Back row – left to right: Graham Johns, Paul Marsden, Neil Hitt, Simon Chappell, Chris Morley

Front row – left to right: Rhys Owens, Brendan Ball, Tim Nicholson, Simon Griffiths, Beth Calderbank, Robin Haggart, Jonathan Barrett and Simon Cowen

The great Alan Stringer

Alan Stringer RIP – A eulogy by Stuart Hastain

Reblogged from Brendan Ball's Blog:

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It is with some trepidation that I publish this post as the subject matter is still very much a work in progress for myself and my students, but I'm now confident with the improvements and results in general that I have decided to go ahead anyway. I always asked the great John Wilbraham why he didn't write a book. He said people would only get it wrong!

Read more… 1,284 more words

ADOLPHE SAX

Adolphe Sax

Walturdaw rising cinema screen Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Said to be the last surviving, working one of it’s type in the world, Mark has captured it here as it raises up from the stage. If you haven’t been to the hall for one of our classic films, do so, it’s quite an experience.

The Phil’s resident cinema organist, Dave Nicholas – pictured here in 2004 receiving his award for over 20 year’s service from ex-Chief Executive Mick Elliott

Prior to the film showing there is always a recital by The Phil’s resident cinema organist, Dave Nicholas in his kilt!

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – the oldest orchestra in the UK

It is out on the Naxos label and is part of our box set of complete Shostakovich Symphonies on that label. This is what the critics have had to say so far…

Vasily on the cover of the new RLPO Shostakovich Symphony no. 7

TO LISTEN & BUY THE RECORDING CLICK HERE

Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, ‘Leningrad’

Vasily Petrenko conductor

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

“This Merseyside Shostakovich cycle gets better with each issue; indeed, it is rapidly becoming the defining monument of the young Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko’s tenure with the RLPO… The miracle of this performance is the thoughtfulness and sense of inner repose that Petrenko hears in the quieter music, often so hushed — the beginning of the side-drum rattle introducing the “invasion” music — that you have to strain to hear it. In this extraordinary opening movement, it is the winds, from shrill piccolo to plangent bassoon, that stand out, but the depth and rawness of unison string sound that Petrenko encourages in the searing adagio expose Shostakovich’s battered nerve ends to devastating effect. The young maestro wields magisterial control over the overarching shape of this once despised, now rehabilitated and thrillingly dramatic symphony, with sensational results. Petrenko presides over a golden age of music-making in Liverpool.”
The Sunday Times (requires log-in)

CLICK HERE TO SEE RLPO STAGE BAND DURING THE RECORDING SESSION

“The ear is struck immediately by [Petrenko's] refusal to overplay textural excesses. The atmosphere is quieter, less ominous than we’re used to. Flutes and clarinets are reduced to a whisper and strings to a hushed susurrus. When the climaxes explode, they do so with total shock and desperation. Between extremes, the conductor maintains an even emotional keel, avoiding the risk of melodrama that Bartók so wickedly caricatured in his Concerto for Orchestra. Petrenko puts his mind to saving the symphony from itself. Playing in another port-city at the western edge of a civilisation, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra delivers delicacy, empathy and, when required, astonishing power. The recorded sound is a shade below pristine (my only reservation) but the performance is treasurable, a terrific affirmation of a towering masterpiece.”
Norman Lebrecht, Sinfini Music

“The latest instalment in the Shostakovich symphony cycle by Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra lives up to and beyond every expectation. It is, in every sense, a great performance and recording… In a nutshell, Petrenko has re-thought the symphony from the ground up; and there is not a second-hand thought in his concept and realisation. The precise word for this flawless and seamlessly sustained interpretation is “epic”: in its tempos (unhurried) and particularly in its depth and extremely long-range view. It is both gripping and shattering, mellifluous and volcanic, unfolding like a landscape of the soul.”
Herald Scotland

“The unyielding martial insistence of the first movement and especially the pathos of the huge Adagio speak of oppression, tyranny and loss of life. The RLPO and their Leningrad-born conductor Vasily Petrenko bring out the work’s lyricism, as well as its austerity, with formidable woodwind playing throughout. These forces won a Gramophone award for their recording of the Tenth in 2011. They could be in line for another.”
The Guardian

The orchestra performing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 live, 19 January 2012:

“Petrenko led them through the rising maelstrom of the persuasive “invasion” theme with crisp control, in the process generating a sound so powerful it felt as if it could crush the breath from its listeners.

But there was also room for softness and reflection, too, often through a series of well-executed solos in the middle movements – albeit alternating with nightmarish cacophonies.

It all ended in a blazing, triumphant roar with a wall of brass rising to sound the victory – closely followed by the audience rising to echo the cheer.”
Liverpool Echo

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OUR 2011 GRAMOPHONE WINNING SHOSTAKOVICH 10

CLICK ON THESE LINKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THIS ALL CAME ABOUT…

SLIDE PARTNERS

JOHN SUCHET – CONCERT TROMBONIST

WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

This is what Classic fm said on their website…

“Classic FM’s John Suchet tells all about an old flame from his past – his trombone! After falling in love with the instrument as a boy, he lost touch with it and it stayed in its box for 50 years. But now, thanks to the brass section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the trombone is back!

Watch John chatting about the instrument, his love for it and how his practising is going in the video above.”

“… I wrote this especially for you!” – (Spike Milligan)