...and while IGI was in the RFH, Lynn and I were in Manchester at the Bridgewater Hall for the BBC Philharmonic playing Liszt's Mazeppa, Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony.  It was a treat for my birthday and, in fact, a treat full stop.
Mazeppa was incredible - having never seen a Liszt Symphonic Poem played life before (believe it or not), it was interesting to see how hard the orchestra and conductor had to work!  Noseada is probably the most active conductor we've ever seen - he jumps up and down and waves his arms around a great deal - just what is needed in Mazeppa!  The Rachmaninov was played by Ayako Uehara who made a super job of it, it's only seeing a piece like that live, do you realise how monumentally difficult the piano part is and how well integrated into the orchestral texture it is.  Brilliant stuff.  After a 20 minute interval, we had Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony, The Pathetique.  Again, this was magnificently played and given a great amount of energy by Noseada.  The scherzo was the fastest I have ever heard it's marked Allegro molto vivace but is rarely taken as fast as that but this time, it was.  It was thrilling to hear and the audience spontaneously applauded after it.  The final movement was also amazing - the ending dying into nothing was incredibly well judged and very dark and sinister.

Overall, a fantastic concert - Radio 3 have recorded it so listen out for it on the radio!  (a longer more in depth review of this conert may well end up in a Liszt Society newsletter in the future so if you want to read the whole thing, you'll have to join the society!  )

Hi IGI,
Yes, I have all the Noseada Liszt discs so far (as well as Haitink, Joo and the Naxos sets too) and Noseada is far better in all of them than the other conductors!  I'd warmly recommend them to anyone who wants to get to know these works. 
In 2006 I did write to Chandos to try and persuade them to record all of Liszt's orchestral music but i am informed they are only doing another 2 CDs after the one that came out last year so we still won't have a decent recording of A la Chapelle Sixtine for orchestra or the Schubert march orchestrations, the orchestral marches etc. etc... 

I heard Ensemble 360 in January Tony - it was a rather bitty concert but they played well.

...and last nights concert in Beverley Minster was good too!  Martin Roscoe was on superb form and he was well suppoted by the massed forces of the East Riding Youth Orchestra and the Hull Philharmonic.  The Meistersingers Prelude was a little slow for my taste but I was able to hear all the detail which is sometimes lost in speedier renderings.  The Emperor was excellent, especially the finale which romped along in a very jolly way.  To end, the Elgar Enigma Variations were massive and given a muscular performance, again perhaps a trifle slow but really very good.  The applause from the audience in the packed Minster (extra chairs had to be shoe-forned in wherever possible) lasted for some time at the end!   

I wish I'd heard that, Andy. I knew GB was writing that Beethoven piece but I'd somehow completely missed that the premiere was now, or indeed that it was going to be in Birmingham. I would have come up if so.

Did you find those Court Studies as dull as I did? (I speak as someone who quite liked the opera they come from.)

I've just received details of a concert by our local string orchestra coming up :

Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Glazunov: Concerto for Alto Saxophone     Soloist - Mark Jordan

Britten: Simple Symphony

Mozart Divertimento in D

Does anyone here know this Glazunov? I'm told:

This is a rare opportunity to hear the Glazunov concerto for Alto Saxophone with a really excellent soloist.  Mark is Principal Eb Clarinet with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.


Sounds good. And my daughter might enjoy it too. Though when I gently teased her for nodding off during the Ireland in the last concert she retorted somewhat crossly, "I wasn't asleep - how could I sleep with all that noise?".