Did anybody hear any of this brilliant but short-lived series five or six years ago? A bit like Discovering Music for grown-ups, where a piece would be discussed by several specialists:
excerpts from what they said would be skilfully edited and intercut or overlaid with the music, then there'd be a complete performance to follow, taken from an critically acknowledged recording. I've mentioned them once or twice, but it's a long time since I heard any - until today, when I found a box of MiniDiscs inside another case: some were unlabelled, but one said ITW BBk MSPC, and with my new technique for transferring MDs to CD, I thought I'd give it a try. The label was correct - In the Works, Bartok: music for Strings,Percussion and Celesta, and the programme is every bit as engrossing as I remember, with all sorts of extra musical snippets including some of the wax cylinders that he made on his travels and more modern folk bands too, reminiscences and parallel musicology from different critics as well as a conductor's and performer's standpoints. Iván Fischer is the conductor in question, and his recording underpins the discussion: the selected performance at the end is Reiner's.

It's very concentrated, but very clear: how sad that innovative work of this quality has disappeared from Radio3. Further perusal of the contents of the box leads me to believe that I may have the editions dedicated to Janáček's Sinfonietta and Copland's Appalachian Spring: I'll give these a try when I have the time. I'm hoping against hope that I can find the one on RVW6 as well: it always stuck me as the best of all.

And indeed, Stephen Johnson is one of the voices heard on that Bartok edition, martle, which I rather think might make it (hopefully accompanied by sister editions) onto the next Rondo compendium.

No sign of the Sinfonietta, which seems to have dematerialised overnight, but the Appalachian Spring, split over two discs (I had two parallel machines for recording) has edited back down to a single file seamlessly, and I've now found something labelled ITW LvB 5 to add to the pile of things to try. No sign of the RVW 6, though I have a feeling that's in a box of files already saved to DVD in the stores somewhere.

Well! We didn't know our dear Member had it in him. Congratulations are surely in order.
If that's not a recommendation we don't know what is.

 

I remember good old Athony Hopkins "Talking About Music" programmes. I always thought they were rather informative. I met him once, with my piano teacher at the time as well and he gave me some helpful hints of Brahms Ballade in  whatever key I cant remember now!!

He is indeed, ariosto. That is, both in his late eighties and still with us. Occasionally to be spotted at concerts of the Radlett Music Club of which he is President.