Fascinating programme today. The guest was a scientist (geologist Sanjeev Gupta) who had been inspired by classical music after a school trip to which he was 'dragged off' to hear a Mahler symphony in Reading Town Hall. What a shame more schoolkids who may not be entirely willing at first are not exposed to 'classical' music live. A few will be smitten. Sanjeay's choices were wide, ranging from Bach to Messiaen and John Adams.
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Couldn't agree more about schoolchildren experiencing the live sound of an orchestra, it'll change some lives.Originally posted by ardcarp View Post -
I would say that hearing a live orchestra is not a necessary precondition for appreciating classical music, though I suppose it can be helpful if lacking in the family.Originally posted by gradus View PostComment
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Agreed a fascinating programme: well worth a listen. It was John Luther Adams's work Become Ocean that was among his choices, which Michael Berkeley described as a [c.]55 minute palindrome - they played the middle four minutes.Originally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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It's not necessarily just the hearing a live orchestra - it's the whole visual,sensory, audio experience of a live orchestra which can set off a lifetime involvement. Seeing an instrument in action may be the spark that becomes a profession in both those who already have exposure to music at home and those who don't; I have personal knowledge of both those situations.Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
Getting back to PP, I agree it was another good 'un (although in my efforts to find out more about him I did discover that there is another with the same name who seems to have rather negative press coverage...) Hearing the soundtrack from Mars was quite an experience and I was interested that the Vaskis was chosen because of its sound world tallying with the feelings and sounds associated with the work on Mars rather than because its subject /inspiration. The comments about the drawbacks of the robot doing the work on Mars that Gupta does on Earth, and his frustration at that were amusing, and also perhaps reassuring that for all the advances in such fields there are some things that humans still do better, so not redundant yet.
One of those people who can make their subject interesting just by their enthusiasm and engaging manner.
This was another episode that made me wonder though about what the process is for selecting the guests? They are not, like Desert Island Discs, all people generally well known or celebs, although well known in their particular field.Comment
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The thing I really like about PP is that the performer/s are not announced until afterwards. I was racking my brains about who was playing the Bach Partita. I knew it wasn't Schiff or Hewitt because there was slightly too much rubato....but I didn't guess Igor Levit.
Michael Berkeley is such an asset to the programme. My estimation of him as a presenter just goes up and up. And this in spite of his deafness which must be a real trial and a sorrow for him. I've no idea how the guests are chosen. I suppose if someone of academic or artistic renown has a (mainly) classical taste in music, it must be known on some sort of grapevine.Comment
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I didn't know about his deafness: how distressing that must be.Originally posted by ardcarp View Post
I'd guess there is quite a queue of would-be guests.... I'm sure agents of all kinds have the programme in their sights.
I have not listened to Desert Island Discs in decades: PP is infinitely superior in my book.Last edited by ardcarp; 15-02-22, 19:05.Comment
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No comparison really!PP is infinitely superior in my book
PS I didn't edit your post, kb. It was a slip of the finger on my part. Sorry.Comment
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They are quite different. Desert Islands Discs is talk with brief musical snippets of any sort. Private Passions is based around the music, mostly classical. I happily tune into both and both can be rewarding or less so, depending on the guest.
I enjoyed the 90-year-old Leslie Caron on DID last Sunday - her second time. I missed her first appearance in 1956, when she was 25 and I was seven.The previous two guests were also worth hearing: statistician, David Spiegelhalter and foreign correspondent, Lyse Doucet.Comment
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There were moments with Katy Brand today when I wondered how Michael got her to stop talking long enough to play the music. An edition low in my hierarchy of PP editions.Comment
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