Britten on BBC4

[ardcarp]

I wondered why Sheridan Morley (it was he, wasn't it?) was chosen to feature in the programme. He is, agreed a general arts guru, but I wonder if he has a special knowledge of Britten? Humphrey Burton OTOH was very much at the cutting edge. I was very impressed with Olly Knussen's contribution. He really talked turkey about some of Britten's techniques and how he used them to produce the emotional effects he was striving for.

I too was puzzled by the sudden ending to the programme!

It was intended (presumably) for a general music-loving audience, so maybe we needn't be too hard on it.

[Mary Chambers]

What, even Curlew River? Are you still? Surely it's one of his most original and moving works?

No, not still! At the time though, when I was in my early to mid twenties, I found them interesting but a bit puzzling. I wasn't puzzled exactly by Wingrave, but I didn't take to it. It's still probably my least favourite Britten opera. I don't much like The Prodigal Son, either, but I've never seen it live and maybe that would make a difference.

[aeolium]

There was quite a lot I hadn't seen before but then I don't have the DVDs. The rehearsals were very interesting. I wish they had included more excerpts of Britten's piano accompaniment, for instance from the Winterreise which IIRC was recorded for television (and Schubert was as important a composer for Britten as Mozart, I would have thought). He was an incredible accompanist as the brief extracts showed, and it was good to see the conclusion of the Mozart K448 with Richter, who seemed determined to get to the end before Britten!

I was glad to see the contribution of Cedric Messina to the Owen Wingrave production (and a young Brian Large) - Messina was one of several great producers of that era, involved in many arts and drama productions.

[Mary Chambers]

Early on, just as Noye's Fludde was about to be discussed, an extract from Friday Afternoons was shown, which some might have taken to be part of N F - newcomers could have been confused. I was interested when Michael Crawford said that BB changed the notes for him as his voice began to mature during rehearsals for NF. We were shown the changes - as far as I could see, the passages were simply dropped down an octave, so nothing like as drastic as he seemed to suggest.

!

These were things that irritated me, too - your post generally echoes my thoughts. Perhaps they are misleading rather than inaccurate. The piece sung by the children wasn't even from Friday Afternoons. In fact it wasn't even by Britten. It was a setting of Kipling's Smuggler's Song that I certainly sang as a child, though I'm not sure who composed it - Armstrong Gibbs or someone like that?

It was misleading to say that Britten composed the Playful Pizzicato when he was ten. True, it was based on a piece he wrote when he was ten, but it was a piano sonata. The orchestration came about a decade later.

I was surprised to see Deborah Bull. Last time I noticed she was a ballerina!

Wasn't it Nicholas Kenyon who said Owen Wingrave wasn't Britten's best opera?

[ardcarp]

Ah yes. Big mistake on my part. I was confusing Nicholas Kenyon (who obviously does know what he's talking about) with Sheridan Morley. I apologise to both.

Do you like Abraham and Isaac, Mary?

[VodkaDilc]

These were things that irritated me, too - your post generally echoes my thoughts. Perhaps they are misleading rather than inaccurate. The piece sung by the children wasn't even from Friday Afternoons. In fact it wasn't even by Britten. It was a setting of Kipling's Smuggler's Song that I certainly sang as a child, though I'm not sure who composed it - Armstrong Gibbs or someone like that?
?

You are right, of course. Those songs, in the traditional complete music leaflets, were a staple of my early days of teaching - along with Friday Afternoons, which is where the confusion set in. Do today's school children sing from the written music like that - or even sing?

(Just to digress, I watched a new Paul McCartney concert from Maida Vale a couple of nights ago. At the end, he asked the audience to join in the refrain from Hey Jude, first men only and then women only. The men were fine. Then the women sang at what seemed to me to be at tenor pitch. They began on F below middle C and sang up the arpeggio, reaching up a minor 9th. No-one seemed to even attempt to sing at soprano pitch. Evidence that there's a whole generation of girls which never learns to sing? The men seemed happier to follow Paul and sing at a fairly high pitch. A complete reversal since my days in the classroom.)

[VodkaDilc]

It was misleading to say that Britten composed the Playful Pizzicato when he was ten. True, it was based on a piece he wrote when he was ten, but it was a piano sonata. The orchestration came about a decade later.

I was surprised to see Deborah Bull. Last time I noticed she was a ballerina!

I noticed the same with the Pizzicato Polka - a small point, perhaps, but very careless to let it pass. (Edit: Did I really write P Polka? Blame it on age - Playful P, I mean.)

Was Deborah Bull's connection ever explained? I'm sure she has some qualification to talk about Britten.

I notice that there is a Tony Palmer film, Nocturne, on Britten on Sky Arts tonight. Does anyone know if it's a new one? We really are getting overwhelmed with all this Britten coverage.

[Mary Chambers]

Do you like Abraham and Isaac, Mary?

Yes! Do you?

[JimD]

I wasn't puzzled exactly by Wingrave, but I didn't take to it. It's still probably my least favourite Britten opera.

Well, as for Owen Wingrave, for me the characters are two-dimensional, reflecting its propagandist tone, as I think I've said before. I enjoy the music though, if one can draw that distinction. Oddly enough I don't find the War Requiem propagandist in the same way, despite having little time for pacifism, intellectually or ethically, particularly in the context of the war against fascism. I guess because it's emphasis is on 'war and the pity of war'.

[Mary Chambers]

I notice that there is a Tony Palmer film, Nocturne, on Britten on Sky Arts tonight. Does anyone know if it's a new one? We really are getting overwhelmed with all this Britten coverage.

It's newish, made for the centenary, but much of the material is from his other DVDs. Be prepared for some very ugly footage of war and concentration camps. I don't think it's a very good film - it rambles too much.

[amateur51]

I noticed the same with the Pizzicato Polka - a small point, perhaps, but very careless to let it pass.

Was Deborah Bull's connection ever explained? I'm sure she has some qualification to talk about britten.

I notice that there is a Tony Palmer film, Nocturne, on Britten on Sky Arts tonight. Does anyone know if it's a new one? We really are getting overwhelmed with all this Britten coverage.

Here are some details and reviews ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Palmers-100th-Anniversary-Britten-Nocturne/dp/B00CEX16X6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1384688301&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Palmer+Britten+Nocturnw

I'm rather enjoying being overwhelmed, as it goes

[VodkaDilc]

Here are some details and reviews ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Palmers-100th-Anniversary-Britten-Nocturne/dp/B00CEX16X6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1384688301&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Palmer+Britten+Nocturnw

I'm rather enjoying being overwhelmed, as it goes

So I assume it's the first television showing. Looks like a marathon one too.

[Mattbod]

Best Britten film made of course was "A Time There Was" : well worth buying if you are not feeling saturated.

[Anna]

CotW next week is Britten. As I have never got or understood the adulation and fawning over him I resolve to listen to ths everyday. I may be convinced, I may not, but I am willing and open minded.
(I have two of this, some horn stuff and some Christmas thing)

[EdgeleyRob]

CotW next week is Britten. As I have never got or understood the adulation and fawning over him I resolve to listen to ths everyday. I may be convinced, I may not, but I am willing and open minded.
(I have two of this, some horn stuff and some Christmas thing)

Wot no operas Anna ?

Billy Budd is on telly tonight,might have to be excused Sunday night club,my head will be all over the place