BBC NOW Friday 12 October at 1930

**Hornspieler** · 13-10-12, 10:59

Nobody heard it yet?

I thought the Magnus Lindberg "Expo" was a very fine opening to what was, in many ways, an important concert.

Unfortunately, the door slammed shut for me in the Grieg songs. Inger Dam-Jensen has a fine voice, I'm sure, but totally unsuited to the pastoral qualities of Greig's music. Excessive vibrato in a work which would benefit from having no vibrato at all. I'm afraid that much as I am devoted to Strauss' larger orchestral works, his songs do nothing for me (except the Four Last Songs, which reflect the agonies not only of the composer but of those dreadful war years)

Til Eulenspiegel was a merry jaunt and congratulations to the 1st and 3rd horn for some lively and accurate solos - always a challenge, especially for the 3rd horn whose flourish is pitched a third lower than his colleague's. A pity that those sinister interjections by the E flat clarinet (aka "Chotah Gobstick") were almost inaudible until his/her third screeching entry.

A pity also that our lady presenter had three goes at pronouncing "Eulenspiegel" and faltered at each attempt.

There was a lot of interference with my reception, both on iPlayer and FM, throughout the first part. (Did anyone else suffer that?) so I decided to keep the Sibelius for "Listen Again" some time this weekend.

HS

**Hornspieler** · 13-10-12, 15:29

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Nobody heard it yet?

.

There was a lot of interference with my reception, both on iPlayer and FM, throughout the first part. (Did anyone else suffer that?) so I decided to keep the Sibelius for "Listen Again" some time this weekend.

HS

Fantastic Sibelius 5. I think the most exciting performance that I've ever heard.

Doesn't anybody listen to Radio 3 in the evenings? The "Performance" forum might just as well not exist.

HS

**amateur51** · 13-10-12, 15:31

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Fantastic Sibelius 5. I think the most exciting performance that I've ever heard.

Doesn't anybody listen to Radio 3 in the evenings? The "Performance" forum might just as well not exist.

HS

They're just not doing it to wind you up, I bet HS

Pay no attention

**Richard Tarleton** · 13-10-12, 15:51

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Nobody heard it yet?

Unfortunately, the door slammed shut for me in the Grieg songs. Inger Dam-Jensen has a fine voice, I'm sure, but totally unsuited to the pastoral qualities of Greig's music. Excessive vibrato in a work which would benefit from having no vibrato at all. I'm afraid that much as I am devoted to Strauss' larger orchestral works, his songs do nothing for me (except the Four Last Songs, which reflect the agonies not only of the composer but of those dreadful war years)

Til Eulenspiegel was a merry jaunt and congratulations to the 1st and 3rd horn for some lively and accurate solos - always a challenge, especially for the 3rd horn whose flourish is pitched a third lower than his colleague's. A pity that those sinister interjections by the E flat clarinet (aka "Chotah Gobstick") were almost inaudible until his/her third screeching entry.

A pity also that our lady presenter had three goes at pronouncing "Eulenspiegel" and faltered at each attempt.

There was a lot of interference with my reception, both on iPlayer and FM, throughout the first part. (Did anyone else suffer that?) so I decided to keep the Sibelius for "Listen Again" some time this weekend.

HS

HS, for reasons I won't bore you with I only heard the Strauss songs and Till. I thought the Till was excellent. I think this piece is rather over-exposed on R3 no doubt because of its handy size but this seemed a cracking performance. I've actually heard Inge Dam-Jensen sing those very songs in St David's Hall before, under Ashkenazy, and am an admirer of her voice (I also quite like the songs

) - I remember her prize-winning performance in the Cardiff Singer contest when she had the chutzpah to sing Let the Bright Seraphim in front of Dame Joan Sutherland. Her voice has undoubtedly mellowed in the interval - there was mention of 2 children.

No doubt Thomas S is keen to engage with his new public but I could have done without the spoken bits - about wanting to see the audience's lovely faces, about being "married" to - I'm not sure if it was his new audience or the orchestra. Just let the conducting speak for itself, I say.

**Anna** · 13-10-12, 15:55

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Doesn't anybody listen to Radio 3 in the evenings? The "Performance" forum might just as well not exist.

HS

I do, I did, the Julia Wolf concert on Thursday, I thought it was marvellous. Not a lot of other people would have thought it was.

**Petrushka** · 13-10-12, 16:34

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Doesn't anybody listen to Radio 3 in the evenings? The "Performance" forum might just as well not exist.

