Podcast appearances and mentions of david owen norris

SynopsisToday's date in 1886 marks the premiere in Paris of The Carnival of the Animals, the most popular work of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, who steadfastly refused to allow it to be published until after his death, fearing its frivolity might damage his reputation as a “serious” composer.Saint-Saëns had a point. The work was first heard at a pre-Lenten house concert, and a few days later at Émile Lemoine's exclusive members-only chamber music series, where it became an annual Shrove Tuesday Carnival tradition. Once the famous pianist Harold Bauer was one of the Shrove Tuesday performers, as he recalled in his autobiography: “Everyone who participated had to wear makeup representing the animal whose music he was supposed to be playing. The flutist had a carboard head showing him as a nightingale. The cellist was a very flabby swan; the distinguished players of the string quartet were shown as donkeys of various breeds. Saint-Saëns and I were the two pianists — he made up to look like our host Lemoine, and I, furnished with a wig and beard, disguised as Saint-Saëns. [We two] pianists were provided with immense carboard hands and feet that were clipped off at the moment of performance, which was extremely hilarious.”Music Played in Today's ProgramCamille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Carnival of the Animals; David Owen Norris, piano; I Musici Montreal; Yuli Turovsky, conductor; Chandos 9246

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite version of Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Op.77.

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite version of Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony.

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite recording of William Walton's Viola Concerto. It was conductor Sir Thomas Beecham's suggestion that Walton should write a viola concerto for the virtuoso Lionel Tertis. But things did not go according to plan when Tertis sent back the music by return of post saying it was 'too modern'. So the 1929 premiere was given by Paul Hindemith (who had been sent the concerto by the BBC's Edward Clark) at the Queen's Hall, just around the corner from Broadcasting House. It was a success and Tertis, in the audience, relented. But although he subsequently played the concerto, Tertis continued to disparage it and was heard to say that Walton had 'murdered' the viola. Despite its inauspicious beginning, Walton's Viola Concerto has long been recognised as one of his most important early works and is well established a cornerstone of an albeit limited repertoire. Perhaps the root of its appeal is to be found in its dedication 'to Christabel', the lyrical melancholy and poetic longing at the concerto's heart reflecting Walton's unrequited passion for Christabel, Lady Aberconway.

Composer Dobrinka Tabakova talks to Tom Service about her artist residency at The Hallé in Manchester. She discusses her love of melody, the thrill of writing for youth orchestra, the importance of understanding the character of the musicians she writes for, and how meeting composer Iannis Xenakis when she was 14 shaped her musical path. Tom visits the site of the new Shireland City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Academy in West Bromwich, which opens in September 2023. As the first state school in the country to be established in collaboration with an orchestra, the academy is built around a central performance space which will also be open as a venue in evenings and throughout the year for the wider Sandwell community and beyond. Tom takes a tour of the site with CBSO Chief Executive Stephen Maddock, Principal Designate David Green and architect Claire Mantle to find out more. Emily MacGregor joins Tom to talk about her new book ‘Interwar Symphonies and the Imagination: Politics, Identity and the Sound of 1933' which explores how symphonies in Europe and America reflect and shape the politics of their time, and how they resonate with us today. The book looks at symphonies by composers such as Kurt Weill, Hans Pfitzner, Roy Harris and Florence Price which were written or premiered in 1933 – a year in which Hitler came to power in Germany and the Great Depression reached its peak in the United States. We explore the past, present and future of immersive performances with David Owen Norris who takes us on a whistle-stop tour of how composers and musicians have played with sound and space throughout the centuries. Tom also visits the d&b Audiotechnik demo facility in Stroud to find out about the latest technology being used to create immersive audio performances in halls, theatres and opera houses across the world.

Saxophonist Camilla George and guitarist Sean Shibe take us on a global journey and beyond as they help choose the next five tracks for the playlist. Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye also explore the finer details with guests John Dillon, Cathy Jordan and David Owen Norris. Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye Producer Jerome Weatherald The five tracks in this week's playlist: Beauty in the River by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils The Green Gowned Lass by Dervish Taximen by Amadou Balaké Scarborough Fair by Incantation Jupiter from The Planets by Gustav Holst Other music in this episode: Spacer by Sheila Abasi Isang by Camilla George Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel Scarborough Fair by Martin Carthy

Born in Moscow 150 years ago this year, Alexander Scriabin's music for solo piano has been recorded by many of the great pianists over the last century. But where to start if you're not familiar with this late-Romantic, sometimes elusive repertoire? David Owen Norris is on hand to navigate through some key pieces and makes some recommendations.

