R3 in Concert one-stop shop

[Pulcinella]

Well, the new Symphony No.1 from Joan Armatrading (yes, that one) IMHO got a more-or-less-justified bollocking from the Guardian. Of concern is the "No.1" bit. Chineke! Orchestra continues on its inadvertent mission to pick up the award for Largest Number of Premieres That Sunk Without Trace.

I would have thought that the BBC Proms might hold that accolade!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Very odd piano sound on the Paul Lewis Brahms 1 in this Prague concert .The piano started off very clangy and close miked but then at the second subject it sounded ok. Wonder whether there was a piano mic left too prominent in the balance before some one decided to do something about it ?

[oddoneout]

Saw that tonight's concert is a recording of this version of Handel's Messiah. I have mixed feelings - not because of the "alteration", but because gospel etc isn't really something I get on with - but will tune in anyway. Better to at least give it a go(and a chance to perhaps enjoy?) before saying "no thank you".

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/12/hallelujah-the-gospel-messiah-comes-to-the-uk-a-photo-and-audio-essay-marin-alsop

[Ein Heldenleben]

Saw that tonight's concert is a recording of this version of Handel's Messiah. I have mixed feelings - not because of the "alteration", but because gospel etc isn't really something I get on with - but will tune in anyway. Better to at least give it a go(and a chance to perhaps enjoy?) before saying "no thank you".
https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...ay-marin-alsop

I am a big fan of Gospel music (and indeed Handel) . But this travesty does neither Handel nor the genre any favours, The Every Valley on at the moment is just not well enough sung. Band are doing well but to be honest it just ain’t good enough.

[Frances_iom]

you had more sticking power than I did - 10mins were more than enough.

[Ein Heldenleben]

you had more sticking power than I did - 10mins were more than enough.

To be honest the female singer is very good .The male singer is just not on the note enough. I’m getting what musical pleasure I can from the former and the very virtuosic and versatile piano player who is pretty (and enviably) sensational. He/she is uncredited sadly.

[oddoneout]

I managed less than 15 mins at the beginning and tried again later at what turned out to be the beginning of the 2nd half but only managed 5 mins of that. Happy that those in the hall seemed to be enjoying it but I was left thinking, in relation to the exercise - "why". Better, in my view, to have used all that skill and enthusiasm to do a genuine gospel/alternative Messiah from scratch - either revised text plus new music setting, or cherry pick "old " text to set to new music.

[smittims]

I expect the inclusion of Handel's music, in however altered a form, was to get more people to listen, and it seems to have worked. In the same way Bizet's music for Carmen has been 'used' in various productions which bear little if any resemblance to the original.

But, as with similar programmes discussed recently, the question for me is, why was this on Radio3? If the idea was to get non-Handel fans to listen to Handel, Radio One or Two would seem more appropriate, especially as the BBC claims to have 'no barriers' .

[oddoneout]

Oh dear...

"...despite being a virgin, He has fixed it so she will bear a child who "will be called the Son of the Most High." Bach later added four extra Christmas-themed movements to zhuzh up his setting with a seasonal twist for his Leipzig congregation.

AI still learning its trade or was an actual human responsible for that?

[kernelbogey]

I thought the 50th anniversary (birthday) concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra tonight a delight. What a cracking band!

I haven't lately listened to evening concerts - so have been spared the new manifestation of interval features. If tonight's was a representative sample - bit of chat, bit of interview, a couple of historical recordings of the same band - it's a poor descendant of interval features of the past. They could range widely over musical issues, be given by distinguished musical thinkers, or range out over literature, drama or, er, philosophy. Mais où sont les neiges d'antan...?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I thought the 50th anniversary (birthday) concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra tonight a delight. What a cracking band!

I haven't lately listened to evening concerts - so have been spared the new manifestation of interval features. If tonight's was a representative sample - bit of chat, bit of interview, a couple of historical recordings of the same band - it's a poor descendant of interval features of the past. They could range widely over musical issues, be given by distinguished musical thinkers, or range out over literature, drama or, er, philosophy. Mais où sont les neiges d'antan...?

