Edinburgh International Festival

[Cockney Sparrow]

I agree opera/concert managements very probably don't have the resolve to resist the "individual's rights dominate over those of everyone else" movements. And the villification they would get from ill informed comment amongst the social media generations does indeed make it difficult for them.

On the basis they are desperate for younger audiences, I would, at a certain point, leave them and the live performers to it. If this becomes a problem at the R Opera House, that's the end of my friend's membership and visits. The difficulties of going to live performance mount - at a certain point the expense and time involved will probably better spent getting the best audio equipment to listen to classic performances where we can attend to the essence of the experience - listening to the music. Not sure what this trend will do to the already light attendance at, for example, some RFH concerts in the season. Let's hope, for the sake of live performance and the number of professionals it can support, the younger generation who will replace us (really?) are happy to part with their cash for a cinema style audience experience.

Let there be special recordings where those who like cries, shrieks or other random noises are included - at least the rest of us should have a choice.

Finally, I wonder whether audiences in Germany, France and Austria would for a moment tolerate these degradations of the experience. Somehow, I think not. Maybe that will be the way to go - just a few performances in a year, combined with a pleasant holiday.

[Master Jacques]

Finally, I wonder whether audiences in Germany, France and Austria would for a moment tolerate these degradations of the experience. Somehow, I think not.

That's a really interesting question! I know nothing about France, where they order these things differently. And Vienna is stuffy and old-fashioned to a fault.

But Germany has a different ethos to its concert-going, which (like theatre-going) is traditionally a natural and integral part of family life: "just what we do". Affordably so, too, of course, thanks to enlightened state subsidies. It's therefore difficult to make comparisons, I think; though one can say that there's little of the pomposity of British concert hall experiences in Germany. On the other hand, the concert-going part of the German public has a better developed sense of its "responsibilities" to balance its "rights", so a concern for spoiling other people's experience is higher up the agenda.

For that reason, I suspect that although these current Edinburgh experiences are more of a rarity in Germany, the question of tolerance is comparatively untested there.

[Ein Heldenleben]

That's a really interesting question! I know nothing about France, where they order these things differently. And Vienna is stuffy and old-fashioned to a fault.

But Germany has a different ethos to its concert-going, which (like theatre-going) is traditionally a natural and integral part of family life: "just what we do". Affordably so, too, of course, thanks to enlightened state subsidies. It's therefore difficult to make comparisons, I think; though one can say that there's little of the pomposity of British concert hall experiences in Germany. On the other hand, the concert-going part of the German public has a better developed sense of its "responsibilities" to balance its "rights", so a concern for spoiling other people's experience is higher up the agenda.

For that reason, I suspect that although these current Edinburgh experiences are more of a rarity in Germany, the question of tolerance is comparatively untested there.

I might have said it before but by far the quietest audience I’ve ever sat in was a Saturday night stalls audience for Otello with Kaufman at Covent Garden. I was completely surrounded by Germans. The other remarkable thing was - how well dressed they were , how many popped outside for an interval smoke and the enormous size of the phones they produced to film Kaufman’s ovation. I reckon a substantial slab of the Munich car industry was there that night.

[pastoralguy]

Well, a very sad end to our Edinburgh Festival. We had tickets to the closing concert. Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the RSNO and the Festival Chorus.

Unfortunately, on the way to the Usher Hall I attended to a cyclist who had fallen off his bike and broken his leg. (Possibly due to the greasy roads which have resulted after the refuse collectors). Blood everywhere. As a result, we arrived late to the Usher Hall and were told that the conductor had expressly forbidden any latecomers! Not even at the end of the first part. Now bearing in mind that we had tickets for the end of the row we could easily have slipped in to our seats but absolutely not!

The person I spoke to got the house manager to speak to us and I don’t think that in my adult life I have ever been spoken to so rudely or in such a dismissive way. When my wife attempted to remonstrate he said ‘I’m too busy to argue’ and turned and walked away.

Pretty poor since I must have attended over a thousand concerts both as audience and player since June 1977.

Down with the Usher Hall management.

[HighlandDougie]

Well, a very sad end to our Edinburgh Festival. We had tickets to the closing concert. Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the RSNO and the Festival Chorus.

Unfortunately, on the way to the Usher Hall I attended to a cyclist who had fallen off his bike and broken his leg. (Possibly due to the greasy roads which have resulted after the refuse collectors). Blood everywhere. As a result, we arrived late to the Usher Hall and were told that the conductor had expressly forbidden any latecomers! Not even at the end of the first part. Now bearing in mind that we had tickets for the end of the row we could easily have slipped in to our seats but absolutely not!

The person I spoke to got the house manager to speak to us and I don’t think that in my adult life I have ever been spoken to so rudely or in such a dismissive way. When my wife attempted to remonstrate he said ‘I’m too busy to argue’ and turned and walked away.

Pretty poor since I must have attended over a thousand concerts both as audience and player since June 1977.

Down with the Usher Hall management.

Good on you for ensuring that the cyclist was looked after in an expert way (and what a rotten way to start the evening). Nothing about the Usher Hall these days surprises me: not very comfortable seats, inconveniently located lavatories, expensive and rather surlily served drinks. But what you experienced is shameful. As it’s run by the Council, I think that you should complain in the strongest terms to your local city councillor.

[cloughie]

Well, a very sad end to our Edinburgh Festival. We had tickets to the closing concert. Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the RSNO and the Festival Chorus.

Unfortunately, on the way to the Usher Hall I attended to a cyclist who had fallen off his bike and broken his leg. (Possibly due to the greasy roads which have resulted after the refuse collectors). Blood everywhere. As a result, we arrived late to the Usher Hall and were told that the conductor had expressly forbidden any latecomers! Not even at the end of the first part. Now bearing in mind that we had tickets for the end of the row we could easily have slipped in to our seats but absolutely not!

