Roxanna Panufnik - Faithful Journey (21 November)

[Stephen Maddock]

If you’re listening tonight or on iPlayer to this beautiful new work (and Mirga’s first concert back in Birmingham after her maternity leave), you might like to have a read of the composer’s note and indeed follow the text (unless your Polish is better than mine). Both are available on the CBSO website here:

https://cbso.co.uk/news/faithful-journey-a-mass-for-poland-programme-note

[Zucchini]

Thanks and congratulations on a wonderful evening Stephen. And as far as I could see, Symphony Hall was within a whisker fully sold - not bad for a substantial new work! I thought Mary Bevan & the CBSO Chorus sounded superb. The Magnificant Mirga hasn't lost any of her charisma, has she!!

[silvestrione]

Very impressive work! Fascinating selection of poems, often very powerful.

[BBMmk2]

Thanks for this Stephen. Will catch up. I’ve come to like Roxanna’s music quite a bit.

[Serial_Apologist]

Haven't been over-impressed by Roxanna's music hitherto, find in it a pale reflection of her dad's; must give this a listen sometime, therefore.

[Boilk]

I have not heard this yet, but Andrew Clements' Guardian review was appreciative of the performers and less kind to Roxanna's music:

...the choral and orchestral writing is either banally literal or blandly unmemorable

[bluestateprommer]

I have not heard this yet, but Andrew Clements' Guardian review was appreciative of the performers and less kind to Roxanna's music:

Finally did catch up with this CBSO R3 in Concert presentation. As much as it might not please some readers here, Andrew Clements is much more correct than not on Roxanna Panufnik's new work. Her Mass goes on much too long, with not much variety in tone and pacing, and nothing really leaped out at me from it. The music goes down easy on the ear, and isn't "difficult" to at least my hearing. It's, for lack of a better word, "nice". However, "nice" isn't enough. Full marks to Mary Bevan, MG-T, the CBSO, and the choruses, though, for giving it their best.

In fact, the sheer length of RP's work, well over an hour, clearly took its toll on Act I of The Nutcracker in the 2nd half, where some of the playing and pacing sounded a wee bit tired. Fortunately, Tchaikovsky's sheer inventiveness carries the day, as this work always does. Even the relatively weakest transitional 3 bars of material in The Nutcracker are more memorable than anything in RP's Mass. If nothing else, though, MG-T deserves credit for continuing to push the envelope with programs and audiences. If MG-T's charisma is enough to get a near-full house for a concert with a long contemporary work on it, there's nothing wrong with that.