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LETTER of the MONTH
Not the full Monteverdi
Nicholas Kenyon wonders what the BBC broadcast in 1928 of Monteverdi’s Return of Ulysses in Vincent d’Indy’s edition sounded like (Early learning, Christmas). We have evidence of this in an article by JA Westrup in the Monthly Musical Record for 2 April 1928. It is sad, but perhaps not surprising, to read his comment that a listener with no knowledge of Monteverdi’s work ‘must have thought him a dull composer, which he is not when sung on the stage’. Westrup’s criticisms were directed in part at the edition, for its extensive and sometimes arbitrary cuts and its inappropriate and anachronistic harmonisation. But he also commented adversely on the slow and rigid delivery of the recitative and on the poor enunciation of the text, sung in English translation. The opera seems not to have been performed again in England until 1965, so Kenyon is right to note the absence of a follow up, at least on this work.
Timothy Lloyd, via email WIN! £50 VOUCHER FOR PRESTO MUSIC
Every month we will award the best letter with a £50 voucher for Presto Music, the UK’s leading e-commerce site for classical and jazz recordings, printed music, music books and musical instruments. Please note: the editor reserves the right to shorten letters for publication.
Sviridov delight
What lovely music by Georgy Sviridov on your January 2023 cover disc! I can’t believe I have never come across his music before, but I would certainly love to hear more. And how poignant that it was conducted by Alexander Vedernikov, who was a covid victim in 2020. It has also made me want to see the film The Blizzard which the music was written for.
Peter Cullen, Bristol
The editor replies:
Sviridov is one of those composers who, while popular in his home country, seems never to have really caught on elsewhere. As well as his many songs, we’d also recommend exploring his often haunting Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.
Devon heaven
Like your American reader Peter Hamilton (Letters, January), I have fond memories of the first live classical concert I went to. It was 1963, I was a third year medical student, and my grandmother had bought me a ticket. The Hallé and John Barbirolli were touring and I remember the programme so well: the tried and trusted favourites were Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture, Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto (with Peter Katin as soloist) and, after the interval, Sibelius’s Second Sym