The person I spoke to got the house manager to speak to us and I don’t think that in my adult life I have ever been spoken to so rudely or in such a dismissive way. When my wife attempted to remonstrate he said ‘I’m too busy to argue’ and turned and walked away.

Pretty poor since I must have attended over a thousand concerts both as audience and player since June 1977.

Down with the Usher Hall management.

More than his jobsworth - what a disgrace and dreadful way to treat audience members!

[Nick Armstrong]

Appalling experience, pastoralguy…

From the safety of home, the Rach Symphonic Dances just now from the Bergen orchestra and Edward Gardner struck me as absolutely tremendous

[smittims]

Thanks for the notice, Nick. I'll listen to the Rachmaninov on BBC Sounds later. It's a favourite of mine and fully justifies the soubriquet 'Rachmaninov's fourth symphony'. A favourite old LP is Moscow Phil/Kondrashin (HMV Melodiya), in its day a demonstartion-quality disc.

I heard the Schumann, nice and clear, just as I was going to bed.

[edashtav]

Well, a very sad end to our Edinburgh Festival. We had tickets to the closing concert. Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the RSNO and the Festival Chorus.

Unfortunately, on the way to the Usher Hall I attended to a cyclist who had fallen off his bike and broken his leg. (Possibly due to the greasy roads which have resulted after the refuse collectors). Blood everywhere. As a result, we arrived late to the Usher Hall and were told that the conductor had expressly forbidden any latecomers! Not even at the end of the first part. Now bearing in mind that we had tickets for the end of the row we could easily have slipped in to our seats but absolutely not!

The person I spoke to got the house manager to speak to us and I don’t think that in my adult life I have ever been spoken to so rudely or in such a dismissive way. When my wife attempted to remonstrate he said ‘I’m too busy to argue’ and turned and walked away.

Pretty poor since I must have attended over a thousand concerts both as audience and player since June 1977.

Down with the Usher Hall management.

I’m so sorry for you. The House Manager’s response was unforgivable. I hope you pursue the matter.

[gurnemanz]

Well, a very sad end to our Edinburgh Festival. We had tickets to the closing concert. Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the RSNO and the Festival Chorus.

Unfortunately, on the way to the Usher Hall I attended to a cyclist who had fallen off his bike and broken his leg. (Possibly due to the greasy roads which have resulted after the refuse collectors). Blood everywhere. As a result, we arrived late to the Usher Hall and were told that the conductor had expressly forbidden any latecomers! Not even at the end of the first part. Now bearing in mind that we had tickets for the end of the row we could easily have slipped in to our seats but absolutely not!

The person I spoke to got the house manager to speak to us and I don’t think that in my adult life I have ever been spoken to so rudely or in such a dismissive way. When my wife attempted to remonstrate he said ‘I’m too busy to argue’ and turned and walked away.

Pretty poor since I must have attended over a thousand concerts both as audience and player since June 1977.

Down with the Usher Hall management.

How depressing to read this - almost unbelievable.

I'm pleased to recall a more satisfactory experience at Royal Opera House a while ago. Due to traffic problems, we arrived five minutes late for Korngold's Die Tote Stadt and were told there was no convenient break in Act I when we could be shown to our seats. They immediately escorted us to an empty box at the side roughly level with the conductor, Ingo Metzmacher. It gave us an entirely new aspect on things and we decided to stay there for the whole show rather than go up to our official seats in the Amphitheatre.

[cloughie]

Thanks for the notice, Nick. I'll listen to the Rachmaninov on BBC Sounds later. It's a favourite of mine and fully justifies the soubriquet 'Rachmaninov's fourth symphony'. A favourite old LP is Moscow Phil/Kondrashin (HMV Melodiya), in its day a demonstartion-quality disc.

I heard the Schumann, nice and clear, just as I was going to bed.

I have downloaded from Sounds and I agree with you about the Kondrashin, which I have on a Melodiya CD from the perion when RCA were distributing the label!

[HighlandDougie]

Appalling experience, pastoralguy…

From the safety of home, the Rach Symphonic Dances just now from the Bergen orchestra and Edward Gardner struck me as absolutely tremendous

It was a fine concert. I was a bit dubious about starting with 'La Valse' but, as a piece with which to show off the orchestra, it was very effective. Víkingur Ólafsson has a slightly disconcerting manner at the piano but was very much in tune with the Schumann PC (a work I hadn't heard/listened to for quite a long time so it was good to make its reacquaintance). The 'Symphonic Dances' were a bit of a tour de force - and the encore ('In the Hall of the Mountain King') predictable but very well done. Clearly Ed G has a great rapport with the orchestra which responded to his fairly demonstrative (but effective) conducting.

As a performance, it was up there with KK and the Moscow Phil, an LP I also treasured and which I still have somewhere. It was available on:

https://www.europadisc.co.uk/classical/140045/Kirill_Kondrashin_Edition_(1937-1963).htm

which, although deleted, is well worth searching out. That set also includes another favourite Melodiya LP - the Vainberg/Weinberg Symphony No 4 and the VC, with Leonid Kogan as the soloist.

[smittims]

Yes indeed.

I'm enjoying the Amman concerto from last night's broadcast, a colourful romp. Did anyone else like it?

[Bryn]

Very eagerly awaiting tonight's EIF recording, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001bsjp

[Ein Heldenleben]

Very eagerly awaiting tonight's EIF recording, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001bsjp

Don’t think I’ve ever heard such rich woodwind in ROS