Prom 18 - 30.07.14: BBC Phil, Tharaud / Mena

[Petrushka]

All these comments on the TV recording make it all the sadder that Night's Black Bird was left out... all but forgotten now it seems...

It's a 21st Century Classic, for heaven's sake...

All is not lost, Jayne. It's to be aired in a special BBC4 programme to mark the 80th birthdays of Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies. Hopefully, complete.

[jayne lee wilson]

All is not lost, Jayne. It's to be aired in a special BBC4 programme to mark the 80th birthdays of Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies. Hopefully, complete.

AS the footie fan said, "It's not the despair I can't stand, it's the HOPE"...
This time Pet., I think it's hope against hope...

[Nick Armstrong]

Lovely performance of the Ravel ...Fascinating footage of Paul Wittgenstein BTW.

I'd take issue with the first of those statements - seeing / hearing it again confirmed my view from the stalls that the opening up until the big upward glissando was a botch-job from the pianist, and that only the delicate music really found him up to the piece. The accompaniment was better, cf my comments on the night.

The Wittgenstein clip was indeed fascinating - displayed a similar tendency to 'botch it up' as Tharaud in that opening passage

[Nick Armstrong]

Finally found time on a rainy bank holiday to listen to the recording of this concert I made on the DAB radio. Amazing how much more powerful the radio broadcast made Tharaud's playing of the introduction seem, compared with the experience in the hall (quite close) and on the TV broadcast. The downside was that inaccuracies were highlighted. I continue to think he wasn't on top of the piece - or his game.