tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post5883798644052344373..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: BBC Young Musicians at the Proms LaunchDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-47172964586637335392018-04-29T00:27:03.033+01:002018-04-29T00:27:03.033+01:00MJB is a very amusing chap - I may not even have p...MJB is a very amusing chap - I may not even have paraphrased him entirely correctly. If anything he was funnier. I hope you get to hear him play in NY ere long. The wit is very apparent in the playing (where appropriate).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-48940651498661557272018-04-29T00:13:31.046+01:002018-04-29T00:13:31.046+01:00This is a very funny, not to mention trenchant, ob...This is a very funny, not to mention trenchant, observation: "But then he thought about it and commented that probably you'd have the man's entire attention for five minutes and he would be charming, and then switch it off."Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15674930917585246294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-19840164932732881752018-04-22T11:19:21.190+01:002018-04-22T11:19:21.190+01:00D'you mean of MASS? Can you imagine Ben and Pe...D'you mean of MASS? Can you imagine Ben and Peter trying to get hip? The mind boggles.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70245483098715300652018-04-22T10:52:51.423+01:002018-04-22T10:52:51.423+01:00Naughtily to flip the coin: Peter Pears for that D...Naughtily to flip the coin: Peter Pears for that Decca recording Britten (never) made with the LSO in 1973? JohnGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-18856945772581029492018-04-22T09:44:32.750+01:002018-04-22T09:44:32.750+01:00Yes, Grimes's fragmentary utterances are defin...Yes, Grimes's fragmentary utterances are definitely behind the 'fraction'. Given how much the Celebrant has to sing in a croon-y falsetto, I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to give it to a tenor rather than a baritone. But Bernstein's vocal lines generally aren't that singer-friendly - a tad on the Beethoven side.<br /><br />Who would have been Bernstein's Grimes then, I wonder? Langridge would have been the one best for the role then. I'm imagining Allan Clayton will be the next in line.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-22490557025742992018-04-22T09:35:16.018+01:002018-04-22T09:35:16.018+01:00May depend on your view about the kind of voice su...May depend on your view about the kind of voice suitable for the Celebrant, David! These days I'm sure you could quite easily find samples. Oh, and yes, meant to say: I completely agree with you about the influence the War Requiem must have had on Mass. To some extent Peter Grimes too, with the 'mad scene'. I'm sure I remember LB being said to be about to record a complete Peter Grimes for DG in 1991 or thereabouts... JohnGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-88006921679712843912018-04-22T09:27:54.034+01:002018-04-22T09:27:54.034+01:00Well, David, I was young-ish in 1989 and I don'...Well, David, I was young-ish in 1989 and I don't know if it was of any significance, but when Ted introduced us he grasped my hand and didn't relinquish it as he walked towards the Gents...<br /><br />I think that MASS is excellent, John, yes - the young Alan Titus was/is the Celebrant. And that lovely, poignant arietta 'Thank you!' is beautifully sung. Might get hold of the Alsop recording for Jubilant Sykes - what a massive and difficult part it is. Must listen to Ed Seckerson's Building a Library.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-52724352026019944562018-04-22T08:30:01.528+01:002018-04-22T08:30:01.528+01:00Sorry David: meant the 1989 Candide, done at the t...Sorry David: meant the 1989 Candide, done at the time LB recorded it for DG (and you encountered him). I've collected most of the available recordings of Mass (funnily enough Bernstein's own on Sony has eluded me: worth getting?), and of these the Alsop/Baltimore on Naxos I think by some distance the best. The wonderfully named Jubilant Sykes as the Celebrant has to be heard to be believed. Total inhabiting of the part, and what a voice.JohnGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-68460149240920615302018-04-22T07:43:41.791+01:002018-04-22T07:43:41.791+01:00I heard Candide conducted by Bernstein ( at that p...I heard Candide conducted by Bernstein ( at that point it was said that it was the only time he had conducted the piece, which I could hardly believe). And I observed that it was possible to hold his attention for longer that 5 minutes, if one was musical, young and good lookingDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-70760737981001445772018-04-21T23:10:42.225+01:002018-04-21T23:10:42.225+01:00But given the numbers, Andrew, that was never an o...But given the numbers, Andrew, that was never an option. The Carnival of the Animals should be quite a command performance (though looking at the programme I see it says 'excerpts' - that's a shame). Anyway, at least it's intriguing, which is more than can be said for most of the orchestral programmes, even if there are some fine visitors.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-30970016643734457402018-04-21T21:22:10.435+01:002018-04-21T21:22:10.435+01:00I'm rather intrigued by the BBC Young Musician...I'm rather intrigued by the BBC Young Musician Prom, which looks like a real risk-of-a-programme; how easily it might have been "let's get the winners to play their winning concerto".Andrew Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13621999760260602982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-80491838162872200272018-04-21T21:21:32.080+01:002018-04-21T21:21:32.080+01:00Yes, John, I really believe so. You're spot on...Yes, John, I really believe so. You're spot on in what you write. I wonder if it would have taken the form it did without the influence of Britten's War Requiem (ie an antagonistic approach to the Latin mass, and a kind of reconciliation at the end); I'm coming to think it's on the same level. <br /><br />Heard it twice live now under Marin Alsop - not the greatest of conductors across the board, but a real motivator and force for the good. The huge diversity of the 500 performers - Chineke! junior orchestra playing alongside member of the National Youth Orchestra, for starters - meant a diverse audience, too, which went crazy for it. Some folk still don't get it - they think it's dated; but the message is eternal, and you can take your pick from Bernstein's dizzying eclecticism. Personally I think it all works.<br /><br />Didn't know about the Bernstein DVD - I actually looked it up, thinking it had to be seen as well as heard, and only found one from Vienna. I only have the 1972 Bernstein on CD.<br /><br />Five years is a good time to wait before hearing/doing such a masterpiece again. And it's the perfect Albert Hall piece. Anyway, I've had my fix this year.<br /><br />MJB is so amusing - you see the esprit in his playing. I love what I heard him do at Southrepps, chiefly Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 and springy Haydn and Beethoven. Youthful zest is his keynote - it doesn't work for everything, but it's such a precious gift.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-61610476192659341042018-04-21T21:06:19.054+01:002018-04-21T21:06:19.054+01:00Bernstein's Mass surely his masterpiece? Much ...Bernstein's Mass surely his masterpiece? Much underrated, though lately coming into its own. Not just a counter-cultural product of the post-JFK years, though fascinatingly that, but a piece about music, and a sort of protracted argument with the 'message' of Beethoven 9. I suspect it might have been programmed for this year's Proms had it not been done (one of the Jarvis at the helm!) back in 2012. I'm pleased to see John Wilson tackling West Side Story, but think Candide might have been even more telling. (Didn't catch all of this morning's Building a Library on that, but I'm guessing you must know the wonderful DVD of LB conducting it live at the Barbican in 1989? How great to have been able to shake his hand. Really interesting segue to Ripley!)JohnGnoreply@blogger.com