Photo from the concert – © Philharmonia Orchestra | Marc Gascoigne
Film of some of the Finale has been added to YouTube by the Philharmonia, contrary to previous advice about what was videoed. Click on the following link and then see Comments to watch.
The way the Philharmonia has handled this is bizarre. They told us only the first movement was filmed and then only for the archive yet here is half the last movement! We also heard from a pompous and rude viola player called Turner, and a considered response from Johnson. We must now assume that the whole performance was filmed. Maybe it can be released? I missed what seems to have been a great concert. Every review says so, although I was pleased to hear the audio before the PO had it removed. No doubt CDs of it are circulating.
I’ve just checked and the 11 minutes of the Adagio on YouTube have had over 3,000 views in just 1 day – an unheard of number, I should say. And look at all the comments under the video, pleading for the whole performance to be released. The original Philharmonia statement claimed that the “first movement was recorded in-house for our archive – nothing to be released publicly” – yet as Steven Harris points out, a chunk of the finale has indeed been released publicly. It doesn’t seem to be making any sense, so was the whole symphony filmed or not? … I think we should be told!
I’d take a bet that the whole performance was captured by that single camera observing HB throughout (of which so far only a short segment has been officially put out on Youtube). If that’s the case, then one can only hope that Signum, or whoever, will release an audio recording of the symphony (there was an array of microphones above the orchestra that evening), ideally coupled with a DVD ‘extra’ of the full 82 minutes as seen from the camera trained on the conductor. What a truly historic release that would be, preserving this great event for posterity. And the long silence at the end should be included on both audio and video versions – it spoke volumes!
This has been badly handled by the PO. Bring back David Whelton.