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Post by Gerard on Apr 19, 2013 2:39:26 GMT -5
Well, now that the revival of the Third Programme has been announced at the Art-Music forum, I think it can at last be considered to have been well and truly launched. To c to organize the gala opening!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2013 3:31:28 GMT -5
Good morning, Gerard! Congratulations to everyone involved in the launch of ' The Third Programme' in 2013! If I may neverthless address your final point directly, Gerard: " ... To c to organize the gala opening!" Sydney Grew and kleines c have indeed been discussing the gala opening in some detail over the past few months. As the launch of the Third Programme coincides, almost precisely, with the launch of the 2013 Proms Season, Gerard, it seems sensible to combine the two! BBC PromsThe gala opening will therefore take place promptly at 16:30 (BST) on Friday 12 July 2013, featuring a selection of artists from the 2013 Proms Season! Proms Plus In TuneEveryone reading ' The Third' is cordially invited to join Suzy Klein at the Royal College of Music (RCM). The gala opening will be followed by the First Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The 2013 Proms begins with a surge of natural energy in sea-inspired works by Britten and Vaughan Williams (the latter combining the 300-strong Proms Youth Choir and the BBC Symphony Chorus). A world premiere from Julian Anderson and two sets of Paganini variations by Rachmaninov and featured composer Lutoslawski add pianistic stardust. Prom 1: First Night of the PromsIf you cannot make it to the gala opening in person, it will also be on radio, television and online. BBC News reported yesterday that the Last Night of The Proms is to be led by a female conductor for the first time in its 118 year history. American Marin Alsop said she was "thrilled" to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra and violinist Nigel Kennedy. The festival includes 92 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and four across the United Kingdom (UK). The Doctor Who Proms will return as part of the 50th anniversary, while BBC 6 Music will host its first Prom with Brit award winner Laura Marling. "I think the fact that I'm an American woman, conducting the last night of the Proms is really a statement," Alsop told the BBC. "I'm extraordinarily proud to be the first woman, but I'm also sad that it's 2013 and there still can be firsts for women," she added. Alsop will be joined by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Kennedy, who is performing at the closing night for the first time. Director of the Proms and BBC Radio 3 controller Roger Wright said since conducting started it has been a "man's world". "There are some of us who are moving that on - not least the women artists themselves," he added. BBC News - BBC Proms appoints first female director for Last NightI propose some toast: to Sydney Grew, ' The Third Programme' and all of you! For the alert and receptive listener, the splendour returns! Three cheers from kleines c, Chelsea and the legendary bb (Friday morning tea)!
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Post by neilmcgowan on Apr 19, 2013 3:58:06 GMT -5
Alsop is an excellent conductor, although she is wasted on the twaddle that makes up the LNOTP programme
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2013 4:37:07 GMT -5
. . . "I think the fact that I'm an American woman, conducting the last night of the Proms is really a statement" Alsop told the BBC. . . . It's a statement all right . . .
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2013 5:06:24 GMT -5
I don't actually think that Marin Alsop will be wasted on the Last Night, Neil McGowan and Sydney Grew. As you are probably both aware, I am a fan(atic) of the Last Night of the Proms, although I do tend to give my tickets to friends, who may never have experienced the unique atmosphere before! The programme for the Last Night is quite different from any other night of the Proms. The Last Night begins with a celebratory new work by Anna Clyne and includes a rare performance of Britten’s 1967 overture for chorus and orchestra ' The Building of the House', a touch of Broadway magic and the sound of a glass ceiling being broken as Marin Alsop takes charge of her first Last Night. Nigel Kennedy and Joyce DiDonato are the star soloists in a programme that picks up sea-faring themes from Bantock and George Lloyd and includes a translatlantic flavour. Let me therefore post the programme in full: Prom 75: Last Night of the PromsIt is populist, but so, in a profound sense, is and are the Proms. I should perhaps report that I have been involved in an all-too-rare online dialogue with french frank over the past week. The notorious 'kleines c' is indeed an avowed populist and anti-elitist who has publicly stated that he could not and would not join the Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3)! Yet let bygones be bygones! I should therefore like to take this opportunity, once again, to invite french frank and all the legendary Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3) to join us at one of the Proms this summer. Whilst I would not expect her at the Last Night, the choice is, as ever, french frank's! I guess that one reason why I like the Last Night, Neil McGowan, is precisely because it is overtly populist, although it does generally have one or two new and obscure pieces in a spectacularly varied programme of classical music. Let us not forget the four Proms in the Park which take place simultaneously around what is still, if only just, the United Kingdom (UK). Last Night Celebrations around the UKAs for American women, and Marin Alsop in particular, you will get over them, Sydney Grew, but will they get over you? Out of interest, Neil McGowan, what specifically do you consider to be 'twaddle'?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2013 1:46:36 GMT -5
