Radio3 Live in Concert

[salymap]

Josef Myslivecek, Octet in Eb, sals.

Thanks a lot Ferney. The disadvantage of putting concerts on my new TV thing is that, although the sound is good, there is no way of labelling the concert on the TV. I shall have to keep a list separately

[Chris Newman]

I caught up with the Ulster Orchestra's Sunday Concert tonight. This is the first time I have heard the orchestra under JoAnn Falletta.
They must be thanking their lucky stars to have got her. It was the best I have heard them play in years. Not since Vernon Handley and Jan Pascal Tortelier have they sounded so secure. Another BBC associated orchestra on the up. Hooray.

Grieg: Holberg Suite
MacMillan:Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (Colin Currie, Percussion)
Sibelius: Symphony No.5
Ulster Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, Conductor.

[Richard Tarleton]

Marvellous recital this evening by Alexandre Tharaud, a pianist new to me I have to say. Magisterial, idiosyncratic Scarlatti sonatas - bringing out voices you don't normally hear. Fascinating K380.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I caught up with the Ulster Orchestra's Sunday Concert tonight. This is the first time I have heard the orchestra under JoAnn Falletta.
They must be thanking their lucky stars to have got her. It was the best I have heard them play in years. Not since Vernon Handley and Jan Pascal Tortelier have they sounded so secure. Another BBC associated orchestra on the up. Hooray.

Grieg: Holberg Suite
MacMillan:Veni, Veni, Emmanuel (Colin Currie, Percussion)
Sibelius: Symphony No.5
Ulster Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, Conductor.

- and such variety of playing: brisk and warm in the Grieg; gentle and explosive in the MacMillan (such a good piece - whatever happened to the composer? ); brooding and exultant in the Sibelius. Definitely a partnership to watch out for.

[3rd Viennese School]

Well, congrats on last fridays concert! What an interesting programme. Glad I knew in advance otherwise I would have missed it (Po3 has been awful lately!)

So congrats on last fridays concert!

Taped the Rebecca Saunders and heard it. also heard it on Pre-Hear last October. Sounded a lot clearer this time (I was sober) but I will have to listen to it properly to construct a 3VS analysis. Bit of a disaster- the cassette kept turning off! It seems to work now though.

Enjoyed my one time favourite symphony back in the day- Tchaikovsky 5.

Bit disappointed with discovering Music. Not like the old fashioned proper ones back in the day. I love Stephen Johnson
but we got a quick CD inlay card which I could have done. Could it be due to the 20 minute slot?
I think he could have given us some comments on the end of mvt 1- you know the bit, the march crescendo which then marches down in the other direction,ending in quiet E minor gloom.

This would be good- Discovering Music Rebecca Saunders!

3VS

[EdgeleyRob]

I'm no expert but tonights Brahms German Requiem was nigh on perfect.Wonderful stuff!

[jayne lee wilson]

Who needs expertise when the playing and singing of a masterpiece is as good as this?

Oh, I told myself, I'm tired and a little vexed by money and perpetually-unfinished business, I haven't eaten and...
...so it began, I noted the clear and perfectly-paced tread of the basses, the sure pitch and ensemble of each choral section... "promising", I thought. "Mm, dinner may be a little late tonight..."

Then through monumental 2nd movement, sternly facing death through its waves of sound, to its defiant closing fugue; the agonised human frailty of the solo baritone in the 3rd, with yet another fugal cry of hope; the elysian visions of the 4th and 5th, "ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice" (reminding me of... "the drugs don't work, they just make it worse, but I know I'll see your face again"); and the final grand culminations of 6 and 7, the struggle to accept that all flesh is grass, all is indeed transient...

Indeed, not being a Christian only makes the piece the more poignant, for there is less to console; and in a performance as perfectly realised as this, utterly compelling. Dohnanyi and the Philharmonia have long been a great partnership; they surpassed themselves tonight with the controlled power, clarity of projection, and the emotional articulation of their playing. And what a wide range of moods and nuances they revealed in Brahms' great meditation on bereavement.

(I do hope the two distinguished horn-players, recently contributing here once again, will be encouraged by such events to continue their rapprochement...)

I'm no expert but tonights Brahms German Requiem was nigh on perfect.Wonderful stuff!

