Classical Live is changing its tune

[french frank]

Delius presents us with something like the musical equivalent of Munch's masterly Frieze of Life: they share the same concerns, centred firmly on the big things - love, sex and death.

That immediately reminds me the quote from Logan Pearsall Smilth: “People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”

[vinteuil]

That immediately reminds me the quote from Logan Pearsall Smilth: “People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”

... thank you, french frank. My thoughts entirely

.

[smittims]

I have a recording of the Wexford Koanga, but I didn't see it. It's been said to be the most stageworthy , but I wonder if that depends on pre-conceptions of staging. Tippett's operas have taught us that more can be done on stage than we may have thoight.

I think Fennimore and Gerda should work on stage, perhaps not Irmelin. But here, for those who caught the BBC Legends CD of Beecham conducting an orchestral arangement of some of the music at a 1950s Prom, we have what for me is the best bits. The Magic Fountain, glorious music , but maybe dificult to stage, as is any opera where there's a prominent river !

[Roger Webb]

I have a recording of the Wexford Koanga, but I didn't see it. It's been said to be the most stageworthy , but I wonder if that depends on pre-conceptions of staging. Tippett's operas have taught us that more can be done on stage than we may have thoight.

......... maybe dificult to stage, as is any opera where there's a prominent river !

Rheingold being an example!

[smittims]

Not to mention the end of Gotterdammerung!

[Roger Webb]

I have a recording of the Wexford Koanga, but I didn't see it. It's been said to be the most stageworthy , but I wonder if that depends on pre-conceptions of staging. Tippett's operas have taught us that more can be done on stage than we may have thoight.

...........perhaps not Irmelin. But here, for those who caught the BBC Legends CD of Beecham conducting an orchestral arangement of some of the music at a 1950s Prom, we have what for me is the best bits.

David Lloyd-Jones recorded the Beecham's 1955 arrangement of Irmelin on Dutton CDLX 7264. Also on this invaluable disc is the Suite David Mathews made from AVRandJ.

[Roger Webb]

Not to mention the end of Gotterdammerung!

Yes, and in that it needs to engulf everything...a big ask even for the mighty Rhein....maybe with a bit more global warming?!

[smittims]

[vinteuil]

Over the years of visiting the sights connected with Delius - particularly those in and around Paris - and reading just about all the literature available on the subject, I've built up a mental picture of the composer and his activities.

... always fascinating to suddenly discover people's deep enthusiasms for composers who so far have totally failed to impinge on one's consciousness - looking along the shelves of my (quite extensive collection of) CDs I find it goes from Debussy - Delibes - /// - Desmarest - Dieupart - Dotzauer, with merely a couple of Delii (and they a legacy from a late colleague) : pop highlights - a decca Mackerras twofer and an EMI Sargent 'British Composers' disc.
But do I have the emotional strength to dig deeper?
.

[Roslynmuse]

... always fascinating to suddenly discover people's deep enthusiasms for composers who so far have totally failed to impinge on one's consciousness - looking along the shelves of my (quite extensive collection of) CDs I find it goes from Debussy - Delibes - /// - Desmarest - Dieupart - Dotzauer, with merely a couple of Delii (and they a legacy from a late colleague) : pop highlights - a decca Mackerras twofer and an EMI Sargent 'British Composers' disc.
But do I have the emotional strength to dig deeper?
.

You know you want to!

As the other enthusiasts above have said, there is so much more to Delius than the miniatures we hear most frequently (wonderful as they are). I don't think anyone has yet mentioned Sea Drift, which I find one of the most moving choral works in the repertoire; and Eventyr, which contains a surprise that I don't think any other composer has used. (Let's not spoil it for those who haven't heard it!) On a smaller scale, some of his songs and partsongs are beautiful - Twilight Fancies (another Norwegian setting, originally) and The Splendour Falls and On Craig Ddu are wonderful. And the opening bars of The Song of the High Hills are just magical.

Perhaps these posts could be moved into a Delius thread, if one does not already exist?

[french frank]

Perhaps these posts could be moved into a Delius thread, if one does not already exist?

On that I may be able to contribute something ... I would so hate to see the Classical Live thread submerged!

[Ein Heldenleben]

On that I may be able to contribute something ... I would so hate to see the Classical Live thread submerged!

On the contrary he should not be consigned to the obscurity of a composer thread as his operas appear to have been.

[french frank]

On that I may be able to contribute something ... I would so hate to see the Classical Live thread submerged!

There was a general Delius thread started back in 2012, along with several others covering individual works. I'll see if it works to move the latest discussion posts there.

https://www.for3.org/forums/forum/classical-forum/talking-about-music/composers/4351-delius/page2?view=thread

EH - no obscurity as long as people want to keep discussing the topic.It will stay near the top of the list. But I can do whatever people think best.

[oddoneout]

On the contrary he should not be consigned to the obscurity of a composer thread as his operas appear to have been.

More risk of obscurity if the discussion(which I have found interesting, although no fan of Delius) stays under this thread title I would have thought. Those looking for Delius are not going to choose Classical Live as a source of enlightenment. Or perhaps choose a clickbait thread title - "Paradise Garden - brothel or pub?"
As a matter of interest does anyone listen to the CL output? I am stymied by the combination of the running order and schedules being totally useless and Sounds not working on my PC. I assume no-one listens "live" to the radio broadcast, but does anyone pick any of it it up on Sounds?

[Roger Webb]

... always fascinating to suddenly discover people's deep enthusiasms for composers who so far have totally failed to impinge on one's consciousness - looking along the shelves of my (quite extensive collection of) CDs I find it goes from Debussy - Delibes -
.

Wot? A francophile wiv no Delage?!!!