Janet Baker in her own words BBC4

[Orphical]

Full Circle

Thanks for the tip-off. I would easily have missed this, having practically given up on BBC-4 on account of endless TOTP repeats & generic pop-docu-borefests. My most vivid memory of Dame Janet in the flesh was as the eponymous hero of the ENO Handel "Julius Caesar" with Charlie Mac -- as FF & others have commented, a commanding stage-presence as well as a thrillingly emotive and utterly distinctive voice.

I note that her autobiographical journal ‘Full Circle is available very cheaply from a well known online retailer. And very good it is too!

[seabright]

Forgive me for asking but I do wonder why no-one has mentioned all the Janet Baker wonders on YouTube, a great classical music archive of which I assume you guys must have heard. Here's a "tip-off" just as an example: "In Her Own Words" was uploaded there at the beginning of the week, since which time it has had a 24-hour world-wide audience now numbering well over 3,000 viewers. The many 'comments' under the video exactly reflect those made in here. Clearly YouTubers abroad are delighted that they can see a programme which last week was restricted to UK TV viewers only.

The other Baker uploads, whether from TV transmissions, radio broadcasts, live concerts and commercial recordings, embrace complete performances as well as excerpts. There are several interviews, including Dame Janet's "Desert Island Discs," and televised performances which I assume haven't been seen on our TV screens, such as a Danish relay of Berlioz's "Nuits d'ete" conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. There are two radio broadcasts of Chausson's "Poeme de l'amour et de la Mer" with the LSO conducted by Svetlanov in 1975 and again by Previn in 1977 which, unless something curiously technical has happened, were sung in different keys. There's Mahler's "Urlicht" with both Stokowski and Bernstein; Elgar's "Sea Pictures" with Solti in Chicago as well as "Gerontius" with Boult in Canterbury Cathedral; a complete relay of Cavalli's "La Calisto" and much else besides ... oh, and don't miss her singing "Softly Awakes My Heart" from Saint-Saens "Samson and Delilah"!

Anyway, there's a treasure-trove of Janet Baker on YouTube for those who know about the site and care to dip in. Simply tap "Janet Baker" in the 'search' field at the top and the chances are that "In Her Own Words" will be at the top of the list! ... Here's a link to start you off ...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Janet+Baker+

[antongould]

.... I thought it was an exemplary piece of film-making and, to my mind, there was nothing staged about her reaction to the Ruckert Lieder.

Having just caught up I couldn’t agree more .....

[Keraulophone]

Anyway, there's a treasure-trove of Janet Baker on YouTube...

Janet Baker and Gerald Moore in Morgen of Richard Strauss - sublime perfection: the music, the singing, and the playing - https://youtu.be/DYfn3jFtR5I



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[Keraulophone]

There is a fascinating hour-long interview from 2015 for the oral history project ‘Singing a Song in a Foreign land’ in which Janet Baker remembers her Austrian émigré teacher Helene Isepp and other émigré musicians who came to Britain fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s and ‘40s.

https://youtu.be/lvAKsMtCHhQ

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[Pianophile]

The combination of Janet Baker's hushed mezza voce and Gerald Moore's beautiful sound and pedalling make this recording, IMHO a treasure.

[pastoralguy]

Having just caught up I couldn’t agree more .....

Alas, I've been very busy recently so I've only managed to see the first 30 minutes but hearing Dame Janet talk about her deceased brother was very moving.

[pastoralguy]

Alas, I've been very busy recently so I've only managed to see the first 30 minutes but hearing Dame Janet talk about her deceased brother was very moving.

Go managed to watch the remainder of this programme this programme this morning. Very interesting and although I suppose the ending where the trio are listening to the Mahler was a bit 'staged', the music made it very touching.

Interesting that Dame Janet would NOT be persuaded to sing on camera!

[Barbirollians]

Go managed to watch the remainder of this programme this programme this morning. Very interesting and although I suppose the ending where the trio are listening to the Mahler was a bit 'staged', the music made it very touching.

Interesting that Dame Janet would NOT be persuaded to sing on camera!

I don't think that was at all staged save for the fact that it is something Bridcut has done in all his documentaries - generally to get say Mark Elder or Michael Kennedy to listen to something and comment upon it . I certainly don't think the reactions of any of them especially Dame Janet was at all staged.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't think that was at all staged save for the fact that it is something Bridcut has done in all his documentaries - generally to get say Mark Elder or Michael Kennedy to listen to something and comment upon it . I certainly don't think the reactions of any of them especially Dame Janet was at all staged.

Yes - I've been pondering the use of "staged" since sgjames first intorduced it, and I think the word has annoyed us because of its association with "faked". The scene's composition and placing in the programme was Bridcut's artistry, but I have no doubt of the genuine sentiment that he happened to capture, and didn't find it at all "manipulative and unnecessary" as sgj did.

[ardcarp]

Just bumping up the thread as the programme was shown again (and not flagged up very well) on BBC4 last night.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00048q7

A moving tribute to this great artist.

There was a very brief mention by her of Birmingham. It seems she wasn't over-keen on mentioning it as it lay between her beloved 'North' and London. However, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (which possesses a small Art Deco theatre) gave a boost to her operatic career. Here's an extract from a piece by Chris Morley, music critic of The Birmingham Post:

The idea of mounting an annual production of a baroque opera came from the then Professor of Music, Anthony Lewis, at a time when such events were still very much an unknown quantity in this country. His vision was to cast his principals with professional singers, some of them still on the verge of glittering careers, Janet Baker among them, and to involve students as much as possible with backstage work..... and the staging on the Barber’s tiny stage would be authentically in keeping with 18th-century practice.

Neatly, the first Barber Opera, Handel’s Xerxes, was presented in March 1959, 20 years after the opening of the Barber Institute, and 200 years after the composer’s death.

It was in Birmingham where Janet met Raymond Leppard who featured in the TV programme.

[Padraig]

A moving tribute to this great artist.

Caught the programme last night for the first time. 'Blown Away' seems to be the best way to describe the impact. I always loved her singing, but I got a telling impression of her arresting stage presence and of her own formidable character which completed the picture.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

And perhaps worth bearing in mind that Dame Janet's husband died in June, just weeks after this documentary was first broadcast.

[alywin]

I didn't know that. How sad for her.

[Keraulophone]

Watching the repeat was equally, if not more, moving.

I was (again) a blubbering wreck by the end, even though I'd taken the precaution of having a Glen Scotia Victoriana single malt in hand.

Sure and innate musical instinct, the steel fist in velvet glove determination, the searing intensity of delivery, caressing the vocal line, and a commanding stage presence to match her unique voice - the complete artist; but she revealed how tirelessly she had to work to achieve it all.