The Best of British Music at the Proms

[salymap]

I have always hoped that BBC4 would return to its golden days when ballet, opera and concerts were regularly programmed.
Now it's joined the BC crowd and tonight we have Petroc introducing the Hallelujah Chorus, Elgar's March no 1, The Dam Busters March,Britten's YPG, Dido's Lament, etc from Proms of the last ten years.
Perhaps I should be grateful but it's following a trend IMO.

[antongould]

Maybe you should be grateful - but as so often you have a point, even I as a bleeding BCer feel this "concept" would be better as a series with a significant number of FWs.

[Norfolk Born]

Yet another example of what I call Musical Dim Sum - a compilation of pieces that overall fails to provide nourishment and doesn't add up to very much.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm loving watching Noddy at work with Elgar though Yes, the whole thing ("FW") would be be better, and bloody Trelawney wading in a split second after the end is .... but a bit of live Rozhdestvensky is better than nothing!

[salymap]

Yes, you are right Caliban. I shall have to catch it on iPlayer later.

[Mary Chambers]

It had its moments, notably Sarah Connolly and Andreas Scholl, great singers both, but I was shocked by the fact that only the beginning and end parts of Britten's YPG were played! I don't think that can have been the case at the actual concert - must have been editing for this programme, but really....it was Classic FM programming, or even worse.

[salymap]

That's awful Mary. If any work loses it's point by cutting it's the YPG. The run through of the instruments and the gradual emergence of the fugue aren't to be tampered with.

[amateur51]

I'm loving watching Noddy at work with Elgar though Yes, the whole thing ("FW") would be be better, and bloody Trelawney wading in a split second after the end is .... but a bit of live Rozhdestvensky is better than nothing!

To be fair to Squire Trelawney (not my natural instinct) twas his producer who crashed the end of Nimrod. Lovely to see Noddy standing amongst the RPO who played beautifully for him.

[Dave2002]

Maybe you should be grateful - but as so often you have a point, even I as a bleeding BCer feel this "concept" would be better as a series with a significant number of FWs.

BCer?

Haven't watched this yet.

I was tempted to write a few weeks ago, when I turned on R3 about drive home time. I know In Tune has come in for some flak here, and not everyone likes Sean Rafferty, but I really thought we'd gone Listen With Mother when Suzie Klein took over. It just didn't feel right at all, and I was glad to have SR back more recently.

At first the SK "shows" seemed to be just like YAPP (Yet Another Playlist Programme), but in fact they did have real live guests, but somehow they didn't work for me.

For real dumbing down, I (mistakenly) thought R3 had succumbed to it horrendously a few weeks ago. I turned on R4 (thinking it was R3) on Valentine's Day, and heard a bit of a programme presumably about "romance" with someone I'd never heard of wittering on about her life, talking over a recording of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto - 2nd movement, which came and went. That was really dreadful. It not only had voice-over at varying volume levels - for the music and the voice, but also cut-ins/cut-outs. I was quite pleased to discover that it was my mistake, and I'd tuned in to the wrong channel. I did have somewhat uncharitable thoughts about why did I care about this woman's chuntering anyway, and what had it got to do with the music.

Be thankful that R3 hasn't reached these depths (yet)!

[Ravensbourne]

It had its moments, notably Sarah Connolly and Andreas Scholl, great singers both, but I was shocked by the fact that only the beginning and end parts of Britten's YPG were played!

This certainly was not the case at the actual concert in 2011. You can see the narrator, Jenny Agutter, from time to time, though no narration was included last night.

I was also unimpressed by the applause inserted in the middle of Elgar’s cello concerto.

[Mary Chambers]

Applause also wrecked the end of Connolly's Dido's Lament, crashing in when she had barely finished - but this was definitely a crime committed by the editor of this programme, which cut out the chorus that followed at the actual concert.

[Nick Armstrong]

This certainly was not the case at the actual concert in 2011. You can see the narrator, Jenny Agutter, from time to time, though no narration was included last night.

Oh it was that performance was it?! Thank heavens for the editing scissors in that case, I thought the 'narration' was horrendous!

[Serial_Apologist]

It had its moments, notably Sarah Connolly and Andreas Scholl, great singers both, but I was shocked by the fact that only the beginning and end parts of Britten's YPG were played! I don't think that can have been the case at the actual concert - must have been editing for this programme, but really....it was Classic FM programming, or even worse.

If that becomes regular practice the work will either have to be charged under the Trades Description Act or re-named "The Young Person's Misguidance to the Orchestra".

[ahinton]

If that becomes regular practice the work will either have to be charged under the Trades Description Act or re-named "The Young Person's Misguidance to the Orchestra".

Even if so, that's not quite as barbed as Oliver Knussen's long ago but distinctly memorable off-the-cuff assessment of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra as The Old Persons' Guide to the Orchestra...

[Serial_Apologist]

Even if so, that's not quite as barbed as Oliver Knussen's long ago but distinctly memorable off-the-cuff assessment of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra as The Old Persons' Guide to the Orchestra...

Hadn't heard that one!