Edinburgh Festival Queen's Hall concerts

[Lento]

Poor scheduling today IMHO, 11am Queens Halls soprano Anna Prohaska & pianist Eric Schneider, 1pm Proms Chamber Concert Soprano Anne Schwanewilms & pianist Malcolm Martineau. Too much!

Yes, though both were live from different festivals, so not much the BBC could do. I heard part 1 of the Prohaska and was impressed. Apparently she's based in Vienna but has of Anglo-Irish-German ancestry. The recital that the lunchtime one replaced was also vocal.

[bluestateprommer]

Did anyone hear the Artemis Quartet concert on Thursday?

Just finished listening on iPlayer. Very good first half, of Mozart & Bartok; the 2nd half featured an 'instrument malfunction', a broken string, early on in the Schubert. So the Artemis Quartet very sensibly stopped, went off as a group where instrument repair was made, and they started again from the top. Good overall, although there were a few mannered pauses in the finale, IMHO.

I wouldn't complain about 3 meaty live concerts in 1 day, one from Edinburgh and two from The Proms. Beats dumbing down any day.

[Flosshilde]

I've missed rather a lot of these concerts - I'm not going to hear any this week as, although I'm in Edinburgh all week, I'm trying to flog my wares at the West End Craft Fair (blatant plug) - not good form to sit there with headphones on! I'll have to try & catch up with today's concert on iPlayer before it disappears.

[mercia]

for VW fans, a piano suite this morning - which I don't know

[Serial_Apologist]

for VW fans, a piano suite this morning - which I don't know

Was it announced? If so, either my ears blinked for that second, or an unconscionably greater amount of time was spent introducing "Le Tombeau de Couperin" which, nice music though it is, would I presume have been far better known to British audiences than the Vaughan Williams. I for one did not know VW composed any solo music for piano, so this was a first, and I'm sure I could not have been alone in wanting to know more. When was it composed? What were the motivations behind it? The overwhelming impression created by the pre-announcement was that, contrary to the listing, the Ravel was to be played first, but Donald Mcleod just managed to slip it in that Lilburn would be opening with it.

[Bryn]

For anyone based in Canada.

[mercia]

it was announced, we were told the pianist would segue fairly promptly into the Ravel, so the two were announced together. Written 1921 as a teaching piece, Ravel/folksong influenced, each movement was described and we were told that when arranged for strings it became the "Charterhouse Suite".

http://landofllostcontent.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/vaughan-williams-charterhouse-suite.html

[Bryn]

There is a CD with the Suite on it, played by John McCabe.

[Serial_Apologist]

it was announced, we were told the pianist would segue fairly promptly into the Ravel, so the two were announced together. Written 1921 as a teaching piece, Ravel/folksong influenced, each movement was described and we were told that when arranged for strings it became the "Charterhouse Suite".

http://landofllostcontent.blogspot.c...use-suite.html

OK - thanks for putting me right, mercs.

[CallMePaul]

introduced by Stephanie Hughes with a sense of occasion!

Steph was once a stalwart of televised classical music as well as R3. I believe she has now left the BBC but does anyone know what has happened to her?

[Bryn]

Steph was once a stalwart of televised classical music as well as R3. I believe she has now left the BBC but does anyone know what has happened to her?

http://www.philpottblack.com/Our-People/Stephanie-Hughes

http://www.hgi.org.uk/register/Therapists/Stephanie-Hughes.htm

[bluestateprommer]

I heard part 1 of the Prohaska and was impressed.

Heard the whole concert; AP and ES both did very well in this EIF recital. A few of the songs even overlapped with the IB/JD recital, namely Weill's settings of Whitman, but Prohaska is much less histrionic than Bostridge, while being no less committed to the music. The only blemish is a very few mildly heavy moments from Eric Schneider, but forgivable given the overall breadth of the recital. Highly recommended if you haven't heard it.

[DracoM]

Terrific Takacs Qt recital today.

[Stanley Stewart]

Seconded. A riveting two hour recital beautifully recorded and now on minidisc!

[pastoralguy]

Seconded. A riveting two hour recital beautifully recorded and now on minidisc!

Mrs. PG and I were there and thought it terrific. We then went to The Hub and heard them in conversation with Richard Morison of the Times and that was fascinating!

I'm just back from their second concert that was, if anything, even better than yesterday. Don't think it was being recorded though since the BBC van was locked and Donald McLeod was nowhere to be seen.