London Philharmonic Russian 'bell-themed' concert

[cjvinthechair]

Congratulations to the LPO for being brave enough to schedule a concert with, other than Rachmaninov, 3 'unknown' Russian composers on the bill, at London's Royal Festival Hall last evening.
Sadly, a lot of spare seats, certainly around where I was, suggested London audiences aren't adventurous/savvy...call it what you will...enough to make the risk worth while.
Bell-themed ?
First up, Denisov's 'Bells in the Fog', very atmospheric short piece, hinting at fog on the river and the warning bells of ships seeking sanctuary.
Then Myaskovsky's 'Silentium'; less obviously bell-centred, but beautiful haunting music, & like so much of his work (there's 27 symphonies to discover if you'd care to !) worthy of far more attention than he gets.
After the interval Shchedrin's 2nd Concerto for Orchestra (The Chimes). Actually not sure this worked too well in a large hall...would happily have sat in front of a fire with a G&T and a good book with it on !
Finally, Sergei R.. Guess which piece ! Yes, of course, and affecting as ever, with strong Russian soloists.

Rewarding evening - well done LPO.

[John F]

Sounds like a really enterprising and worthwhile concert! Why didn't you mention the conductor? He's the one who chose the music and devised the program. It's Vladimir Jurowski, the LPO's music director.

[Ricordanza]

Thanks for the report.

[cjvinthechair]

Sounds like a really enterprising and worthwhile concert! Why didn't you mention the conductor? He's the one who chose the music and devised the program. It's Vladimir Jurowski, the LPO's music director.

Yes, I did know who was conducting, & what his title is: of course Jurowski deserves much credit - no disrespect intended to him....just a 'blanket' thanks to the LPO in general.
I'm sorry that it's felt my review was inadequate without mentioning him. I'm not a professional reviewer....only thought to join this site for fun & to share a love of music. If my inadequacy offends the experts on the site I shall be happy to take my ignorance elsewhere.

[Ricordanza]

I'm sorry that it's felt my review was inadequate without mentioning him. I'm not a professional reviewer....only thought to join this site for fun & to share a love of music. If my inadequacy offends the experts on the site I shall be happy to take my ignorance elsewhere.

Clive, please don't be discouraged! It was a fair question from John as to the omission of the conductor's name. I'm sure that others who read your post had a similar question. With one exception, we're all amateur reviewers on this forum...and we can all do with some constructive criticism ourselves.

[cjvinthechair]

I'm sorry that it's felt my review was inadequate without mentioning him. I'm not a professional reviewer....only thought to join this site for fun & to share a love of music. If my inadequacy offends the experts on the site I shall be happy to take my ignorance elsewhere.

Clive, please don't be discouraged! It was a fair question from John as to the omission of the conductor's name. I'm sure that others who read your post had a similar question. With one exception, we're all amateur reviewers on this forum...and we can all do with some constructive criticism ourselves.

Questions usually involve something one would like an answer to; this doesn't qualify, as the poster proceeded to give the answer, plus a dressing down for failing to appreciate the conductor's importance to the concert. It was, simply, disdainful.
I am discouraged from attempting an appreciative comment on any further concert, terminally so.
Thanks for trying to soften the blow !