Tippett, Michael Kemp (1905 - 98)

[Gary Freer]

In fact it will be a live relay on Opera on 3 this Saturday at 6.30.

[Gary Freer]

new Gardner/LPO Child Of Our Time

In fact it will be a live relay on Opera on 3 this Saturday at 6.30.

To be broadcast on 2nd December. Benjamin/Connolly/Tarver/Williams are soloists.

Concert at RFH this Saturday and at saffron Hall at 3 pm on Sunday.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I'm going to hear it. Its not box office according to general reckoning but I enjoyed it and will go and hear this, one of the infrequent performances. (I might have decided to go even if I knew it would be broadcast.....)

[Barbirollians]

Well forumites - if after last week's Bridcut film you were intrigued by Tippett's symphonies - what set would you buy Hickox, Brabbins , the Davis/Solti Decca mix ?

[Pulcinella]

Well forumites - if after last week's Bridcut film you were intrigued by Tippett's symphonies - what set would you buy Hickox, Brabbins , the Davis/Solti Decca mix ?

If Alpie can have 101 or more Alpines, and he's not alone in having multiple versions, then any burgeoning (see comment about tonight's concert) Tippettophile(?) needs all three, surely.


But supplemented with Barstow/BBCSO/Leppard in S3:

https://www.amazon.com/Tippett-Fantasia-Concertante-Corelli-Symphony/dp/B000000TLP

and maybe Tippett himself in S2 and S4:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7934301--tippett-symphonines-nos-2-4

originally issued as a BBC MM CD.

[RichardB]

Well forumites - if after last week's Bridcut film you were intrigued by Tippett's symphonies - what set would you buy Hickox, Brabbins , the Davis/Solti Decca mix ?

I wouldn't bother with the third of these: Davis tends to smooth over a lot of the most interesting details in Tippett (as he did with Berlioz in my opinion), whereas Hickox lets every strange sound be clearly heard. I don't know the Brabbins recordings so well - I prefer Faye Robinson's performance for Hickox of the solo in no.3, and I prefer Brabbins in no.4, that's what I remember.

[Master Jacques]

Well forumites - if after last week's Bridcut film you were intrigued by Tippett's symphonies - what set would you buy Hickox, Brabbins , the Davis/Solti Decca mix ?

Definitely the Davis/Solti mix, for me. Davis has a grasp, fire and focus which eludes Hickox over longer spans, despite some delicious detail in the Chandos recording, especially in No.1. Heather Harper for Davis is the (studio) nonpareil in No.3 - there's an off air BBC Carlton Classics recording with Josephine Barstow and Leppard which is just about the most gripping version of any Tippett symphony I know. Solti's drive and power with the Chicago players in No.4 is also yet to be matched.

If you want the early "Symphony No.0" though - fascinating, if an unsatisfactory whole - you will need Brabbins also. His versions of the numbered symphonies are a little sub-fusc compared with the other two, in my opinion, though cogent and serviceable.

[RichardB]

Heather Harper for Davis is the (studio) nonpareil in No.3 - there's an off air BBC Carlton Classics recording with Josephine Barstow and Leppard which is just about the most gripping version of any Tippett symphony I know.

Yes, I agree with both points there.

[HighlandDougie]

I wouldn't bother with the third of these: Davis tends to smooth over a lot of the most interesting details in Tippett (as he did with Berlioz in my opinion), whereas Hickox lets every strange sound be clearly heard. I don't know the Brabbins recordings so well - I prefer Faye Robinson's performance for Hickox of the solo in no.3, and I prefer Brabbins in no.4, that's what I remember.

Sorry, Richard, but I think that that's just a touch dismissive of Colin Davis. Maybe it's my sentimental attachment to the Argo LP of the 2nd Symphony which I almost wore through when I was a student in Edinburgh but that - plus the 3rd - are still much listened to chez moi. That's not to disparage the other recordings referred to above, which I also have. And not to forget off-air performances by Andrew Davis of the 4th

[RichardB]

Sorry, Richard, but I think that that's just a touch dismissive of Colin Davis.

His recording of the 2nd Symphony is excellent, that's true; but when it comes to the later pieces he seems to have decided that some of the more odd details need to be swept under the carpet. Compare the beginning of the slow movement of the Triple Concerto between Davis and Hickox.

[Pulcinella]

His recording of the 2nd Symphony is excellent, that's true; but when it comes to the later pieces he seems to have decided that some of the more odd details need to be swept under the carpet. Compare the beginning of the slow movement of the Triple Concerto between Davis and Hickox.

Have you heard the other recorded versions of the Triple Concerto, Richard?
Kovacic/Caussé/Baillie/BBCPO/Tippett (Nimbus)
Kovacic/Golani/Georgian/London Sinfonietta/Atherton (from Tippett's 80th birthday concert, c/w The vision; Carlton/BBC Radio Classics)
Hope/Dukes/Poltéra/BBCSO/Andrew Davis (2007 Proms, DG)

Not sure I could say I have a favourite!

[Master Jacques]

His recording of the 2nd Symphony is excellent, that's true; but when it comes to the later pieces he seems to have decided that some of the more odd details need to be swept under the carpet. Compare the beginning of the slow movement of the Triple Concerto between Davis and Hickox.

Yes, but ... Hickox is always good in the first couple of minutes of any movement. The problem is, that he was often unable to sustain the symphonic warp and weft beyond that point. "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold". That is never the case with Davis, where the wood is always more important than the trees: so I agree with your observation that some detail is lost in his performances. But it's in a good cause, I think. Rather as with Handley's Bax.

I'm glad you agree with me about the Barstow/Leppard 3rd. In fact, I have a feeling that my purchase might have followed a recommendation of yours in the first place, so thank you again for that!

[RichardB]

Yes, but ... Hickox is always good in the first couple of minutes of any movement. The problem is, that he was often unable to sustain the symphonic warp and weft beyond that point.

I hadn't noticed that. I'll have to go through the Brabbins set again. Maybe he manages to spot the detail and project the bigger picture. But to me those details are crucial. I can't imagine a cause good enough to justify skating over them!

[RichardB]

Have you heard the other recorded versions of the Triple Concerto, Richard?
Kovacic/Caussé/Baillie/BBCPO/Tippett (Nimbus)
Kovacic/Golani/Georgian/London Sinfonietta/Atherton (from Tippett's 80th birthday concert, c/w The vision; Carlton/BBC Radio Classics)
Hope/Dukes/Poltéra/BBCSO/Andrew Davis (2007 Proms, DG)

I haven't heard any of those, and actually I was only aware of the existence of the first of them! Thanks for flagging them up.

[Pulcinella]

I haven't heard any of those, and actually I was only aware of the existence of the first of them! Thanks for flagging them up.

Not sure you'd readily find a copy of them though.
Maybe you need to plan a longer visit to York than you had last time! They're all on the shelves here.

PS: Found them after all!

Here's the Carlton one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tippett-Vision-Augustine-Concerto-Violin/dp/B000025H2E/ref=sr_1_2?crid=NUQO91P3185I&keywords=Tippett+vision+augustine&qid=1686596366&sprefix=tippett+vision+augustine%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-2

And here's the DG one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-British-2007-BBC-Proms/dp/B000WC2UQS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=158Z3X947TB9L&keywords=Best+of+british+proms+2007&qid=1686596477&s=music&sprefix=best+of+british+proms+2007%2Cpopular%2C69&sr=1-1

The Nimbus one is in this box set:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7961014--sir-michael-tippett-1905-1998-the-nimbus-recordings

or singly here:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7927042--tippett-conducts-tippett