
