Malcolm Arnold Festival

[antongould]

The BBCCO concert was a... different experience.

Was this the first time Peter Donohoe has had to play an entire concerto (or something tantamount to one anyway) for a second time at the end of a concert? Things were a bit... eventful audience-wise despite a rather small attendance.

The upside was that the 2nd performance of the John Field Fantasy, sure to be the one broadcast, was an absolute belter. The most affecting work on the programme too IMO - the 7th symphony seemed a bit heavy on somewhat empty crash, bang, wallop at times as it does on recordings - just personal opinion though obviously.

...... An absolute belter indeed Simon B ........

[EdgeleyRob]

...... An absolute belter indeed Simon B ........

Yep,belter of an evening's listening.
More like this please Radio 3.
Shattering 7th,if a bit too quick in the 1st movement especially,need time to take in all the anxiety,but that's being picky.

[Andrew Slater]

I've got a fair chunk of the complete symphonies with Rumon Gamba conducting from broadcasts in 2004 or thereabouts on cassettes. Were they issued? Also, on a freebie that soon lost its appeal, a Sony Minidisc, the 5 relevant "Composer of the Week"s at the same time. These are worth repeating I would have thought ( or did I miss them?.)

I've found a series of symphony broadcasts in October 2006, including 7 to 9 played by the BBCPO conducted by Rumon Gamba. These are probably from CHAN 9967(2). Symphonies 1 to 6 in that Chandos series are played by the LSO conducted by Richard Hickox.

Arnold was Composer of the week 16/10/2006 to 20/10/2006 at 12pm and repeated the next week in the midnight slot.

[EdgeleyRob]

I didn't know that Bernard Haitink had conducted the premier of the Philharmonic Concerto.
Now imagine a cycle of the symphonies directed by the great man.

[secondfiddle]

Symphony No 7
First broadcast performance 16 March 1977
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold
21'47" - 18'26" - 10'15"

[EdgeleyRob]

Symphony No 7
First broadcast performance 16 March 1977
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold
21'47" - 18'26" - 10'15"

Blimey !!!!

[Alison]

I didn't know that Bernard Haitink had conducted the premier of the Philharmonic Concerto.
Now imagine a cycle of the symphonies directed by the great man.

Furthermore there is a recording on the LPO's own label couple with two John McCabe works conducted by Solti.

[Andrew Slater]

The Fifteenth International Malcolm Arnold Festival, October 2020

I seem to have been somewhat remiss in the past few years by failing to flag up the Malcolm Arnold Festivals

The fifteenth Malcolm Arnold Festival hasn't been able to be put on in Northampton as originally intended, but the Festival Director, Paul Harris, has organised an online version, the first session of which started this morning. It's accessible free of charge, with donations welcome, and is well worth visiting by anyone interested in the music of Malcolm Arnold. The festival consists of three sessions, which include new talks and new chamber performances and clips of performances from previous festivals.

Further details of the programme are listed in the above link and on the Malcolm Arnold Society's website here.

[Andrew Slater]

The three sessions of the 2020 festival are now available for replay here.

[bluestateprommer]

Heard the BBC CO / Keith Lockhart performance of Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No. 4 on Afternoon Concert, originally aired on November 9, just within the last hour, literally just before the 30 day deadline. Fine, fine performance.