In failing to maintain an open mind about the innovation being introduced of the kind
@TheCBSO
is proposing, those who complain are simply reinforcing the need for innovation in the first place.
400 viable musicians playing 90 seconds of Mars from The Planets, using 20% of the music to illustrate the paltry support they’re getting during
#COVID19
.
#LetMusicLive
. Recognise their contribution to this country’s economy. Support them.
Norman Lebrecht is part of classical music’s problem. If you’ve got him on your distribution list for press releases or invites, you really need to remove him. Otherwise you’re part of the problem too.
Felix Klieser, a man with no arms, has just played a horn concerto with his foot and made the near capacity audience at the Royal Albert Hall roar with appreciation. Suddenly, nothing seems impossible anymore.
#bbcproms
Delighted to announce (I’ve had to keep it secret for months now) that I’ll be joining the new presenter line-up for the
#BBCProms
this year. Yay. Finally. Tenacity really does pay off kids.
#LetMusicLive
.
@RishiSunak
: support freelance musicians. Recognise their contribution to the UK economy. We need these people. Audiences need them. We all need them.
25 years ago at 8.15pm I arrived fifteen minutes late for a blind date outside The White Swan in Limehouse, London. I was due to meet a man who I understood worked in ‘band management’. It sounded like orchestral management to me. He seemed like my kind of chap.
A big pat on the back for the
@BBCProms
team (and presumably commissioner Suzy Klein) for actually broadcasting the
#FNotP
live. Doing so adds to the excitement of live performance. Live TV is far from easy, but it's cracking to watch.
#BBCProms
The closest I can get to being in a professional orchestra is filming them. Joyous to wander around the
@EnglishConcert
’s
#bbcproms
rehearsal today. So much texture. So much detail. Especially loving the epic bass lines and the looks exchanged between players.
"A quarter of adults would be more likely to attend a classical music event if they didn’t have to dress up."
That means three quarters either want to dress up, don’t mind dressing up, don’t feel they have to dress up or COULDN'T GIVE A MONKEYS CHUFF.
I once slagged off Status Quo to a blind date who I assumed was just a fan of the band, who I later discovered was in fact the lead singer’s eldest son. We’ve been together for 22 years. Partnered for 12. Married for 6.
@_PeterHunt
It’s entertainment, not journalism. I’d rather there was journalism in it. Knowing this from you Peter prompts me to not watch it. Thank you for flagging.
"The sight of a group of masked string players, the majority of them women too, is nailing a number of different messages: we’re here; we’re getting on with it; we won’t be beaten by your nonsense." Very good work, London
@MozartPlayers
.
Later this summer I’m celebrating my 50th birthday.
Rather than laying on a grand event or asking people to give to charity, I’d like to come up with a 50th birthday reading list of recommendations made by friends and associates.
What do you recommend? 👇
I can’t quite find the right words to sum up the wonderful effect
@NickyBenedetti
has whenever she speaks. This will have to do: a woman with an infectious energy who articulates the joy and necessity of the
@benedetti_fdtn
’s work in such a way that I want to be a kid again.
Never been to a
@wigmore_hall
concert before? Think you won’t like it? Sit yourself down in the bar an hour before the concert begins. Get yourself a book. Read. Note the gradual increase in hubbub. The pre-concert build-up is what makes any concert venue feel like home to me.
I notice that I am brimming with the excitement about the approaching live broadcasting from the Royal Albert Hall - the first night of this year's
@BBCProms
. Quite frankly, the
@BBCSymphonyOrchestra
could play a C Major scale and I'd be happy. Much anticipation.
Call from
@AnthonyNolan
Trust just now. "We think you're a partial match for a patient. Could we confirm your address - 'Bowland College, Lancaster'?" Turns out I registered and gave blood 24 yrs ago. Tracked me down now (for the first time) because I might be a match. Amazing.
