Astonishing Performances That Were Totally Unexpected Given The Performer

[Pabmusic]

I have to admit that I was recently guilty of making the same mistake about Boult. I had recently purchased a used lp of his Mahler 1 on Everest and loved it. I wasn't sure that Boult and Mahler were a good match but after hearing that recording it reawakened an interest in Boult for me and I am astonished by his range of repertoire. In the States we tended to pigeonhole him as a specialist in British Music.

His very first professional concert was given in 1914, with 40 players from the Halle and Liverpool orchestras. He was 24. The programme included the second Brandenburg Concerto, two movements of the Schumann Piano Concerto, the Siegfried Idyll, the overture to Don Giovanni, the first performance of The Banks of Green Willow by George Butterworth, and the first British performance of Wolf's Italian Serenade. It has always struck me as representative of his lifelong tastes: German classics, interspersed with new and unfamiliar music.

Have you heard this?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-...5199061&sr=8-1

The sound is not good (it's an off-air recording from the 1940s) but it is the first British performance of Mahler 3. He also gave the first British performance of Wozzek in the 1930s (a concert performance, broadcast live) but - alas! - no-one's yet found a recording.

[Ferretfancy]

Boult's Shostakovich 6 is quite something, managing to achieve sustained tension throughout that long opening movement.

[Thropplenoggin]

I've known that recording for a while. Why did it surprise you? You should also check out his version of the Op.7 Piano Sonata.

I know Michelangeli in Debussy - the preludes, where he excels. But I've heard his Beethoven before, op.111, and was distinctly underwhelmed. He's not a renowned Beethoven player, like Gilels or Richter. Hence, I did not expect such a scintillating 'Emperor' from him and Giulini.

[Ferretfancy]

Regarding Boult's interest in contemporary music, it's worth remembering that he invited Webern to Britain in the 1930s to conduct his works with the newly formed BBC SO.
There was also the famous occasion when he conducted Tippett's Second Symphony, stopping after a couple of minutes to apologise to the audience after the performance had gone wrong, telling them that it was entirely his fault. What other conductors would do that ? The performance was a success.

[Nick Armstrong]

Boult's Shostakovich 6 is quite something, managing to achieve sustained tension throughout that long opening movement.

I would love to hear that!!

[teamsaint]

Regarding Boult's interest in contemporary music, it's worth remembering that he invited Webern to Britain in the 1930s to conduct his works with the newly formed BBC SO.
There was also the famous occasion when he conducted Tippett's Second Symphony, stopping after a couple of minutes to apologise to the audience after the performance had gone wrong, telling them that it was entirely his fault. What other conductors would do that ? The performance was a success.

i would have loved to have witnessed that Tippett. Must have been a really special night, FF.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There was also the famous occasion when he conducted Tippett's Second Symphony, stopping after a couple of minutes to apologise to the audience after the performance had gone wrong, telling them that it was entirely his fault. What other conductors would do that ? The performance was a success.

Boult's generosity was even greater: it wasn't his fault at all - except, perhaps, that he allowed Paul Beard (the leader of the BBCSO at that premiere) to re-write the violin parts so that everything was in 4/4 - regardless of the phrasing and timing of the main beats, and regardless that everyone else was playing from Tippett's original parts! Little wonder the orchestra ground to a halt after about a dozen bars. (A recording made of the second performance - with violin originals restored - demonstrates that one fiddler still had difficulty counting; s/he comes in quite prominently at one point two quavers before all the others. That aside, it's a really good performance that should be on NMC's Historic recordings series.)

[amateur51]

I would love to hear that!!

Under £4 Caliban

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shostakovich-Symphony-No-6-Op-54/dp/B001885C2O/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355258503&sr=1-1

[Nick Armstrong]

Under £4 Caliban

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shostakovich...5258503&sr=1-1

Gorrit! Much obliged

[Vile Consort]

Anything "performed" by Joyce Hatto.

[amateur51]

Anything "performed" by Joyce Hatto.

Ouch!

[Pabmusic]

Regarding Boult's interest in contemporary music, it's worth remembering that he invited Webern to Britain in the 1930s to conduct his works with the newly formed BBC SO.
There was also the famous occasion when he conducted Tippett's Second Symphony, stopping after a couple of minutes to apologise to the audience after the performance had gone wrong, telling them that it was entirely his fault. What other conductors would do that ? The performance was a success.

It was actually the work's premiere.

Off the top of my head, there's a tale of Boult rehearsing a 'modern' piece for performance. It was a serial work, or something like it (Humphrey Searle springs to mind) and there were problems with the copying of the parts. Each time, Boult would stop the orchestra and call "Composer!" for the unfortunate man to settle whether particular notes were Bs or B-flats in the flutes, or whatever. This was truly embarrassing for all, especially the composer.

After a while without stoppages, the composer asked to the conductor to check a particular passage again and make yet another amendment. Boult's immediate response was, "No - sorry - we're not playing your piece any longer"!

If it was the Searle, it might have been his first symphony, which Booult recorded.

[Stephen Smith]

Very much enjoy these stories about Boult (and mentions in other threads) He wasn't flash, he didn'nt get the atttention that others got, but he was obviously a greater artist over a much wider canvas than people generally remember.

On the main topic - it was a surprise to find Svetlanov conducting Gerontius at RFH - can't say when - would have been early
1980's. He had Janet Baker as the angel, which got me to the concert. It was a fine performance, he had the measure of the piece. Again, from other threads, he is a conductor to appreciate - I've been enjoying his Kalinnikov Melodiya set and am looking out for other recommendations from forum members.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

On the main topic - it was a surprise to find Svetlanov conducting Gerontius at RFH - can't say when - would have been early
1980's. He had Janet Baker as the angel, which got me to the concert. It was a fine performance, he had the measure of the piece. Again, from other threads, he is a conductor to appreciate - I've been enjoying his Kalinnikov Melodiya set and am looking out for other recommendations from forum members.

I was there, too, Stephen! A very fine performance, indeed.

Do you know this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pictures-Symphony-Svetlanov-USSR-State/dp/B000198AF2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355342797&sr=8-3

.. I had the LP (HMV/Melodiya) back then, too. Great stuff!

[richardfinegold]

His very first professional concert was given in 1914, with 40 players from the Halle and Liverpool orchestras. He was 24. The programme included the second Brandenburg Concerto, two movements of the Schumann Piano Concerto, the Siegfried Idyll, the overture to Don Giovanni, the first performance of The Banks of Green Willow by George Butterworth, and the first British performance of Wolf's Italian Serenade. It has always struck me as representative of his lifelong tastes: German classics, interspersed with new and unfamiliar music.

Have you heard this?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-...5199061&sr=8-1

The sound is not good (it's an off-air recording from the 1940s) but it is the first British performance of Mahler 3. He also gave the first British performance of Wozzek in the 1930s (a concert performance, broadcast live) but - alas! - no-one's yet found a recording.

That was interesting. I think that I saw a review of the entire recording recently