Afternoon Concert - general thread

[JasonPalmer]

Ahhh lovely

Chopin
Waltz in A flat, op. 34/1; Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, op. 64/2
Martín García García, piano

[Nick Armstrong]

Afternoon Concert is becoming more and more a no-go area for me; splitting works up not just over the afternoon's programme but over different days…

Some particularly mad programming this week: poor old Amanda Maier-Röntgen‘s string quartet scattered across 3 days, at random it seems: last movement first with the second movement later on Monday afternoon… then the third movement on Tuesday, with the first movement on Wednesday….

[Serial_Apologist]

Some particularly mad programming this week: poor old Amanda Maier-Röntgen‘s string quartet scattered across 3 days, at random it seems: last movement first with the second movement later on Monday afternoon… then the third movement on Tuesday, with the first movement on Wednesday….

I'm willing to bet she didn't leave instructions in her will that this was the way in which the work had to be performed.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm willing to bet she didn't leave instructions in her will that this was the way in which the work had to be performed.

I was going to add a second para along similar lines (along with words like: disrespectful/spinning/in/her/grave), but thought I’d leave it to others to comment…!

[oddoneout]

In addition, each day a different composer gets the morning schedule filleting treatment.

I see we get her husband's quartet in full in one go tomorrow - so why is hers dismembered? Even by the bizarre standards that seem to apply to Afternoon Concert these days that's odd; previous disassembly has at least been sequential as far as I can remember.

[Nick Armstrong]

I see we get her husband's quartet in full in one go tomorrow - so why is hers dismembered? Even by the bizarre standards that seem to apply to Afternoon Concert these days that's odd; previous disassembly has at least been sequential as far as I can remember.

Yes that’s why I raised it: cuckoo. Is it just cloth-eared pragmatism, making the timings fit, across the afternoons, and to hell with the actual music and the composer’s intentions?

[Alison]

Not a regular listener to the ‘show’, one movement of the Karelia Suite and only the last movement of Schubert D664 were real disappointments this afternoon.

[oddoneout]

Not a regular listener to the ‘show’, one movement of the Karelia Suite and only the last movement of Schubert D664 were real disappointments this afternoon.

The slot is edging ever closer to the morning schedule format. I used to enjoy listening, and in fact was more likely to do so than listen to the evening concert as the repertoire tended to be more unfamiliar. While the shorter pieces may be of interest the filleted and dismembered components that are also now included just make for an unsatisfyingly* bitty result, and the major work seems too often for my liking to be same old same old big symphonic, which I'm not keen on.

*I see that neither the spell checker nor Google like this word, both wanting me to to use "unsatisfying" instead. Shan't, so there.

[cloughie]

The slot is edging ever closer to the morning schedule format. I used to enjoy listening, and in fact was more likely to do so than listen to the evening concert as the repertoire tended to be more unfamiliar. While the shorter pieces may be of interest the filleted and dismembered components that are also now included just make for an unsatisfyingly* bitty result, and the major work seems too often for my liking to be same old same old big symphonic, which I'm not keen on.

*I see that neither the spell checker nor Google like this word, both wanting me to to use "unsatisfying" instead. Shan't, so there.

*I’m with you there Odders!

Afternoons used to be really good before they decided to mess them about!

[oddoneout]

Yes that’s why I raised it: cuckoo. Is it just cloth-eared pragmatism, making the timings fit, across the afternoons, and to hell with the actual music and the composer’s intentions?

Can't see why timings should be an issue - they construct the programme so can juggle content to fit -leaving out one of the filleted pieces as a suggestion. There are often odd bits and pieces broadcast that don't appear on the schedule so more evidence of room for manoeuvre. The previous most awkward dismemberment was an opera(Gluck?) where some Acts were split over consecutive days - but at least the overall result was Acts in order. Perhaps messing up an overtly narrative work was a step too far, but a quartet (by an unfamiliar/unknown female) is fair game? Would they do it to a Beethoven quartet?
Actually, seeing the direction of travel perhaps it's only a matter of time...

[smittims]

The three movements of Manuel Ponce's guitar concerto were split over three episodes of 'Composer of the week'. It reminds me of William Haley's prescription for the Third Programme: 'No cuts, no fixed points'. If something is worth broadcasting, its' worth taking however much time it needs to do it completely.

It's one of the most significant differences between Radio3 today and what it was when it was 'the envy of the world'. I'll be interested to see if Sam , when he puts on a tie (if he owns one) will do anything about this (if he's even heard of William Haley).

[oddoneout]

The three movements of Manuel Ponce's guitar concerto were split over three episodes of 'Composer of the week'. It reminds me of William Haley's prescription for the Third Programme: 'No cuts, no fixed points'. If something is worth broadcasting, its' worth taking however much time it needs to do it completely.

It's one of the most significant differences between Radio3 today and what it was when it was 'the envy of the world'. I'll be interested to see if Sam , when he puts on a tie (if he owns one) will do anything about this (if he's even heard of William Haley).

Composer of the Week , by its very nature, will tend to have part works, and isn't really directly comparable to Afternoon Concert, in which I think its reasonable to expect that works will be played complete, and in one go. Chopping things up either to play just one bit, or to spread the set out over the day's programme or several days is not what the title says to me.

[cloughie]

The three movements of Manuel Ponce's guitar concerto were split over three episodes of 'Composer of the week'. It reminds me of William Haley's prescription for the Third Programme: 'No cuts, no fixed points'. If something is worth broadcasting, its' worth taking however much time it needs to do it completely.

It's one of the most significant differences between Radio3 today and what it was when it was 'the envy of the world'. I'll be interested to see if Sam , when he puts on a tie (if he owns one) will do anything about this (if he's even heard of William Haley).

He probably thinks he rocked around the clock! With his CFM background we can probably expect more split shifts for full works!

[Serial_Apologist]

*I’m with you there Odders!

Afternoons used to be really good before they decided to mess them about!

Indeed so - some of us harboured hopes that Afternoon Concert would remain unspoilt by "modernisation", and one of the last remnants of the standards Radio 3 used touphold.

[oddoneout]

Another one bites the dust. In addition to the bits and bobs infiltration, with the added spice of dismemberment and serialisation, and increasing chat, we now have tweets. In my mind AC has now become Afternooon Cheet - the concert element has been sacrificed to chat'n'tweet (my first attempt at a neologism using those elements is not suitable for polite society); it would seem that playing longer pieces without some sort of "popular appeal" contribution to sugar the pill(rubbish as above) is a step too far these days.

The AC schedule listing, never that great at the best of times in terms of accuracy has a good one today. In extracts from "Macbeth", two librettists have become composers, with Andrea Maffei appearing in big bold , the way the composer normally does, alongside a picture which isn't him, with Piave appearing below listed as Composer, and some nonentity by the name of Verdi also listed as Composer, in third place.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h5sy

More delights...I've just listened to the close of the programme and apparently there was a "a guess the theme/common link" game going on, with winners announced at the end.