Broadly I agree with Makropulos - it would be hard to do more without far more time... possibly BBC4 doesn't have the budget for greater length and depth.
Highlight - Sir mark Elder's commentaries, always succinct and striking both expressively and technically. He has a very good screen presence! "An eye like Mars to threaten and command".
Worst omission for me - Nielsen! Pace suffolkcoastal, a far greater symphonist than Prokofiev, Nielsen both took up the classical tradition and developed the form in very original ways. That great Mahlerian Deryck Cooke once described Nielsen's 5th as "the greatest symphony of the 20th Century!
Interesting to know how they decided what to include, possibly they felt that Prokofiev or Nielsen weren't mainstream enough?! But Prok 5 & 6 should have been there, and almost all of Nielsen... the contrasts between Nielsen 4/5, and then the shockingly different 6th, would have been a fascinating narrative within the general context of the 20th century.
But incidentally lovely to see Ives 2 in there, it's a very lovable piece.
Highlight - Sir mark Elder's commentaries, always succinct and striking both expressively and technically. He has a very good screen presence! "An eye like Mars to threaten and command".
Worst omission for me - Nielsen! Pace suffolkcoastal, a far greater symphonist than Prokofiev, Nielsen both took up the classical tradition and developed the form in very original ways. That great Mahlerian Deryck Cooke once described Nielsen's 5th as "the greatest symphony of the 20th Century!
Interesting to know how they decided what to include, possibly they felt that Prokofiev or Nielsen weren't mainstream enough?! But Prok 5 & 6 should have been there, and almost all of Nielsen... the contrasts between Nielsen 4/5, and then the shockingly different 6th, would have been a fascinating narrative within the general context of the 20th century.
But incidentally lovely to see Ives 2 in there, it's a very lovable piece.
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