Vienna Phil 2012 New Year's concert

[Alison]

And the annual question -

What's happened to dear Brian Kay ??

[Ferretfancy]

And the annual question -

What's happened to dear Brian Kay ??

" Nothing remains but an oily patch, the lone and level sands stretch far away"

[Biffo]

Ferretfancy: That is an extremely cruel quote (also very funny). BK' s patronising presentation manner used to irritate me greatly, now I desperately wish he was back.

[Alison]

Really enjoyed the last two messages - thanks !

[amateur51]

" Nothing remains but an oily patch, the lone and level sands stretch far away"

[Suffolkcoastal]

Nice to see something by the real 'Waltz-King' Tchaikovsky for once. Tchaikovsky's waltz themes are nearly always memorable, which is more than can be said of the tedious offerings of the Strauss family, Josef excepted.

[amateur51]

Several board members have spotted my antipathy towards this annual knees-up and forced me to think long & hard about why I find it so ennervating.

I think it's the predictability of the ballet, the horses, the VPO members shouting 'Prosit Neujahr!' and clapping along or blowing a bird whistle, and of course all those smug herberts in the expensive seats ( viz ALL the seats) And of course there was Brian Kay's unique brand of oleaginuity (is there such a word or is it 'oleaginousness'?

What it does is to drive into my soul the nightmare that in 20 years time I'll be in a nursing home unable to speak or to move and the staff will leave me in front of the telly to watch it, unable to escape!

I completely agree that the two Carlos Kleiber concerts were completely wonderful (I have them on DVD) ... but then he was unique in so many ways, most of them positive

And the music is generally toe-tappingly hip-swayingly fine

[Nick Armstrong]

I think it's the predictability of the ballet, the horses, the VPO members shouting 'Prosit Neujahr!' and clapping along or blowing a bird whistle, and of course all those smug herberts in the expensive seats ( viz ALL the seats) And of course there was Brian Kay's unique brand of oleaginuity (is there such a word or is it 'oleaginousness'?)

I couldn't have put it better myself

Yes the Kleiber concerts were uniquely magical, and that Karajan one had its own fascination. But in the context of the above, Janssons et al mugging and grinning is a total turn off.

[Nick Armstrong]

" Nothing remains but an oily patch, the lone and level sands stretch far away"

Where's that from, Ferret?

[Ferretfancy]

Caliban,
Me with added Shelley!

[vinteuil]

Where's that from, Ferret?

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[Nick Armstrong]

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[Biffo]

I should have added I was referring to BK's Sunday morning offerings not the Vienna Kitschfest. If I want Strauss waltzes etc I have recordings by Jascha Horenstein, Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Sir John Barbirolli and more. All of these without the distraction of ballerinas, prancing ponies, performing seals, fat cats and gratuitous 'commentary'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Nice to see something by the real 'Waltz-King' Tchaikovsky for once. Tchaikovsky's waltz themes are nearly always memorable, which is more than can be said of the tedious offerings of the Strauss family, Josef excepted.

It will be interesting to hear whether they will apply a Viennese lilt to the accompaniment, as they did in Karajan's Decca recording of the 3 ballet suites. I love it.

[jayne lee wilson]

One of the greatest of English poems, always somewhere in the back of my mind...
SO quotable - so much of it seems terribly relevant to our present political, economic and cultural moment...

Wasn't this thread about the VPO? It's a bit like, "six steps to..."
Sexism, F1, Gorgeous Georgie (think I've got a crush), Brian Kay, Shelley... aren't these MBs wonderful!

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.