Sarah Connolly's passion and seemingly limitless energy has been a wonderful thing to follow over the past 18 months. I think the arts world owes her a lot for her campaigning.
Can't overstate how uplifting the statement about
@BBCSingers
has been today. It is by no means a guarantee and there is a lot of uncertainty about the 20% of English orchestral musicians that still needs resolving. But, today it feels like maybe
#classicalmusic
isn't being…
Baritone and conductor
@SamEvansLondon
speaking to
@TimesRadio
: "A very few number of senior people in the
@BBC
have taken the decision to scrap the
@BBCSingers
with very little consultation, no meaningful research into the impact and they have covered it with a blanket of…
Debussy Prelude on
#BBCProms
conducted by Olly. Bringing many tears to my eyes. Overwhelming emotion: yearning. So many of my friends outside of classical music don't quite get why the lack of live performance is such a gaping hole. I miss it and the company of the audience.
Multi-talented
@annalapwood
further illustrates her considerable creative talents in her latest
@SignumRecords
album incl. a cracking arrange’t of Britten’s 4 Sea Interl’s, new music by
@owainpark
+ a bone-rattler from
@CherylHoad
I’m having at my funeral.
BBC ensemble that was going to be ditched this time last year now wins RPS Award for being brilliant in an awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The RPS Ensemble Award goes to
@BBCSingers
for the 'astonishing quality, style and imagination they've invested in their endeavours, from innovative associations to educational ventures. Here’s how to do it: whatever life casts your way, come out singing!'
#RPSAwards
Ruth Gipps Horn Concerto: a divine new discovery. Blissfully mercurial with a post-war optimistic pastoral feel to it. (NB Ive no idea when it was written. Sorry, etc.)
#bbcyoungmusician
Does classical music really need to be ‘dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century’? The phrase always makes classical music sound like a teenager refusing to get out of bed for school.
I’ve had some good news today. Very good news. I’m not going to say what it is, why it’s good or how privileged or humbled/touched/excited for/about/to or any of that bollocks to be doing it. Because I’ve earned the opportunity. So, I’m going to the Coop to get wine instead.
I’m sat in Bath Abbey waiting (in silence with a hundred or so others) for a concert at
@Bathfestivals
to begin. The most incredible feeling. So very missed. So very much appreciated. The presence of other humans is utterly glorious.
Ahead of the
@UlsterOrchestra
's premiere on Friday 5 May of 'As The Sun Brightens, The Shadows Deepen'
@divinecomedyhq
's Neil Hannon talks about his love of the orchestral sound and his 'useful friends'. '
“New orchestra breaking boundaries in concerts with no rules.”
No. They’re doing orchestral covers of pop, rock, soul, jazz and dance in a range of venues with some lights That’s it. That is all. FFS.
As each day passes I learn more and more about the steps that led to the cutting of the
@BBCSingers
and other musicians in the
@BBCCO
, the
@BBCPhilharmonic
and
@BBCSO
. It is undeniably personality led.
Today's information suggests that Head of Music / Radio Lorna Clarke intends…
It’s my birthday today. Yay. And the best present ever (notwithstanding others I might receive today) is getting the chance to hear an actual concert with audience and the
@auroraorchestra
Kings Cross. First concert since March. Yay.
I miss great speeches. Our leaders don't give great speeches anymore. Bishop Michael Curry is reminding me of the great power a well-delivered speech can provide.
#royalwedding
This morning I emailed a classical music PR asking for a copy of the King Singer's latest release on Signum - Bieber/Biber. I shit you not. The reply? "It was an April Fool." That, ladies and gentleman, is a mighty fine April Fool. Up there with the best of them. Totes.
This lockdown I’m writing one letter to some I know every day. First recipients: Mum and Dad. For the avoidance of doubt: I realise I’ll need to buy more stamps.
