"Jurassic FM"

[Bryn]

. . . Nothing to do with being in the Albert Hall, was it?

Except that that is where the concert is to be staged.

[french frank]

Except that that is where the concert is to be staged.

I meant that that wasn't the reason Classic FM didn't want him to play it. If it was for a 'Classic FM audience' it wouldn't matter where it was being held.

[Bryn]

I meant that that wasn't the reason Classic FM didn't want him to play it. If it was for a 'Classic FM audience' it wouldn't matter where it was being held.

Oh, I think you will find the venue is pretty important for their branding strategy.

[french frank]

Oh, I think you will find the venue is pretty important for their branding strategy.

Even so, the Albert Hall is not reserved for classical music. I believe they've even had wrestling there.

[Bryn]

Even so, the Albert Hall is not reserved for classical music. I believe they've even had wrestling there.

Oh, come on Frenchie. The Proms have just finished. In such a context, the RAH is a major prestige venue for CFM's big live 'classical music' event, its questionable acoustic properties notwithstanding.

[mikealdren]

Even so, the Albert Hall is not reserved for classical music. I believe they've even had wrestling there.

Hendrix played there in 1969 too.

[oddoneout]

I meant that that wasn't the reason Classic FM didn't want him to play it. If it was for a 'Classic FM audience' it wouldn't matter where it was being held.

I think that was possibly a big part of the problem. The term used was "desired audience" which I read as "will sit in a concert hall to listen to classical(sic) music", hence RAH with the perceptions that brings of being a "serious concert venue". If it had been at something like one of the Proms in the Park venues I have a feeling the Hendrix connection wouldn't have been an issue, although whether Chineke! would have still been on board I don't know.
Yes there is much that is not made clear in the article and it is only Kennedy's side of things, and no doubt there might well have been elements of diva tantrums. However Kennedy is not a new wunderkid, he has been around for decades, CFM cannot have been unaware that the global brand attracting power they were hiring him for brings baggage.
For me, in an ideal/fantasy world the BBC would take advantage of this to put together a TV programme featuring the Hendrix piece ( possibly with Chineke! from a box ticking POV and to widen the potential "audience reach") and linking with the connections Kennedy mentions to make interesting, informative and wide range appeal viewing - the kind of thing it can still(just about) put together when it decides to.

[cloughie]

Don't think anyone was? It would be interesting to know how Kennedy's proposal might have been received by the Beeb though, especially if Chineke! was actually on board.

I think if he had been offered a Prom with Chineke he would done it, particularly if he could be in charge or if it was part of a Hendrix Tribute Prom! (Maybe Clapton and Cullum and others would be available and willing).

[french frank]

However Kennedy is not a new wunderkid, he has been around for decades, CFM cannot have been unaware that the global brand attracting power they were hiring him for brings baggage.

Oh, yes. Their "bad" in this case. But Kennedy thought they were engaging him and having a 'Nigel Kennedy spot'. Classic FM were engaging him to play their Hall of Fame favourite. I don't altogether buy the conducting bit. If no one at CFM had rumbled that Kennedy always directed his Four Seasons, did they object to him stamping around the stage in his old clothes? Is a professional musician unable to play a work with a conductor if he 'always' conducts it himself? Does he not have a diplomatic manager who could have sorted the problem? Anyway, Damon Gupta conducts and Vivaldi seems to be off the programme. NK was billed to play the Vivaldi and his own composition, Melody in the Wind (aka as???).

https://global.com/global-news/classic-fm-live-with-viking-returns-to-londons-royal-albert-hall/

I think Kennedy has reached a stage in his career where he derives more enjoyment from his jazz, rock, improvisation, jamming &c and that's what he wants to do. But Vivaldi &c is what made his name and fortune, was his bread and butter. And CFM's USP is that they play classical (their audience argues that John Williams is classical music and Katherine Jenkins is an opera singer). As a commercial station, CFM thrives on giving its audience what it wants.

Was this a charity event? I can't see that it was, so why was he performing for nothing while the others were getting paid?

For me, in an ideal/fantasy world the BBC would take advantage of this to put together a TV programme featuring the Hendrix piece ( possibly with Chineke! from a box ticking POV and to widen the potential "audience reach") and linking with the connections Kennedy mentions to make interesting, informative and wide range appeal viewing - the kind of thing it can still(just about) put together when it decides to.

Sort of my thought, too. Radio 3 would profit from CFM's discomfiture and nip in and book him to play the Vivaldi and the Hendrix to show how modern they are compared with Jurassic FM. Not quite the same on radio though, so perhaps Nige can wangle a rare TV concert while a few people are still in the Proms mood.

