Televised concert coming up

[Norfolk Born]

The lady wife and I watched the concert last night and were disappointed. The new piece was unmemorable, and we thought the Beethoven was seriously underplayed. Was the soloist trying to prove that it's more of a classical, rather than a Romantic, piece? Or did the occasion get to her? (Even the normally unflappable James Naughtie fluffed his introduction.) The Walton also came across as underpowered - indeed, the whole evening had something of the self-apologetic about it. However, I'm grateful to maestro 267 for alerting me to features of the iPlayer of which I had previously been unaware.

[Chris Newman]

I watched it on iPlayer. My reactions are similar to pastoralguy and OFCACHAP. Unusual, as Martyn Brabbins can be so enlivening....mind you I had not watched him on TV for years and was surprised that his "Red Rattle" hair cut had mellowed so much!!

By the way, it is often worth looking at the various BBC ensemble's own Webpages on the BBC R3 site. They occasionally have televised concerts lurking there to be watched but not generally announced as available. The BBCSSO do this quite often.

bws
Chris (formerly formerlymod....)

[BBMmk2]

What a shame. I was soo looking forward to the Walton and like you say, MC, Martyn Brabbyns is usually quite livemning!!

[RobertLeDiable]

I thought the Walton was an excellent performance. As for the Beethoven, Nicola Benedetti may not have played it much, but certainly she wasn't inside the concerto yet. She should probably leave it for a few years.

[gamba]

I heard & saw this concert. Was terribly disappointed by the extremely thin sound from the violin during the Beethoven concerto. Would be be glad to hear if I'm alone in my reaction.

[pastoralguy]

I Would be be glad to hear if I'm alone in my reaction.

Funnily enough, a friend and I thought that she made a terrific sound! From having heard her live that she does make a lovely sound that projects well. Maybe the sound quality varied in the broadcast.

[Norfolk Born]

A lovely sound - but thin. Not what the Beethoven calls for - and I doubt if the composer would have heard a note of it had he been in the hall!
I recently listened again on the iPlayer to last week's recording of James Ehnes in the Britten, as it happens with the same orchestra. He produced a wonderfully rich, but nuanced, sound, and the orchestra sounded on much better form.