Jilly is listed as having joined me for this one. Her work telephone number is strategically placed in my diary on the preceding day, so she might struggle to deny this one.
I’m not entirely sure why I chose it other than the fact that I was certainly into Richard Strauss and Sibelius at that time, so two pieces by those dudes that I hadn’t heard live before probably sealed the deal. It might have been Jilly saying “you’ve GOT to see this Heinz Holliger fellow”, as that was the sort of thing that Jilly would say.
Here is a link to the BBC stub for this one. Edward Downes conducting the BBC Philharmonic. We heard:
- John McCabe – Fire at Durilgai
- Richard Strauss – Oboe Concerto in D major
- Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 1 in E minor
Robert Maycock in The Independent liked this concert:
Downes Prom Maycock Indy 17 Aug 1989, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
McCabe wrote Fire At Durilgai for the BBC Philharmonic. Here is a recording of it by them, but under Yan-Pascal Tortelier’s baton.
Here is a recording of the great oboist Heinz Holliger, but with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe rather than the BBC Phil.
Here’s a recording of the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi giving Sibelius 1 a go: