Famous Castrati Arias For Senesino And His Rivals, Wigmore Hall, 27 March 2009

Say what you like about Daisy, but she does like a nice bit of castrati.

So we made a second visit to the Wigmore Hall that month (a busy start there in 2009 generally in fact) to see this lovely concert, with Daniel Taylor providing the counter-tenor equivalent of castrati singing and Rachel Brown providing beautiful flute and recorder performances.

I found an excellent review by Robert Hugill – click here – which says plenty, including even an account of the encore.

Here’s what we saw:

The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Olivier Theatre, 9 April 2007

A rare visit to the theatre on a Monday – this was Easter Monday.

Janie and I both love a bit of Tennessee Williams and we had only seen an amateur production of the Rose Tattoo before – at the Questors some 10 years earlier.

This was a top notch production at the National – no holds barred.

Zoe Wannamaker was exceptional.

Critics seemed to think the production and performances masked a less than brilliant play – I think I probably agree with that analysis – click here for a link to reviews.

Below is the trailer from the 1955 movie – very different style:

Academy Of Ancient Music Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 17 August 1998

This amazing concert was the culmination of a most enjoyable day off in South Kensington, which started with baroque music at the V&A at lunchtime…

…and got better from there.

The “big Prom” in the evening was really quite special. Here is a link to the BBC stub.

We heard:

  • George Frideric Handel – Coronation Anthem ‘The king shall rejoice’
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Violin Concerto in E major
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 1 (Overture:) Andante – Allegro
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 2 Alla hornpipe
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 1 Sarabande (Minuet)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 2 Rigaudon (Presto)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 4 Lentement
  • George Frideric Handel – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major,  No. 5 Air (Bourrée)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 3 Minuets 1 & 2
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 3 in G major, No. 4 Gigue (Country Dance)
  • George Frideric Handel  – Water Music – Suite No. 2 in D Major, No. 3 (Trumpet) Minuet
  • George Frideric Handel  – Coronation Anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’
  • Antonio Vivaldi – Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630 (Proms premiere)
  • Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for Violin, Two Oboes, Two Horns, Cello and Bassoon in F major, RV 571 (Proms premiere)
  • George Frideric Handel – Sing unto God, HWV 263 (Proms premiere)

I’m not usually too keen on baroque in the Albert Hall, but this worked.

Matthew Rye gave it a good write up in The Telegraph:

Prom 39 1998 Rye TelegraphProm 39 1998 Rye Telegraph 18 Aug 1998, Tue The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We agree.

Bach At The Proms, Royal Albert Hall, 2 August 1993

Our first Prom together. BBC Prom I’m talking about. And when I say, “together”, that wasn’t just me and Janie – oh no – we also had her mother, Pauline, in tow.

In truth Janie wasn’t too keen on the idea of a “classical concert”, whereas Pauline was a keen music listener.

Still, Janie professed to liking Brandenberg Concertos, so this concert, entirely comprising J S Bach works, including three of the Brandenbergs, seemed a suitable entry point. This, despite my reservations about the Royal Albert Hall as a venue for baroque period music.

Here is a link to the BBC stub for this Prom. The Hanover Band with some cracking soloists: Anthony Robson, Benjamin Hudson, Catherine Latham, Robert Farley, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Rachel Brown, directed by Anthony Halstead.

This is what we heard:

  • Brandenburg Concerto No 2 in F major, BWV 1047
  • Keyboard Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056
  • Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major
  • Concerto for Two Keyboards in C minor, BWV 1060 (version for oboe & violin)
  • Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major, BWV 1050

Here is a later recording of The Hanover Band doing Brandenberg 5:

Meirion Bowen in the Guardian rated this Prom highly, while concurring with my view about the unsuitability of baroque music scaled authentically in the Albert Hall:

Hanover Prom Bowen GuardianHanover Prom Bowen Guardian 04 Aug 1993, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com