[LHC]

Oh, yes. Their "bad" in this case. But Kennedy thought they were engaging him and having a 'Nigel Kennedy spot'. Classic FM were engaging him to play their Hall of Fame favourite. I don't altogether buy the conducting bit. If no one at CFM had rumbled that Kennedy always directed his Four Seasons, did they object to him stamping around the stage in his old clothes? Is a professional musician unable to play a work with a conductor if he 'always' conducts it himself? Does he not have a diplomatic manager who could have sorted the problem? Anyway, Damon Gupta conducts and Vivaldi seems to be off the programme. NK was billed to play the Vivaldi and his own composition, Melody in the Wind (aka as???).

https://global.com/global-news/classic-fm-live-with-viking-returns-to-londons-royal-albert-hall/

I think Kennedy has reached a stage in his career where he derives more enjoyment from his jazz, rock, improvisation, jamming &c and that's what he wants to do. But Vivaldi &c is what made his name and fortune, was his bread and butter. And CFM's USP is that they play classical (their audience argues that John Williams is classical music and Katherine Jenkins is an opera singer). As a commercial station, CFM thrives on giving its audience what it wants.

Was this a charity event? I can't see that it was, so why was he performing for nothing while the others were getting paid?



Sort of my thought, too. Radio 3 would profit from CFM's discomfiture and nip in and book him to play the Vivaldi and the Hendrix to show how modern they are compared with Jurassic FM. Not quite the same on radio though, so perhaps Nige can wangle a rare TV concert while a few people are still in the Proms mood.

Vivaldi is still on the programme, just not with Kennedy:

We are delighted that Camille and Julie Berthollet will make their Royal Albert Hall debut with their rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, plus music by Sir Karl Jenkins and Vittorio Monti.

[french frank]

Vivaldi is still on the programme, just not with Kennedy:

We are delighted that Camille and Julie Berthollet will make their Royal Albert Hall debut with their rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, plus music by Sir Karl Jenkins and Vittorio Monti.

I missed that.

[oddoneout]

Oh, yes. Their "bad" in this case. But Kennedy thought they were engaging him and having a 'Nigel Kennedy spot'. Classic FM were engaging him to play their Hall of Fame favourite. I don't altogether buy the conducting bit. If no one at CFM had rumbled that Kennedy always directed his Four Seasons, did they object to him stamping around the stage in his old clothes? Is a professional musician unable to play a work with a conductor if he 'always' conducts it himself? Does he not have a diplomatic manager who could have sorted the problem? Anyway, Damon Gupta conducts and Vivaldi seems to be off the programme. NK was billed to play the Vivaldi and his own composition, Melody in the Wind (aka as???).

https://global.com/global-news/classic-fm-live-with-viking-returns-to-londons-royal-albert-hall/

I think Kennedy has reached a stage in his career where he derives more enjoyment from his jazz, rock, improvisation, jamming &c and that's what he wants to do. But Vivaldi &c is what made his name and fortune, was his bread and butter. And CFM's USP is that they play classical (their audience argues that John Williams is classical music and Katherine Jenkins is an opera singer). As a commercial station, CFM thrives on giving its audience what it wants.

Was this a charity event? I can't see that it was, so why was he performing for nothing while the others were getting paid?



Sort of my thought, too. Radio 3 would profit from CFM's discomfiture and nip in and book him to play the Vivaldi and the Hendrix to show how modern they are compared with Jurassic FM. Not quite the same on radio though, so perhaps Nige can wangle a rare TV concert while a few people are still in the Proms mood.

NK does mention the practical difficulty of having a conductor for something he always directs himself and the question of quality of the end result. It would also be a pretty daunting job for a conductor I would have thought and involve a fair amount of work beforehand to achieve something workable - and does Chineke! have the experience to deal with that scenario?
Performing for free was his choice, wanting to give the players the benefit of his experience he says.
Yes R3 wouldn't be the best way to broadcast/showcase his Hendrix tribute which is why my fantasy was TV based, although no reason why it couldn't be on radio as well. After all wasn't there a hint a while back that BBC2 was going to feature more music based programming?

[french frank]

NK does mention the practical difficulty of having a conductor for something he always directs himself and the question of quality of the end result. It would also be a pretty daunting job for a conductor I would have thought and involve a fair amount of work beforehand to achieve something workable - and does Chineke! have the experience to deal with that scenario?

Yes, and I can see that point. But NK wanted to direct and Chineke! were up for it, so it comes back to why CFM would insist on a conductor for that work. Who was engaged to conduct the orchestra for their other works? We have Kennedy's take and CFM are staying out of the row. CFM may simply have taken the view that their annual concert wasn't about Nigel Kennedy, and they'd prefer to 'let him go' than have him deciding what he wanted to play, presumably at short notice.

[oddoneout]

Vivaldi is still on the programme, just not with Kennedy:

We are delighted that Camille and Julie Berthollet will make their Royal Albert Hall debut with their rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, plus music by Sir Karl Jenkins and Vittorio Monti.

Already known to CFM and easier on the eye than NK so shouldn't be a problem with the audience...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHTLTvcjn4

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I never take much notice of Nigel Kennedy’s outbursts. He really isn’t worth it.
As for the Jurassic comment, he’s presumably condemning the station as a dinosaur, which an interesting slant as those particular creatures were on the planet for 150,000,000 years. So far the human race has been around for no more that 4 million years, with an uncertain future.

Actually some dinosaurs are still with us today. Alligators, crocodiles, Komodo dragons and the leader of the House of Commons.