There's a thread going in another place, I know.  But, just for the archive, I'm going to say my two farthings' worth here.

For me, this service just did not capture the spirit of a Choral Evensong - I suppose it was simply on too large a scale, while I prefer something more intimate.  "I was glad" was an exciting performance, but it was hardly an introit to CE.  From the start, two events seemed to be happening at once - Lessons, Responses, and Collects from the prayer book, and a concert from a local auditorium - and I found the whole business rather unsettling.  But these remarks do not really constitute a complaint:  Durham has the right to celebrate the university in grand style, and the BBC has every reason to regard to result as broadcast-worthy.

The singing in the orchestral items was admirable, if somewhat remote or underpowered - eg. in the anthem, "jarred....harsh din" lacked impact.  Assuming that the cathedral choir alone were responsible for the psalms and Responses, they did a pretty good job without being truly memorable.  But it was the orchestral 'voluntary' at the end that summed up my disappointment - a rehashed version of a 'Pomp and Circumstance' just is not, in my book, a fitting finale to a Choral Evensong service.

I hope another MBer will now write a eulogy on the proceedings, just so that the archive is balanced.