[Hornspieler]

Who needs expertise when the playing and singing of a masterpiece is as good as this?

(I do hope the two distinguished horn-players, recently contributing here once again, will be encouraged by such events to continue their rapprochement...)

To me, Jayne, ALL horn players are distinguished by their unfailing nerve and admirable modesty

To return to the subject and messages 17,21 and 22:

I did not hear the German Requiem (I toddled off to bed early) but I thought the Symphony was superbly played; especially by the strings in that helter skelter last movement.

I will listen to the Brahms Requiem today and also the Ulster Orchestra concert, which I missed on Sunday. My highlight of the last few weeks is the Camerata Salzburg concert, (which Salymap drew attention to), and the LPO, Bournemouth and Hallé concerts.
I agree that the BBC symphony orchestra's rending** of the Carnaval overture was spoilt by the shambolic race to be first to finish (I think the conductor won by a short crotchet) and the over-indulgent mawkishness of the Tschaikowsky symphony was inappropriate.
I don't think it would be possible to spoil that so-called violin concerto. I just hope that the soloist did not spoil her violin. To me, it sounded as if she was trying to cut through it with a blunt hacksaw, but my views on this sort of "music" are well enough known not to say more.

I blame the conductor for this disappointing concert. The BBCSO are a lot better than that and if M. Bringuier is a star of the future he is still a million light years away; in my honest opinion. The next Jean Martinon or Pierre Monteux he ain't.

Hornspieler (back with all guns blazing)


** "Rending" ... (vb)tearing or ripping by excessive force (Collins English Dictionary)

[salymap]

Good to have you back Hornspieler. Just off to the Doc, then I must catch up on some of the good things I have missed this week.

I just hope iPlayer is working well.

Best wishes

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Dohnànyi/Philharmonia concert was excellent: many thanks to Hornspieler, Edgeley and Jayne for their enthusiastic comments - I probably would've given it a miss otherwise; the Brahms is such an intense work that I have to "ration" the number of times I listen to it, and the "coupling" seemed odd. In fact, played half-an-hour or so after the Requiem, the Beethoven proved exactly the right piece to restore the spirits.

[Hornspieler]

To me, Jayne, ALL horn players are distinguished by their unfailing nerve and admirable modesty

To return to the subject and messages 17,21 and 22:

I did not hear the German Requiem (I toddled off to bed early) but I thought the Symphony was superbly played; especially by the strings in that helter skelter last movement.

I will listen to the Brahms Requiem today and also the Ulster Orchestra concert, which I missed on Sunday.

What a transformation !!!!

I can hardly believe that this is the same orchestra that performed under the unimaginative, listless and disappointing years of the Montgomery era.

Excellent string sound and first class ensemble throughout. The UO must hold on to this conductor tooth and nail.

At last, this may be considered to be one of the BBCs "regional" orchestras. I wonder how much influence Auntie Beeb has over their choice of programmes? I sense some influence in the choice of the McMillan piece. Well played, BTW, but is it worth all that running around?

Well, I suppose "The Bang Gang" must have their day, like any other performers, but I'd sooner listen to Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich myself.

HS

[Tapiola]

At last, this may be considered to be one of the BBCs "regional" orchestras. I wonder how much influence Auntie Beeb has over their choice of programmes? I sense some influence in the choice of the McMillan piece.

In fact, the Veni Veni Emmanuel is one of the few "modern" mainstays of the UO. It has enjoyed a few outings with the band since the UO recorded it with Currie for Naxos in 1998.

Couldn't agree more about the lacklustre Montgomery, though.

[salymap]

Tonight at 7.30 on R3 the New York Phil, no less, conducted by Alan Gilbert. Soloist Joyce DiDonato [mezzo] in Berlioz Nuits d ete. Also Thomas Ades Polaris[1st UK performance], Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements,and Ravel Daphnis and Chloe. Suite no 2. From the Barbican.

With apologies for awful typing and layout.

[Alison]

Every so slightly dull stuff from the New Yorkers ? I needed a pinch of Lionel Bringuier flair
from last Friday.

[Roehre]

Only listened to Adès' Polaris, which I found a nice, but rather inconsequential piece (at first hearing, that is).
The rest of the programme didn't attract me that much.