BaL 10.07.21 - Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

[Barbirollians]

I remember several years ago talking to my then boss about a forthcoming BAL in which Ed Seckerson was going to review a Mahler symphony. My boss remarked that Seckerson would listen carefully to all the available recordings before choosing the Bernstein.

Jurowski seems to be his new favourite Mahler conductor.

I see ES did also choose the Bernstein/DFD Das Lied von Der Erde in 1997.

[Barbirollians]

Doesn't the Hickox include Aled Jones no less as the treble ?

Amazed to read that he is now 50 - must be tough to have such a fabulous treble voice but such an ordinary voice after it has broken.

[richardfinegold]

Sang this more than half a century ago with Tay Cheng-Jim/LSO/Kertész. That was fun but I have since gone off the piece. Our chorus master, John Alldis, described the main theme of the last movement as a 'panto tune'. Was he right?

What is a ‘panto tune’?

I first heard this on television at the time of its composition, as the Public Arts TV Network in the States broadcast one the first performances. Then not again until the recent Bernstein Centennial year as I was playing through a Sony box set of LB conducting his own works. I enjoyed it immensely but am not looking to add another

[underthecountertenor]

Doesn't the Hickox include Aled Jones no less as the treble ?

Amazed to read that he is now 50 - must be tough to have such a fabulous treble voice but such an ordinary voice after it has broken.

Ordinary at best, but apparently very monetizable, so presumably he can live with the sadness.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Doesn't the Hickox include Aled Jones no less as the treble ?

Amazed to read that he is now 50 - must be tough to have such a fabulous treble voice but such an ordinary voice after it has broken.

Ordinary at best, but apparently very monetizable, so presumably he can live with the sadness.

I'm not sure whether Aled is in or out with the BBC "Songs of Praise" axis at the moment. But he appears (or appeared) on TV (compering and / or singing) in programmes with the likes of Michael Ball and Alfie Boe. I mean, he's lived the dream.....

[rauschwerk]

What is a ‘panto tune’?

I took it to mean a tune one might hear in a pantomime or other lowbrow entertainment. John was famous for doing highbrow contemporary stuff with his professional choir, so one can see where he was coming from.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Doesn't the Hickox include Aled Jones no less as the treble ?

Amazed to read that he is now 50 - must be tough to have such a fabulous treble voice but such an ordinary voice after it has broken.

Once saw him in a stage version of the musical White Christmas so I guess he has tracked all the way from Bernstein to Panto (though Irving Berlin’s music is better than panto)

[Darloboy]

I remember several years ago talking to my then boss about a forthcoming BAL in which Ed Seckerson was going to review a Mahler symphony. My boss remarked that Seckerson would listen carefully to all the available recordings before choosing the Bernstein.

Unless it's one of Bernstein's own recordings of his musicals/operettas with a bunch of hoity-toity opera singers which Mr Seckerson does not like AT ALL!

[ardcarp]

Apropos of nothing much, I once attended a performance at the Southern Cathedrals Festival, conducted I think by John Birch. Salisbury, Winchester and Chichester [of course] made a fine job of it. This was not the original Chichester/Walter Hussey commission performance but a later repeat...at Winchester maybe? My memory fails!

[Petrushka]

I've got NYPO/Bernstein and Bournemouth SO/Alsop.

For a library choice I can't really see any point in looking beyond one of the two Bernstein conducted versions so this BaL seems to me to be superfluous.

[ardcarp]

This may be of interest:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VO09DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200&lpg=PA200&dq=1971+southern+cathedrals+festival&source=bl&ots=qyZ34J2lzM&sig=ACfU3U32VFQ816SB55JE3rwcarz0Ln7h6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjU_ufeyMLxAhXaQUEAHcPDCEUQ6AEwCHoECB8QAw#v=onepage&q=1971%20southern%20cathedrals%20festival&f=false

Scroll around a bit to find Chichester Psalms commission and first performance details.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In anticipation of today’ broadcast, I’ve added a second King’s/Cleobury recording to the list (with thanks to Pulcinella for alerting me to a recording I’d overlooked).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I know BaL reviewers can only express their own views/impressions, but when they assume superiority over the performers, that’s a step too far. ES seems to do that.

[Goon525]

I know BaL reviewers can only express their own views/impressions, but when they assume superiority over the performers, that’s a step too far. ES seems to do that.

As it happens, I’m not ES’s biggest fan, but I think he’s demonstrated intimate knowledge of the work here, and properly explained his choices. No surprise whatever about the final selection, though.

[Pulcinella]

In anticipation of today’ broadcast, I’ve added a second King’s/Cleobury recording to the list (with thanks to Pulcinella for alerting me to a recording I’d overlooked).

Back momentarily (UK not US sense) to say that I hope some of the 'naysayers' actually listened to this edition, and (despite the annoyances of the twofer format) might even have been persuaded that it's a better piece of music than they thought.
Pleased with the winner, which I've always preferred to the later Israel remake.