Writing in ' The Daily Telegraph', Katy Brand argues that it's about time the Last Night of the Proms moved on – and its first ever female conductor Marin Alsop is just the woman to do it. The Last Night of the Proms has long been a somewhat divisive event in Britain. Is it an embarrassing, flag-waving, jingoistic, imperialist expression of a bye-gone era? Or a harmless, joyful, unifying representation of national pride for all, British people of every creed and colour? Well, Katy will let you decide (I know, big of her), but one thing is certain: this year’s Last Night has, at least, managed to wrench itself free of its traditional moorings in one respect – it will, for the first time ever, be conducted by a woman. And that woman is Marin Alsop. Female conductors are about as common as hen's teeth. A comedian friend of mine once said that a comic is always the person facing the wrong way, and this is doubly true of a conductor. If a comedian onstage is the only individual in the room facing the audience, then a conductor is the only person on stage facing the performers. To put yourself in a position where you are neither orchestra nor audience, that is to say, a unique figure, elevated on your own little platform, essentially telling everyone in the room what to do (you listen; you play) requires a rather particular set of personal characteristics that we probably traditionally associate with men, slightly crazy, arrogant, wild-eyed men. So here comes Alsop, who has already established herself as one of the world’s leading conductors with her work in Baltimore with the city’s Symphony Orchestra and her widely regarded performances with the São Paulo orchestra, with which she recently toured Europe to critical acclaim. Katy concludes thus: Telegraph - Proms 2013: First female conductor Marin Alsop is just the ticketSo does the Last Night of the Proms already look like a sloaney Last Days of the Raj fancy dress party held in an Indian restaurant, Neil McGowan? Well yes, on reflection, there is an element of a fancy dress party, and as Kensington Gore is about a mile away from Sloane Square and some upmarket Indian restaurants, a late curry after the Last Night of the Proms makes a lot of sense to kleines c. So that's the point, Sydney Grew, init? We'll get over not just American women, Gerard, but all women?
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Post by neilmcgowan on Apr 20, 2013 6:18:01 GMT -5
Is it an embarrassing, flag-waving, jingoistic, imperialist expression of a bye-gone era? Yes, it is. It is a nasty, tub-thumping throwback to the days of classical music on seaside bandstands. It cheapens the image of the Proms as a music festival, and it repels audiences. It's like Thatcher's Funeral II.
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Post by Gerard on Apr 21, 2013 0:52:39 GMT -5
. . . a sloaney [ sic] Last Days of the Raj fancy dress party held in an Indian restaurant. . . . To me who believe in rule by the worthy and not by the mob, and am incapable of nationalism, it is matter of great regret that the raj went.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2013 5:35:17 GMT -5
Good morning to you all. I trust that all is well with all of you this weekend! If I may nevertheless address all three of your points below directly, Neil McGowan: [/quote] I have no objection at all to classical music on seaside bandstands. Let us therefore make great music on a bandstand, in the Royal Albert Hall, on the world wide web or even here on ' The Third Programme'! The Last Night is, I agree, a throwback to the nineteenth century, but it is, in my experience, more good humoured than nasty! It cheapens the image of the Proms as a music festival, and it repels audiences. Tickets for the Last Night sell for around £500 on the black market. The Last Night therefore demonstrably increases the value of tickets. The image of the Proms as a music festival is inherently subjective, anyway, so what cheapens an image for Neil McGowan may, simultaneously, have the opposite effect on kleines c. It's like Thatcher's Funeral II. In the sense that they are both London spectacles televised across the world, this is undoubtedly true. I suppose that the Last Night of the Proms is, metaphorically, something of a funeral. It marks the end of one season, and looks forward to the next. Therefore, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, Neil McGowan, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. [/b][/i] YouTube - Channel 4 News - Amanda Thatcher reading at Margaret Thatcher's funeral ceremonyIf I may also address your final point, Gerard: ' . . . a sloaney [sic] Last Days of the Raj fancy dress party held in an Indian restaurant . . . 'To me who believe in rule by the worthy and not by the mob, and am incapable of nationalism, it is matter of great regret that the raj went. I suppose that one legacy of the Raj is a good curry, a fusion of British and Indian cooking. Bringing back the Raj may not be possible, Gerard. Cooking a curry, however, is relatively easy. Here are some recommended recipes in the following link: BBC Good Food - Curry recipesThere is nothing like a good curry?
