Seven European nations take Wigmore Hall live
mainThe resumption of recitals at an empty Wigmore Hall has excited broadcasters across Europe.
Stephen Hough’s opening lunchtime gig, relayed by the BBC on Monday, was picked up through Eurovision by state broadcasters in Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Lithuania, Denmark and Poland.
Performances continue every weekday.
meanwhile in the UK, who exactly is taking notice…. very few, I suspect
Well, we were , for 2, and the same again today for a guitar recital . Not quite in the same league as Hough, but welcome nonetheless
I thoroughly enjoyed Lucy Crowe’s recital, especially the unaccompanied folk song and her touching Ivor Novello encore.
Yes, Novello’s ‘We’ll Gather Lilacs’. This song has a particularly poignant meaning for my family. For some reason it sounds, to me, like a song from the 1920s or early ’30s, rather than one from 1945. (Perhaps a reflection of Novello’s early career style.)
It is very good news indeed that The Wigmore Hall has shown such initiative with these live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
It would be even more wonderful if BBC TV would take the chance to film these live performances and make DVD’s to capture the perfomrances visually for future generations of Music Lovers.
“It would be even more wonderful if BBC TV would take the chance to film these live performances”
It certainly would. I’d be impressed if BBC TV simply acknowledged that they are happening at all. Doesn’t provide much scope for forced banter and giggles on the red sofa, though.
Excellent and post-pandemic, whenever that may be, I hope this sort of thing continues and even grows. No need to dress up, travel miles, miss meals, worry about getting caught short, sip over-priced plonk in the interval, sit grimly through to the end when it’s not going well and be civilised to the philistine poseur sitting next to you You can also fall asleep, have a fag, sit in your undies, noisily consume a bag of crisps, break wind and switch over to Coronation St. should you wish. I’d certainly subscribe.
For many of us concert-goers, dressing up and giving one’s undivided attention to the music are part of the attraction of live concerts. And no sound system can replace the immediacy of hearing the performance at source.
Like most worthwhile things in life, concert-going takes effort.
Interesting to see how many “friends” Gilhooly is hiring for these concerts..doesn’t quite seem fair or right to me, even if it’s nice to have music back in our lives.