HS

I pick and choose very carefully what I want ti listen to on R3 and specifically, PO3. I didn't listen to this one because I can't really get enthused about Strauss or Grieg songs, Till and Sibelius 5 I can hear any time and wasn't worth turning on just for the Lindberg. If the timings turned out to be accurate, the concert also looked like short measure. The BBCPO/Mena concert given in Manchester last night, and mentioned on another thread, would have caught my attention much more. Pity that wasn't on live.

I shall be recording the Covent Garden Ring to HD next week (I'm at work for the start time of Walkure and won't make the 7pm start of Rheingold) and the Tippett/Wagner concert on Friday looks interesting and I will catch that live.

**jayne lee wilson** · 13-10-12, 18:59

Yes, excellent Sibelius 5 - an Apollonian reading (reminding me of Vanska's latest one), spacious and with a finely managed transition between the moderato and allegro/presto in (i), the excitement at the end of this just right - not TOO much, it's not the finale! Well paced throughout, with great power and clarity in the final stretto and nothing eccentric in the delivery of those last, separate chords. Some conductors can generate more tension or anticipation in (i), I might prefer that personally, but this is a perfectly valid approach and worked splendidly on Friday.

I'm never drawn to part of a concert which consists of several short, sometimes unrelated items; whilst I admire much of Lindberg's work I've not heard this yet.

I used the HD stream without problems, particularly admiring the presence of the acoustic, the reverberant "signature" of the Cardiff hall came across well (as it did from the Lighthouse the other day - whatever you think of the hall itself...). It's worth persevering with the feed if you can, as there does seem to have some improvement in SQ recently.

About the various streams - I had problems with a sudden increase in dropouts during the proms, but a replacement of the adsl filter on the master socket helped a lot. Later the problem returned, so I replaced my Mk.1 BT Router with Mk.2 I'd had in a cupboard since I upgraded my BT Option.... problem solved!
If your router is a few years old and you have "continuity" problems, a replacement may do better - it's worth a shot!

(Don't worry HS - I listen to most of the evening concerts (if they're not TOO familiar...) but usually cook dinner afterwards, so unless I find time/energy for a (very) late post you'll have to be patient! But I would add that it is important to keep listening to, and commenting upon them, in such volatile and challenging times for classical culture).

LATE EDIT: pace my above comments, I'm sorry but I don't think I can take The Ring on just now...

**Hornspieler** · 14-10-12, 07:37

Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post

(Don't worry HS - I listen to most of the evening concerts (if they're not TOO familiar...) but usually cook dinner afterwards, so unless I find time/energy for a (very) late post you'll have to be patient! But I would add that it is important to keep listening to, and commenting upon them, in such volatile and challenging times for classical culture).

Nice post, Jayne. I think you are quite right about the end bars of the Sibelius 5th 1st movement. Do try the Lindberg on iPlayer if your culinary commitments permit

LATE EDIT: pace my above comments, I'm sorry but I don't think I can take The Ring on just now...

Otherwise engaged?

HS

**BBMmk2** · 14-10-12, 10:41

I do at times listen to Po3 but then I have orchestra on Wednesday night then Fridays I go out.......

**bluestateprommer** · 19-10-12, 04:56

Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post

Nobody heard it yet?

I caught it on iPlayer earlier this week. Fine, fine concert, and a good omen for TS's tenure with the BBC NOW. It was a nice gesture of him to break the ice by addressing the audience, even if the words leaned towards the platitudinous. But no matter. (Unfortunate indeed that Nicola Heywood Thomas stumbled over "Eulenspiegel" a # of times, but then pobody's nerfect.) I remember that I wasn't particularly blown away by the Dvorak "New World" that he led with the BBC NOW just after the announcement of his appointment, so that it's all the more pleasing that this concert this past week went quite well.

TS did mention a recent guest gig in Seattle, but I'm not aware that he's done a lot of work on this side of the pond. (Unfortunately, the Seattle Symphony looks like the next US orchestra to undergo "labor pains", i.e. a walkout or some sort of action, but I digress.) He and several other of the younger guns working in the UK are certainly on my radar for guest conducting appearances, but will just have to bide my time.

**Curalach** · 19-10-12, 08:35

Originally posted by bluestateprommer View Post

Fine, fine concert, and a good omen for TD's tenure with the BBC NOW.

TD is TS. Despite having met him, I still get my Sondergards confused with my Dausgards.

The Seattle gig doesn't surprise me. Simon Woods was CEO at the RSNO when Sondergard made a great impression on both the orchestra and the audience. Simon is now CEO at Seattle and TS is Principal Guest at the RSNO. Next week, Sibelius 2 - looking forward to it.

BBC NOW Friday 12 October at 1930

BBC NOW Friday 12 October at 1930

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