Interesting question that. Les Neiges have melted away through a combination , I think , of cost savings and a perception that tastes have changed. It costs much more money to book and pay a speaker , record them in a studio and edit than say doing a live chat with a couple of free clips.
The other reason might be the feeling that audiences won’t listen to 20 minutes solid of a talking head - or they might - but not in the context of a two hour concert. Funnily enough as a contrary trend there’s never been a bigger demand for extended speech e.g the better podcasts and most notably TED talks - almost exactly the length of an interval feature. If only the Beeb could adopt their model : no fee for the speaker and $5,000 min for conference tickets.

[oddoneout]

I thought the 50th anniversary (birthday) concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra tonight a delight. What a cracking band!

I haven't lately listened to evening concerts - so have been spared the new manifestation of interval features. If tonight's was a representative sample - bit of chat, bit of interview, a couple of historical recordings of the same band - it's a poor descendant of interval features of the past. They could range widely over musical issues, be given by distinguished musical thinkers, or range out over literature, drama or, er, philosophy. Mais où sont les neiges d'antan...?

Shock, horror, Classical music on the "home of classical music" - someone dropped the ball there! I've got so used to the evening offerings being of little or no interest that I almost missed this. I could have done without the first piece on the programme - I was impatient to get to the proper music.
The problem I find now with the interval offerings is that my attention(and my physical body - going to make a cuppa etc) tends to wander because of the bittiness and I don't always get my concentration(or indeed my presence) fully back in time for the second half, as the presenter's words can seem like more of the interval chat if I'm just 'skim listening' from elsewhere. Perhaps if I was a more regular listener to the evening concerts I would get sufficiently used to the format to manage the interval better...

[Pulcinella]

This ties in with the latest BBC MM cover CD, for which there is a delicious irony (that I pointed out to them without any response).

The cover, as usual, says:
Complete works
Exclusive recordings

Do we get a complete work?
No!
It's like a now all too prevalent R3 programme.

Mozart: S38 (First movement)
Mozart: PC25 (Third movement)
Brahms: S1 (First movement)
Mendelssohn: Violin concerto (suggests whole piece, but at only 8'25" that seems unlikely!)
Schubert: S9 (Fourth movement)

So far it's still in its shrinkwrap.

[oddoneout]

This ties in with the latest BBC MM cover CD, for which there is a delicious irony (that I pointed out to them without any response).

The cover, as usual, says:
Complete works
Exclusive recordings

Do we get a complete work?
No!
It's like a now all too prevalent R3 programme.

Mozart: S38 (First movement)
Mozart: PC25 (Third movement)
Brahms: S1 (First movement)
Mendelssohn: Violin concerto (suggests whole piece, but at only 8'25" that seems unlikely!)
Schubert: S9 (Fourth movement)

So far it's still in its shrinkwrap.

Wasn't there, years ago, some sort of organisation - local council I think - where problems with goods not as claimed could be referred... Trading Standards it was called wasn't it?
I have heard that there is still some sort of advertising thingy that does(supposedly) a similar job for misleading claims.
What you describe would seem to fit in both those categories, but that means nothing these days does it?

[Pulcinella]

Wasn't there, years ago, some sort of organisation - local council I think - where problems with goods not as claimed could be referred... Trading Standards it was called wasn't it?
I have heard that there is still some sort of advertising thingy that does(supposedly) a similar job for misleading claims.
What you describe would seem to fit in both those categories, but that means nothing these days does it?

Interestingly, in the February 2024 issue that's just dropped through the letter box, a letter (not mine) has been printed which similarly deplores the single-movement aspect of the January release, and elicited a response:

We have received a number of similar letters about our January cover CD featuring only single movements and not whole works. Please rest assured that it was a one-off — intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with various performances from across the years — and that normal service resumes this month.