Radio 3 - Neville Marriner day

[Barbirollians]

Extraordinarily prolific conductor but I found the ASMF records I bought in the 1980s very bland and do not quite understand the apparent adoration by some of his work .

[vinteuil]

Extraordinarily prolific conductor but I found the ASMF records I bought in the 1980s very bland and do not quite understand the apparent adoration by some of his work .

... "bland". Exactly the word I was looking for

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[smittims]

Oh dear; sorry to hear that. I've been a Marriner fan for decades and I'm also a Furtwangler/Toscanini fan, so I think I'd be quick to reject anything I found 'bland'.

I always thought Marriner had a faultless feeling for tempo, particularly in Mozart.

[Barbirollians]

I am afraid all my favourite ASMF recordings are directed by Iona Brown . I much preferred Brendel’s piano concerto recordings with Mackerras to those with Marriner. The recordings I heard did very little for me - I remember a particularly characterless Enigma and Sorceror’s Apprentice in particular.

i suspect in the baroque repertoire for which he was renowned I had already been seduced away by HIPP recordings in the 1980s especially from the English Concert. I have a lingering affection for the Alan Loveday Four Seasons though.

[hmvman]

Each to their own, I suppose. I'm with smittims and have also been a Marriner fan for nearly half a century; he's been a regular part of my listening and musical education for all those years. I definitely would concur about his Mozart.

I've been enjoying the R3 output today - I even listened to some of EC this morning! I must say, though, that I'm puzzled by the 'Classical Live' programme today. I thought we might be getting some recordings of NM in concert but it just seems to be more studio recordings. Maybe there aren't that many - or any - concert recordings available.

[vinteuil]

I suspect in the baroque repertoire for which he was renowned I had already been seduced away by HIPP recordings in the 1980s especially from the English Concert...

... yes, there is that too : his resistance to using appropriate instruments of the period became increasingly a disappointment.

I always felt that I should look forward to a Marriner/ASMF performance, but then afterwards found them dispiriting, insipid, - boring...

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[Pulcinella]

Good grief!!
The Tippett, Stravinsky Pulcinella, Bartok Divertimento bland?
Surely not.

[oddoneout]

I'm just so glad we are fortunate enough to have a wide choice of recordings to cater to a wide range of tastes. I'm not a very discriminate listener I fear, so am happy to listen to both ends of the HIPP/nonHIPP spectrum - although not necessarily without criticism at times. There are times when, for me, something like the John S-Q "Ich habe genug" just played hits the spot in a way that a more "accurate"/informed performance doesn't.

[pastoralguy]

I heard a lovely story from an acquaintance I knew who auditioned for the ASMF. By this time, Marriner was an old man heaped with honours and my acquaintance reckoned that Sir Nelville’s role with the orchestra would only be of a ceremonial nature with his appearances limited to the big occasions.

Turning up at the venue, he was aware of an elderly figure unfolding music stands and moving chairs. As he approached, the old man turned and said ‘Hello, I’m Neville. It’s lovely to meet you…!’

[edashtav]

There are times when, for me, something like the John S-Q "Ich habe genug" just played hits the spot in a way that a more "accurate"/informed performance doesn't.

Yes I was thrilled to hear John SQ ,again, the Bach solo Cantata. After all , John like me was a Chemist!

I still admire Neville's gift for allowing music to breathe. His breadth of repertoire suited my Bax fanaticism and I love his CD of 'November Woods '.

The Tippett Double String Concerto brought tears of joy to my eyes and memories of buying the Scott m.s. in Joseph Pass's old music shop tucked in an alley behind the chancel of Birmingham Cathedral.

How lovely to hear the opening of Greig's 'Holberg Suite'a little later in COTW.Two composers mining the same neo-Baroque vein.

One of my pupils, Kate, went on to sing with Sir Nev.'s Singers. The Sir Neville Day was somewhat brilliant conceit. THANK YOU, RADIO 3.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I don’t think Neville was in any way bland. My reservations about his recordings are largely (sometimes ) about the string sound. Either string playing sounds have improved or, more likely , the Decca and Phillips (I think) engineers did him and the AOSMITF no favours with a sometimes thin (close miked ?j over compressed sound. There’s just been another example - the rondo from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a Decca recording . The George Malcolm Haydn concerto was fine though with a more distant chamber orch sound.

[Ein Heldenleben]

String sound on this live tribute concert from St.Martin’s In The Fields so much better than some of the recordings I heard today , Arguably a bit over compressed again but I guess that’s FM. The oboe in the Handel Concerto Grosso was very loud also .
The whole BBC recording philosophy seems to have changed - I guess with the move to digital. At a recent Philharnonia concert the stage was covered in Schoeps Mikes at £1300 a pop. Perhaps the big difference is that mikes have just got a lot better at reproducing string sound.

[hmvman]

I don’t think Neville was in any way bland. My reservations about his recordings are largely (sometimes ) about the string sound. Either string playing sounds have improved or, more likely , the Decca and Phillips (I think) engineers did him and the AOSMITF no favours with a sometimes thin (close miked ?j over compressed sound. There’s just been another example - the rondo from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in a Decca recording . The George Malcolm Haydn concerto was fine though with a more distant chamber orch sound.

Again, these things are personal I guess, but the string sound of the ASMF has to me been one of the strongest features of their recordings. I've always thought they had a lush sound and sweet at the top without shrillness. One of the best examples I can think of is in 'The Birth of Venus' from Respighi's 'Trittico Botticelliano' (an EMI recording) where the trilling upper strings are wonderful IMHO, of course!

[cloughie]

Again, these things are personal I guess, but the string sound of the ASMF has to me been one of the strongest features of their recordings. I've always thought they had a lush sound and sweet at the top without shrillness. One of the best examples I can think of is in 'The Birth of Venus' from Respighi's 'Trittico Botticelliano' (an EMI recording) where the trilling upper strings are wonderful IMHO, of course!

I agree with this view and I think he, along with Thurston Dart in the 50s and 60s brought Baroque music out of a darker age - the Bach Orchestral Suites never sounded as lively and though he did not go HIPP, did pave the way by using smaller forces. Early HIPP, such as Harnoncourt and Collegium Aureum recordings were leaden in comparison.

I agree with Pulc about the Bartok,Stravinsky and Tippett and would add his other C20th recordings of British music.

[Rolmill]

I agree with Pulc about the Bartok,Stravinsky and Tippett and would add his other C20th recordings of British music.

My personal favourite Marriner recordings are the Rossini string sonatas and Bizet symphony in C (Argo), neither of which have been bettered (IMHO) and neither of which are remotely bland.