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Various types of music / Coming broadcasts and listen-later links / Spain-Dunk on R3
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on: November 27, 2021, 09:16:52 pm
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Noticed the name of Susan Spain-Dunk on a couple of Afternoon Concerts this week (24/25 Nov) so ever-hopeful on the off-chance caught up with them via BBC Sounds, where they're still to be found.
Sorry to say I thought the music was frankly pretty feeble: mind you, the orchestra sounded as uninvolved as I was, which won't have helped. Fact is, sometimes neglected music is neglected for a reason. Other, of course, may feel differently...
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Various types of music / Commercial recordings (vintage, new and forthcoming) / Re: Joseph Holbrooke from CPO
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on: June 12, 2019, 04:59:33 pm
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I'm afraid I'm somewhat underwhelmed by the new CPO disc, but I have to say I think that's more than a little down to the performances, which strike me as not much more than rather tepid runs-through; for example, listen to how much more carefully Vernon Handley shaped and phrased The Birds of Rhiannon, whereas in this reading it rather just meanders along...Music with such a tendency to prolixity such as Holbrookes - the first movement of Ships being a case in point - really needs the acute ear and sensitivity of a Beecham: what a shame he never recorded any. (I once saw Howard Griffiths described by a famously dyspeptic US reviewer as a "routinier", and took great objection to the term, but I now wonder; this is music that needs much more than simply beating time....)
Having said which, I do hope someone (else) finally records The Bells one day - a splendid piece right up with the best of his work, but which definitely needs a razor-sharp performance from all involved...
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Downloads by surname / Downloads: discussion without links / Early Tippett
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on: February 02, 2018, 11:28:03 am
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Well, the first broadcast of Tippett's discarded first-First symphony was a surprise! I'd assumed it would at least have some faint pre-echoes of the Tippet we know - sprung rhythms, a hint of Tudor music, Beethovenian notes mixed in with a sprinkling of Stravinsky, probably even some VW - but in the event...when he described it as being excessively influenced by Sibelius he sure wasn't wrong! I hadn't appreciated how much impact Sibelius 1st must have had on British composers of the time - especially the opening woodwind solo (a feature also of Gardner's 2nd.) And indeed the woodwind writing throughout was deeply in thrall to the Sibelian sound. Listening blind (?) I can't think I'd ever have identified the composer. A distinct oddity - it'll need greater familiarity to assess its worth as a symphony per se, though it's clear already that the "official" 1st is far more accomplished. An interesting thought though that in some ways Tippets fourth and final symphony also references Sibelius, albeit in much more fundamental and structural ways - this time expressed entirely in Tippett's own voice...
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Various types of music / Commercial recordings (vintage, new and forthcoming) / Re: Lyrita futures
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on: September 15, 2017, 02:36:52 pm
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Having just listened to the brief clips of the Lloyd 6&7 on Lyrita, I have to say that, for all some rough edges, they do sound a lot more vehement and energized than the composers own slightly comfortable recordings - and thus justifying their reissue after all. I'm going to revise my wary initial welcome and order this one! Hopefully the reissue of Bax 2nd/Goosens will be equally revelatory - given that the Dutton issue was taken from very worn discs, whereas Richard Itters own was (presumably?) unplayed and unused?
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