"Previn at the BBC" today, BBC 4

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A cellist chum informs me the cellist in question is Nathaniel Rosen.

Many thanks, Pianophile - I think your chum has nailed it:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nathaniel+rosen+cellist&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&imgil=K7IzcsvG_w0tCM%253A%253BHAB6DU6QWLFxLM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.gingarts.com%25252Fartists%25252Fnathaniel-rosen%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=K7IzcsvG_w0tCM%253A%252CHAB6DU6QWLFxLM%252C_&usg=__p1qsYCHLDhW9Jsu5QXGkDcQIJwQ%3D&ved=0CDMQyjdqFQoTCKKKprW3z8gCFYbYGgodYAcH8Q&ei=ZlolVqK_Koaxa-COnIgP#imgrc=o_rSMQFTsWXA_M%3A&usg=__p1qsYCHLDhW9Jsu5QXGkDcQIJwQ%3D

[Historian]

thanks for replies - I must admit it hadn't occured to me that one would have understudies in anything other than operas - not sure what I thought would happen in such circumstances

I'm not sure that this is routinely done for choral works. I was once on a tour when the bass soloist left unexpectedly and so next morning the call went out to the chorus basses 'Anyone know the bass solo for the Verdi Requiem?'. One brave volunteer took part in the rehearsal, but by the time of the performance they had found a professional substitute. A shame actually as the pro wasn't very good.

[Barbirollians]

For example, I've never heard him conduct (or heard of him conducting) any Mahler other than No 4, but here he is in Mahler 9 with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra!

There was also a Mahler 5 on the RPO's own label . Looks like a mocked up record label as Barbara Bonney has lost the "e " in her surname .

[Nick Armstrong]

Enjoyed watching this again following its re-broadcast in the early hours yesterday https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...vin-at-the-bbc

Never miss an opportunity to see the Tony Halstead mutton-chops... ... on view not only in the Candide overture, but also in Previn's Guitar Concerto.

I'd have to say that Mr Preview's own music, as sampled in the programme, hasn't (how can I put this?) stood the test of time....

[LMcD]

Back in the 1970s we saw Andre Previn play and direct a Mozart concerto with (I think) the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall. He sat with his back to the auditorium - presumably on the grounds that this improved lines of communication with the orchestra.

[Richard Tarleton]

Previn's Guitar Concerto.

I'd have to say that Mr Preview's own music, as sampled in the programme, hasn't (how can I put this?) stood the test of time....

Indeed, I'm not aware of the guitar concerto sticking around in the repertoire (I may be wrong). It went in one ear and out the other.

One can't easily forget the scathing review of the violin concerto by Hugh Canning, premiered by yet another (if only briefly) Mrs Previn, Ms Mutter....tosh, or words to that effect....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

One can't easily forget the scathing review of the violin concerto by Hugh Canning, premiered by yet another (if only briefly) Mrs Previn, Ms Mutter....tosh, or words to that effect....

Well, yes - it did sound as if Previn had rummaged in Korngold's rubbish bin to retrieve all the sketches EWK had rejected from his own Violin Concerto and just sellotaped them together.

Previn's score for Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, his collaboration with Tom Stoppard, was the best piece of his that I've heard.

[rauschwerk]

Previn wrote a set of five preludes for Ashkenazy called The Invisible Drummer. They are rhythmically demanding (at one point he asks for 26 demis in the rh against 5 quavers in the lh, which is like a written-out improvisation). I can however play the the last piece, in a fast additive rhythm, and find it most enjoyable. I think some of his songs (eg the cycle Honey and Rue) are worthwhile too. Maybe he's just not a large-scale piece sort of composer.

[Alain Maréchal]

Back in the 1970s we saw Andre Previn play and direct a Mozart concerto with (I think) the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall. He sat with his back to the auditorium - presumably on the grounds that this improved lines of communication with the orchestra.

He recorded two Mozart concertos with Boult as conductor. After the sessions AB wrote to Christopher Bishop "what a staggering Mozart player that chap is! I have enjoyed it all".

(quoted in Michael Kennedy's biography of AB. Op can be fully cit if asked).

[Nick Armstrong]

He recorded two Mozart concertos with Boult as conductor. After the sessions AB wrote to Christopher Bishop "what a staggering Mozart player that chap is! I have enjoyed it all".

The extract from a Mozart piano concerto in the programme was a delight, very well done I thought.

[cloughie]

Back in the 1970s we saw Andre Previn play and direct a Mozart concerto with (I think) the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall. He sat with his back to the auditorium - presumably on the grounds that this improved lines of communication with the orchestra.

He recorded them, directing the VPO from piano for Philips.

[Pulcinella]

There have been more performance of his opera Streetcar that I might have imagined:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire_(opera)

[Barbirollians]

He recorded them, directing the VPO from piano for Philips.

I think the same concertos he recorded with Boult - EG in Gramophone seemed to prefer the Philips accounts. I don't know them but am fond of the Boult accounts and don't hear the drawbacks EG heard.

[Barbirollians]

Good to see the programme again. I rather liked the slagged off Violin Concerto at the time indeed I think I bought it in an HMV sale a year or so after but not sure I have listened to it more than once .

I might dig it out this afternoon .