Originally posted by JimD
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BBC4, November 14th, 9pm. It lasts two hours! -
Thank you Mary. One for the recorder I think.Comment
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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Watching "A Time There Was" again after a very long interval, I was struck by how much, well, my critical expectations have changed, and how much it stands (stood?) in need of a good edit - it comes from another television age, obviously. Tony Palmer is a self-indulgent film maker (I also recently watched his Wagner film again, which also needed a serious edit) - I got the feeling several more stories could have been told in the same length of time had the cutting been a lot sharper. Also the stories that were told were not well told - the fire and rebuilding were only touched on in half a sentence in a Pears voice-over. Was this the original length of the film? We were told Joan Cross sang in the original PG, while poor Heather Harper sang unacknowledged on screen (I didn't wait to read the credits at the end, doubtless she's there). And only the bottom end of Julian B's guitar, and his right elbow...very odd angle. And Death in Venice (which I saw with Pears at the ROH) looked positively creepy in those interminable shots of Aschenbach and Tadzio. Was there ever any behind-the-scenes footage of the first performance of the War Requiem? These days that would have been a documentary in itself.
This is a Palmer problem rather than a Britten one. But strong on atmosphere - Aldeburgh sea front, reedbeds, fishermen, lifeboats....
And some fine moments - Pears talking near the end deeply touching, likewise Rita Thompson.Comment
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I agree about the fine moments. For me they easily outweigh the 'Palmer problems', which I agree are there. His more recent film on Britten has many more of them! It really rambles.Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View Post
I don't have Sky, and I'm not going to get it. The blurb about their Britten centenary programmes (all of which I've already seen) claims that his notable operas include War Requiem and the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Well, well.Comment
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Of course the BBC wouldn't make mistakes like that.Originally posted by Mary Chambers View Post
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Wonderful. wonderful prog: 'Britten's Endgame'. Worth every minute.Comment
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Originally posted by DracoM View Post
Superb. Much. much better than I expected. I'm going to try to sleep now. It could be difficult. Too many haunting images and too much haunting music.Comment
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Thanks for the steer, Mary, and all others on this thread. I just caught the start after Dudamel's Mahler 7 (great co-ordination, R3 and BBC4!) and stuck with it enthralled.Originally posted by Mary Chambers View Post
I never met or even clapped eyes on BB so this opinion is probably valueless, but it did seem judicious, not least in its treatment of Britten's heart disease and its possible causes. Certainly it was intensely moving. And what good people he seems to have collected around him at the end!I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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Yes, a very fine piece by Bridcut. As Mary C. says, there is so much to sleep on before making comment, BUT I thought the music specially done for the programme was fantastic; and I'd single out Schola Cantorum and Jamie Burton for some of the best choral singing I've heard in ages, and that incredible tenor (Allen Clayton) and horn player (not named) in the Serenade extract. In fact they all deserve a mention:
The film features specially filmed performances of Britten's music by Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), John Graham-Hall and Allan Clayton (tenors), Xavier Phillips (cello), the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Paul Kildea, Schola Cantorum of Oxford conducted by James Burton, and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet.Comment
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...in fact the whole thing's already on i-player:
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I have given up after half an hour too tired and too late - but promising so far.
I was not aware that Mr Kildea was a conductor . The extract from his Britten bio in Gramophone this month struck me as very badly written indeed - albeit it was nice to see that picture out of the rear window of his house on Crabbe Street in 1949 - very different now - a biggish fence and the beach huts long since gone .Comment
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I didn't know he was a conductor, but then, I conduct from time to time, but...Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
It's just a pity this fellow is given so much credence - rather like the situation was when the already discredited Chris Woodhead was dragged out of the woodwork every time an educational issue was raised.
But the programme as a whole was generally excellent.Comment
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not sure that it's worth a new thread but Radio 4 this morning 11am has this..........."In Britten's Footsteps"
To mark the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson follows in the footsteps of the composer, presenting a soundscape based on the daily walks which Britten took around Aldeburgh to reflect on his morning's work
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