Kenneth Woods- A View From the Podium

Hi everyone

As you know, Sunday night was Mahler 8 night in Manchester. I don’t do reviews, but I can tell readers a little about the concert, if you are content with just the facts….

Who was playing in the orchestra?

The combined forces of the BBC Philharmonic and Hallé. The orchestra was pretty evenly split between the two bands, but used a normal-sized string section. BBC Philharmonic players sat as principals in the strings, while Hallé players mostly sat principal in the winds. So, flute 1-3 were Hallé, 4 and 5 BBC Phil and so on, through the horns, where 1-4 were Hallé and 5-8 Phil. Trumpets and trombones were the exception, with the BBC’s folks playing principal. Strings alternated by stand, so the first stand of 1^st violins were the BBC’s leader Yuri Torchinsky and Midori Sugiyama, the second desk was Hallé and so on.

How was the orchestra set up?

Read more…

For readers who want to know more about Orchestra of the Swan, as it happens, their latest disc is a focus of Michael Kennedy’s weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph (alongside Rattle’s Brahms cycle and an aria disc by soprano Cheryl Barker). Good company, to be sure…

Bax, Ireland- Piano Concertos

Bebbington (piano), Curtis (conductor), Orchestra of the Swan, Somm Records

Bax’s Concertino, intended for Harriet Cohen, was abandoned in 1939 and has been edited and orchestrated by Graham Parlett. It is typical of the composer in its blend of romantic fervour and restless gloom until his spirits rise in the finale. Mark Bebbington and the conductor David Curtis are wholehearted in the advocacy of this fascinating piece. Bebbington is also impressive in Ireland’s attractive concerto with its brilliant jazzy episodes and its lyrical intensity.