Slippedisc daily comfort zone (59): Just for a lark

Slippedisc daily comfort zone (59): Just for a lark

Daily Comfort Zone

norman lebrecht

June 16, 2021

Soaring performance by British concertmaster Emma McGrath in Tasmania.

Cool frock, too.

Comments

  • La plus belle voix says:
    June 16, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    Pity that the piece itself is such dreadful drudgery, even if the opening motif is appealing enough. No idea why the Brits love it, I guess they like their pleasures small. (Wait for a plethora of thumbs down.)

    Reply
  • Barbara says:
    June 17, 2021 at 11:21 am

    I thought it was very beautiful.

    Reply
  • Bernard says:
    June 17, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    Excellent & most atmospheric performance.

    Reply
  • Steve says:
    June 17, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    Not wishing to detract from the performance in question but, in referring to the comment about the piece being a ‘terrible drudgery’, I have to admit that until recently I was also of the same belief… That is, until I heard this performance (attached below), which somehow made me hear the piece completly differently, rendering it an incredible lightness and transparency, and maybe even a slight Asian feeling..
    https://youtu.be/-PsyKWhn_ps

    Reply
    • La plus belle voix says:
      June 17, 2021 at 5:45 pm

      Thanks Steve, I’ll give it a whirl. Maybe they make some sense of the meandering folk tunes and overly dense orchestration. The work makes no formal sense as it stands, apart from the return of the lark at the end. Britten’s curlew any day. If you cut out five minutes in the middle it might work as a short elegy. A project for someone in 2028, when the work will be in the PD. (Wait for more thumbs down from the inveterate RVW fans.)

      Reply
  • Mystic Chord says:
    June 18, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    I thought that was an utterly sublime performance from Emma McGrath – it really deserves to enjoy a commercial release.

    Reply

    • MOST READ TODAY: