R3 in Concert one-stop shop

[Ein Heldenleben]

As a member of BBC NCW who was singing in the performance, it's lovely to read the kind comments. I can only echo the comments about Andrew Manze - an absolute joy to sing under the direction of a conductor with such a clear vision of the work, and who was able to convey it with such clarity.

Bravi Tutti (and the same in Welsh!)

[Pulcinella]

Richard Morrison on Wednesday's BBCSO/Oramo concert:

https://www.thetimes.com/article/ea744b72-0119-4ed4-8861-90b17b54bafa?shareToken=7e8791dce29dd8196d5efd79565c1047

[oddoneout]

The blurb is actually very funny, if unintentionally so. Especially the line, "part song, part violin concerto, but all Weill". I'd pay money to hear some hapless presenter have to read that one out.

The thing shows a new level of drunken, late night desperation. I hope the concert doesn't follow suit!

Perhaps whoever wrote it is one of those who doesn't bother with correct pronunciations?

[oddoneout]

Yes it repays endless study. This performance, hardly trailed on R3 , came out of nowhere and is one of the very best I’ve heard in a long time.

Endless trails can sometimes( too often in my rather jaundiced view) be the kiss of death, or at least result in disappointment, for the event being so promoted. At least this concert escaped that fate! It was indeed an excellent listen and I am grateful to those involved for a memorable(for all the right reasons I hasten to add) performance of a work I am not usually inclined to listen to - so glad I did last night.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Richard Morrison on Wednesday's BBCSO/Oramo concert:

https://www.thetimes.com/article/ea7...5efd79565c1047

I’d agree about the Howells - a much better piece than the Weill . I worry about this star rating system . It’s pretty meaningless, Last nights Missa Solemnis (recorded last week) got 4 stars in the Guardian yet it was a much better performance (in my view ) than the Mahler which sounded a bit routine tthough played by what is on paper supposedly the better orchestra. Sometimes things take flight and sometimes they don’t. We are not comparing like with like of course - the Missa Solemnis is one of the greatest works conceived by humankind and the Weill frankly is one of his weaker efforts.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/11/missa-solemnis-review-glorious-and-memorable-beethoven

[Ein Heldenleben]

Endless trails can sometimes( too often in my rather jaundiced view) be the kiss of death, or at least result in disappointment, for the event being so promoted. At least this concert escaped that fate! It was indeed an excellent listen and I am grateful to those involved for a memorable(for all the right reasons I hasten to add) performance of a work I am not usually inclined to listen to - so glad I did last night.

Yes I restrict my listening to live relays these days. . I developed a bit of an obsession with the work to be honest . When i bought the Karajan recording I think I listened to the LPs every day for a fortnight. I think the Credo is one of if not the greatest settings of a religious text ever written - a supreme musical test which they took in their stride last night (or week!)

[Pulcinella]

More website drivel for tomorrow's concert (22 April):

Malcolm Arnold never did anything by halves, and when he composed his Fifth Symphony he poured out his soul. Soaring melodies, gleaming colours and raw, heart-on-sleeve emotion: this is British music as you’ve never heard it before. It’s a gripping counterpart to Doreen Carwithen’s Concerto, and the radiance and rapture of Vaughan Williams’s gorgeous Serenade.

And it gets worse: who's not whose in the next paragraph.

For BBC Symphony Orchestra chief conductor Sakari Oramo, British music is a passion – especially the masterpieces that the British themselves have overlooked. The Serenade to Music is a perennial favourite, but today the BBC Singers revive the composer’s ravishing original version. And pianist Alexandra Dariescu is just as committed to the music of Doreen Carwithen – like Arnold, a postwar composer who’s music is richly melodic, atmospheric, and evocative.