You cannot scare me, you shouldn't try, why don't you try to build rather than break, it's harder, takes more time and intelligence granted, anyone can play fear peddling villain it's politics paint by numbers. Put away your finger paints, pick up a pen
One unexpected change in this past year however, is the ease I now feel being able to say to another colleague something as simple as, "Not dealing with today particularly well. Just so you know." And for there to be no panic, or action taken. To be able to just say is vital.
Evening in a Waterloo restaurant. Oliver Letwin steps in. Sits at the table next to my party. Inevitably, I’m overcome. Step up to him. Shake his hand. “Thank you Mr Letwin,” I say. “Loving your work.” He has a clammy hand. No matter.
In non-classical music-related news, I've been accepted onto a counselling training course. It's the beginning of a two-year programme. At the end of it I'm hoping to expand my coaching work into counselling. Something I've wanted to do for years. Very much looking forward to…
Musicians: please stop saying every opportunity is a privilege. Please. You’ve worked so hard. You’re doing this stuff because you’re at the top of your game. Gratitude is great. Being humble does (over time) get rather tiresome.
Riveting drama during the first movement of the Sibelius violin concerto with
@LPOrchestra
. Tetzlaff’s sting breaks;swaps instrument with leader; instrument (restrung by the no.4?) handed back during a suitable break in the solo line. Gripping.
According to Clive, it’s ‘boring and naff’ to be able to tell the difference between a crotchet and a quaver (which by definition is what everyone on stage has to be able to do in order to do their job). Jeeze.
#bbcproms
We’ve to keep pushing on that. This is music for everyone, not a select few who know their crotchets from their quavers!! That’s boring and naff!!
#bbcproms
Today’s utterly joyousness (building on this mornings good news from TG HQ): meeting the marvellous
@annalapwood
at
@GabrieliCandP
’s
#GabrieliRoar
rehearsal ahead of tomorrow Haydn Creation at Ely Cathedral.
"If you’re committed to opening up classical music, then why on earth wouldn’t you stand up to the person who continues to pedal the stuff that makes your work even more necessary?"
“To be so savage of those who seek out mixed musical experiences is to further misrepresent classical music. don't judge people for their musical choices. If you do, then you're just projecting all us classical music fans as a bunch of snobs.”
In my local Sainsbury’s. It is so uplifting to see stacked shelves. I can think of no other time in my life when I’ve felt quite so thankful for so many unsung people making all of this possible.
Highly recommended listening this Thursday at 2.30pm on BBC Radio 3. A slew of new carols including Nova Nova from
@IainFarrington
(heard it at Advent Service - brilliant) and
@thewittjones
perky Holly and the Ivy.
@BBCSingers
Live from Temple Church.
"The situation in Afghanistan for musicians and artists is tragic, & extremely dangerous. In the past weeks the Taliban have been destroying instruments, & now musicians are also being persecuted, their homes burned and people killed."
#AfghanistanCrisis
Yes. Rule Britannia should be ditched. And why stop there? The entire Last Night is unrepresentative of the
#BBCProms
and doesn't project classical music in a particularly helpful way. So let's ditch it and start again.
Best seat in the house.
@TheCBSO
performing Mussorgsky. Handful of people filming. Nobody screamed blue murder. Everyone applauded enthusiastically. A lovely night. I’m happy to fight you for the seat in future.
My most recent musical discovery has been Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. I’m very nearly obsessed with it. I love it. Introduced to it simply because of the impassioned recommendation of a colleague. Nothing beats that kind of recommendation be it music, books, theatre or (sometimes)…
I very nearly didn’t come. So glad I did. The hubbub. The familiar faces. To be heresy
@wigmore_hall
amongst so much utterly gorgeous talent. Very special.
#RPSAwards
Just watched
@Howard_Goodall
’s cracking hour-long nerd-out on Sergeant Pepper from 2017. Lots of references to harmony, modes, composition and production. Endless name-checks to classical music. Utterly brilliant programme. Goodall is our present-day Humphrey Burton IMHO.