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Post by neilmcgowan on Apr 21, 2013 13:21:58 GMT -5
Therefore, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood
You can keep your Lord, and your Last Night too. I want nothing to do with either of them. An utterly putrid event. I hope that in future orchestral musicians - most of whom hate the LNOTP - will refuse to perform.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2013 14:03:28 GMT -5
Well, to be specific, it will have to be the BBC Symphony Orchestra which refuses to do the Last Night, Neil McGowan. As I happen to know one or two of the players, I can report that this is most unlikely to happen. Nevertheless, I do actually take your point, Neil McGowan. The Last Night is overtly populist, nationalistic, perhaps even jingoistic. It belongs more to the triumphant Victorians than the uneasy new Elizabethans of the twenty-first century.
Nevertheless, because we live in a pluralistic society, and wider world, we shall continue to tolerate the Last Night. Of course, you could ultimately replace it with pop music, but that is beside the point. The point of the Proms is the celebration of classical music, for which we need a live orchestra.
Serious musicians, like Sydney Grew and Neil McGowan, are more than welcome to ignore the event. But it is an event which kleines c, and hundreds of millions of other people from around the world, will continue to celebrate.
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Post by neilmcgowan on Apr 21, 2013 15:29:08 GMT -5
The point of the Proms is the celebration of classical music
But it's a profanation of classical music And a profanation of all of the many dozens of Proms Festival concerts which precede it, more's the pity. Of course, as you say, the players of the BBC SO would never dare to rebel against their neoconservative paymasters
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Post by Gerard on Apr 21, 2013 19:57:47 GMT -5
I hope this is not a reference to the above-mentioned "late curry in an upmarket Indian restaurant" . . .
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2013 2:15:53 GMT -5
Although Neil is most unlikely to attend the Last Night of the Proms under any circumstances, even if you paid him, given his stated views above, a late curry in an upmarket Indian restaurant might be an acceptable alternative. I shall bear this idea in mind when Neil comes to London later in the year, Gerard! As for the most upmarket Indian restaurant in London, this is a question which has exercised kleines c for many years! ' Tamarind', in the heart of Mayfair, is upmarket, but the food is not actually that good! TamarindThe restaurant has a Michelin star, and the renowned restaurant critic, Andy Hayler, gave the following review: Andy Hayler's Restaurant Review - TamarindAccording to ' Time Out', here are London's top ten Indian restaurants: Time Out - London's best Indian restaurantsI still reckon that I can do better at home, however, Gerard!
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Post by neilmcgowan on Apr 22, 2013 4:37:40 GMT -5
I've tried two of the establishments on the "Top 10" list, kleines - "Rasa", and "Cinnamon Club". Both deserve their Top 10 listing. Being a vegetarian anyhow, I tend to gravitate to Drummond Street when in London - there's a good showing of Indian veggie places there, including "Ravi Shankar"... which has a particular following among the London-based "Early Music" performers The last time we were in there, we bumped into The Dufay Collective after one of their gigs. The Musicians Of The Globe (before they were disbanded by the philistine Dromgoole) used to meet there regularly. In Eversholt Street, on the other side of Euston Station Plaza, there's another favourite - The Great Nepalese Not in the slightest pretentious, but always charming. The exotic location is wedged in next to a sex shop, a minicab office, and a transsexual dressing-consultancy centre. There'd been a three-year gap since I was last there, but when I went in, I was greeted with "Ah, hello again, Sir! Gin & Tonic, and spicy papadoms, Sir?" This summer we shall, indeed, be spurning the Victorian swimming pool of the RAH, in favour of the Usher Hall in Edinburgh - where my other half is performing as a soloist in the Festival, with the Russian National Orchestra.
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