Radio 3, 1pm today, Master Grosvenor at Wigmore Hall

[Pianorak]

Scarlatti, Mompou and
Albeniz: Iberia - Book 1
Liszt: Rhapsodie espagnole

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)

Headline should read: Radio 3 . . .

[mercia]

only caught the Liszt which was, in my ignorant opinion,........... stupendous

(p.s. are people aware of the ongoing webcast of the Tchaikovsky competition?

http://www.tchaikovsky-competition.com/en/press/webcast)

[Mary Chambers]

He's quite something, isn't he? I remember him at eleven when he won the BBCYM piano prize. Since then he seems to have been treated very sensibly, and allowed to grow up in peace, not treated as a child prodigy..

[Pianorak]

(p.s. are people aware of the ongoing webcast of the Tchaikovsky competition?

http://www.tchaikovsky-competition.com/en/press/webcast)

No, this people wasn't! Muchas gracias!

[gradus]

Nor me, many thanks.

[Pianorak]

Nor me, many thanks.

Glad I wasn't the only - er, what's the word I'm looking for?

[Freddie Campbell]

...Well I gather from Barry Douglas they had a charade when an excluded Competator mounted the Platform during another's
Performance & disturbed the proceedings! (I enjoyed Ben's Lunchtime Recital)

[PJPJ]

A wonderful recital, I think; I'm looking forward hugely to his two Proms performances and his forthcoming Decca recording.

[BBMmk2]

I have such a lot of music to listen to at the moment! I have music coming in all directions! at the moment and now there is this recital!! Goodness, when am I going to fit it in!!!

[Pianorak]

BBM - You should worry. I've got to catch up on six days of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Full-time job that!

[Peter Katin]

A wonderful recital, I think; I'm looking forward hugely to his two Proms performances and his forthcoming Decca recording.

I thought it superb, and with galaxies of fireworks without the slightest attempt to play to the audience. I shall certainly listen to the repeat on Saturday, and of course to the Britten Concerto in July (I mean Snape).

[bluestateprommer]

Young BG sounds off on hackneyed concerto programming in The Independent here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/news/wrong-pieces-played-in-concert-halls-says-proms-new-young-star-2306289.html

[french frank]

Young BG sounds off on hackneyed concerto programming in The Independent here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...r-2306289.html

There are a couple of nay-sayers taking the opposite view, but I hope he goes his own way. But there is a dilemma, when he says:

"I think reaching a larger audience for classical music is terribly important. Does popularising classical music mean confining yourself to a certain repertoire? "

I have a feeling it does, sadly. I'm not at all sure that 'most' people want to broaden their horizons, and concert promoters (and concert-goers) know which works sell tickets and which don't (Brian's Gothic notwithstanding!). But that makes it all the more important for performers like BG to push at the door. And certainly it makes it all the more important for Radio 3 to do so too (which it isn't at present).

I also agree that it's important for classical music to reach a larger audience, or at the very least it's highly desirable. But R3's/the BBC's ambition to reach a broader audience is not the same thing because that's exactly what results in over emphasis on the lollipops and warhorses.

[MarkG]

It seems like a timely comment. Many orchestras and venues seem content with the same familiar overture/concerto/symphony format.

I'm not sure about the argument that to increase audiences the repertoire has to stay so narrow. Even 'new' listeners are eventually going to get fed up with hearing the same pieces aren't they?

[Freddie Campbell]

...What did fellow Messageboarders make of his Liszt Concerto Last Night? Surprized noone has started a Thread on this 1st Prom of the Season! Difficult for me to comment as the Guest House where I was staying had a TV whose sound was very thin & tinny- But I felt Ben's Performance had a lot to offer,if this was a work requiring a greater maturity of expression,perhaps...