What's happening to BAL?

[Cellini]

I quite like to hear a discussion, but only when the reviewers are sincere.
I don't like cooing either; it reminds of of those Proms interval chats with Special Guests.

And what I hated (when I had a telly) was when everyone (the special "guests") - agreed and no-one (or at least not often) said that something was a poor piece of music, or badly performed and why, or made any meaningful comments about the concert. Always the too cosy worthless chat.

[Caliban]

Totally agree, BUT usually in CDR, such surveys are NOT BAL slots at all, but almost always placed after it.

The survery format IMO diffuses the exercise, and actually in the end, I'm not sure what i've listeneed to or for what it might be useful. The one on Sat dotted about fairly confusingly from pre- to post-, this orchestra / that orchestra, this isn't in this collection, and I see they haven't included that EMI session at Walthamstow Town Hall when he conducted X, but the real treasure here is the X he did with band Y at...... etcetcetc.

All of which tended to make the survey feel a bit like people watching a fishing net come out of the sea, inspection of catch, but knowing that other boats had caught different stuff a few miles away.

Now if they restored 'Interpretations on Record', we would have a regular slot outside CDR that dealt with this and they could re-deploy that BAL area to exploratory chat a la Beecham jaw.

Quite - plus the chat lacked the comprehensive survey quality of BAL - lots of stuff wasn't considered (Sibelius, operas) because they weren't in the 'new release' boxes being talked about. It was not a survey of Sir TB's recorded legacy - just of a couple of recently-released box sets.

[umslopogaas]

Post 5 Pilamenon

"Chat is much more in vogue nowadays than monologue."

Well yes, but at least chat offers the option for dialogue, assuming you dont usually talk to yourself. Nice to involve other people, they have different perspectives. Possibilities open up. Whereas monologue does imply a certain monotonous and unhealthy self-interest ... I suspect Adolf Hitler spent a lot of time in monologue and I'm sure he always agreed with the arguments. I'll settle for chat.

[mikealdren]

Personally I'm happy with chat or monologue but they are different. Chat is less structured and therefore less comprehensive, not really suitable for a reviewing all the versions of a work where the prepared and considered review (monologue) works well. Scripted chat always sounds false.

Mike

[StephenO]

Chat's fine, particularly when it involves Rob, but a monologue is better for giving one person's top recommendation of a work - and I thought that was the whole point of BaL.

[Caliban]

Excellent to be back to the familiar BAL approach today with the exemplary Chris de Souza.

I don't mind a discussion format necessarily, but the drawback is that it means more chat and less music. This morning was a reminder that a single reviewer means more room for hearing the different versions available.

The key thing for me is that there needs to be time and scope to hear as many as possible comparative extracts, from performances throughout the recorded history of the work.

This morning, it was fascinating to hear the same passages conducted by Barbirolli in 1940, and compare it with the likes of Bernstein, Koopman, etc etc from later decades.

THAT is the key to BAL, and it's been missing in the 'alternative formats' tried lately, limiting the review to 'recent releases' chatted about and the odd illustration played.

Hope the comprehensive, comparative aspects of BAL will remain next week for St John Passion and thereafter...

[amateur51]

This was a return to form for BAL, as you say Caliban, and I thought that Chris de Souza did an excellent job.

I was pleased too that Andrew told us that in buying Barbirolli's 'live' 1940 performance, you also get K595 with Robert Casadesus AND Benny Goodman in the Clarinet concerto - certainly a 'must have' for me.

[gurnemanz]

limiting the review to 'recent releases' chatted about and the odd illustration played.

Hope the comprehensive, comparative aspects of BAL will remain next week for St John Passion and thereafter...

This proved to be a false hope. For St John we had a survey the 12 most recent recordings and were back to BAL Lite. It was interesting but, for me at least, of limited use in the traditional BAL context of "all available recordings".

[Caliban]

This proved to be a false hope. For St John we had a survey the 12 most recent recordings and were back to BAL Lite. It was interesting but, for me at least, of limited use in the traditional BAL context of "all available recordings".

Sounds as though next week will also go 'lite' with Roy Goodman talking to AMcG with an emphasis on latest releases of the LvB Violin Concerto

[rauschwerk]

For St John we had a survey the 12 most recent recordings and were back to BAL Lite.

And a good thing too. It would not be humanly possible to compare 30-odd versions of such a long work in the time available.