BBC Singers performing Bach's Christmas Oratorio 10.12.15

[ahinton]

I have to say, with no small amount of regret, that BBC Singers are not quite of the exalted standard that once I felt they were in the days when Judith Bingham was a member before she began to devote her energies principally to composition; the evidence of the recent broadcast that gave rise to this discussion tends rather to support this view, I fear and the wise words of Sir David Willcocks about singers in choirs are certainly pertinent. At least in some of the more challenging contemporary repertoire for which they have long been associated, BBC Singers continue pretty much to deliver the goods, although I have on occasion heard them compared less than favourably with Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart (http://neuevocalsolisten.de/), a group that likewise specialises in new music; fine as indeed they are, the comparison seems rather less than reasonable, given that the German ensemble is not only 60 years younger than BBC Singers but comprises just seven singers rather than the two dozen that make up BBC Singers.

[Nick Armstrong]

Is it me or my radio, or are the soprano ladies of the BBCS really not that good? ...This is nothing new as far as I'm concerned but since no-one seems to think it needs addressing I am now beginning to think the fault lies with me.

Ouch it was rough, wasn't it...!? And not just the ladies.

I was cycling around London doing stuff and listening not that attentively on little earpieces at low volume - so avoided judgment to some extent; I hadn't looked at the schedules in advance, and was just happy and pleasantly surprised to have the Christmas Oratorio burbling along. An enthusiastic but unpolished performance, I thought as I pedalled - a somewhat rough, apparently amateur choir, possibly from central Europe, being given Christmas airtime via the EBU, were my thoughts on the performance.

[oddoneout]

Hope you weren't still on your bike when you found out who was performing, Caliban.....

[subcontrabass]

The BBC singers don't give public concerts that aren't broadcast. The dedicated groups fill halls, the BBC singers don't.

They do seem to have a dedicated posse of "groupies" who go to many of their performances. Some years ago I heard them in Liverpool Cathedral and encountered people in the audience who had come from various distant parts, the furthest being Brighton.

[Nick Armstrong]

Hope you weren't still on your bike when you found out who was performing, Caliban.....

No - I was back home on the R3 Forum !

[Pulcinella]

Do they accentuate, or just relay what's there without the filters that we as humans tend to employ, especially when actually in the venue and experiencing it as it happens? If you have chosen to go to a particular concert because you are keen on/familiar with the performers I would suggest you are already more likely to ignore the negative or less than satisfactory, by and large. The atmosphere of a live event for those present can also be an effective filter - one gets caught up in the excitement and emotions. On the whole that is probably a good thing. I have sat next to someone who was destructively critical of all aspects of the concert she was at; it was not a good experience and one had to wonder why she was there at all. The downside is the risk of complacency on the part of the performers. Constructive criticism - being a critical friend - enables improvement.

That's much better analysis than just saying 'accentuate'; thanks.
Someone who knows about recording technology might be able to explain the 'forensic' nature of what microphones pick up and transmit.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

They do seem to have a dedicated posse of "groupies" who go to many of their performances. Some years ago I heard them in Liverpool Cathedral and encountered people in the audience who had come from various distant parts, the most furthest being Brighton.

That's sad! The amateur choir I sing with has groupies too - family and friends who follow them wherever they go to ensure a decent size audience.

[ardcarp]

Forensic: relating to or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime.

That's not quite what I meant Jean, though on the other hand........

But seriously, I apologise for using the word loosely. I did mean that the eye-wateringly expensive mikes, plus the clever guys who place them and operate them, will pick up stuff that audiences and performers do not.

I think this was very apt:

The atmosphere of a live event for those present can also be an effective filter - one gets caught up in the excitement and emotions. On the whole that is probably a good thing.

All five senses (yes, even smell!) are firing away when you are present at a musical event, so it is not just pure sound (as at home through speakers) that will form the basis of your musical experience. Incidentally, I was chatting to a recording engineer back in the old days of tape (do they still use it?) who said how important it was to record some 'silence'. Each building has its own ambience, and when editing a final version, any gaps between movements or pieces must have the right kind of 'silence'. I don't know if this is still the case or whether digital magic has done away with all that.

[jean]

Forensic: relating to or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime.

That's not quite what I meant Jean...

I should hope not, because without the word 'science' it only really means concerned with the judicial process (Lat. forensis, pertaining to the forum).

(Apologies for the misplaced pedantry, but I really was puzzled.)

[jean]

...Some years ago I heard them in Liverpool Cathedral and encountered people in the audience who had come from various distant parts, the furthest being Brighton.

I wonder how I missed that! I would have gone, but because they'd have been on my doorstep.

(Are you sure it wasn't New Brighton the groupies had come from?)

[subcontrabass]

I wonder how I missed that! I would have gone, but because they'd have been on my doorstep.

(Are you sure it wasn't New Brighton the groupies had come from?)

Definitely Brighton. They told me that they tried to get to all the BBC Singers' performances. This was their retirement activity.

[oddoneout]

This was their retirement activity.

Intellectual(possibly) version of supporting a football team, with the advantages of more comfortable viewing arrangements and less chance of being thrown off a train or coach going there and back.

[ardcarp]

So many sporting metaphors spring to mind.....