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto. Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor was composed for the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere in London in 1910 - and Elgar made a recording with the young Yehudi Menuhin in 1932 that has become a classic. The score has the inscription "Herein is enshrined the soul of ....." The five dots are one of Elgar's enigmas, and many names have been suggested to fit the inscription. Elgar said of the Violin Concerto, "It's good! Awfully emotional! Too emotional, but I love it." Presented by Andrew MacGregor.

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite version of Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto

David Owen Norris recommends recordings of Schubert’s Trout Quintet D.667

David Owen Norris recommends recordings of Edward Elgar's Violin Sonata in E minor

Tom Service meets conductor Jonathan Nott to discuss his passion for music which began as a choral scholar in Worcester, the unanswerable questions that the masterpieces of Mahler and other composers pose as we move through life, and the new concert hall complex being built in Geneva for his Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Hubert Parry: a major figure in British musical history: Tom travels to Oxford and London to discover two formative musical experiences which changed Parry's life. With Kate Kennedy he discovers what impact studying at Exeter College, Oxford made on his future career as a composer and educationalist, and at 12 Orme Square London, David Owen Norris explains how Wagner was an important stepping-stone in his musical development. Judith Chernaik's new book 'Schumann the Faces and the Masks' reveals new material on Robert and Clara's relationship. Who depended on who? And what couldn't Robert tell the love of his life? The Orpheus and Eurydice myth is re-told in Passion, the first UK production of French composer Pascal Dusapin's dance-opera, currently touring the UK. Members of the production team, Caroline Finn, Michael McCarthy and Pascal discuss the genesis of this work on loss on love.

Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie - The Goodies - join Samira to look back at their 1970s cult comedy series. As a complete box set of every episode is released, they reflect on their comedy writing that tackled police brutality, redefined comedy music and introduced television audiences to the little-known Lancastrian martial-art Ecky Thump. This week marks the centenary of the first performance of Gustav Holst's hugely popular orchestral suite The Planets. Composer and pianist David Owen Norris explains our enduring fascination with this work, and composer Samuel Bordoli talks about about his Planets 2018 project which commissioned eight composers to write new work inspired by current planetary science.Grime artist, poet and playwright Debris Stevenson explains how her coming-of-age theatre piece, Poet in Da Corner, sets the story of her own life growing up in a Mormon family in East London to the tracks of Dizzee Rascal's seminal album Boy in Da Corner.Presenter Samira Ahmed Producer Edwina Pitman

David Owen Norris recommends recordings of Vaughan Williams's On Wenlock Edge

David Owen Norris explains the influence women had on Elgar's work

David Owen Norris explains the influence women had on Elgar's work

David Owen Norris explains the inspiration behind Elgar's Cello Concerto

David Owen Norris explains the inspiration behind Elgar's Cello Concerto

Laurence Sterne's subjective travel book was published in 1768. Mary Newbould and Duncan Large discuss its influence. Plus novelist Philip Hensher on his new book The Friendly Ones and writing fiction about neighbourliness, families and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Walker Nick Hunt discusses his journeys following the pathways taken by European winds such as the Mistral and the Foehn and the conversations he had about nationalism, immigration and myths. Presented by New Generation Thinker Seán Williams.The Friendly Ones by Philip Hensher is published on March 8th. Nick Hunt's book Where the Wild Winds Are: Walking Europe's Winds from the Pennines to Provence is out now. ‘Alas, Poor Yorick!': A Sterne 250-Year Anniversary Conference takes place at Cambridge 18 - 21 March and an Essay Collection is being published called ‘A Legacy to the World': New Approaches to Laurence Sterne's ‘A Sentimental Journey' and other Works to be edited by W.B Gerard, Paul Goring, and M-C. Newbould. A new edition of A Sentimental Journey, illustrated by Martin Rowson, has been published by the Laurence Sterne TrustAn evening of music and readings to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the funeral of Laurence Sterne in the church where the original service took place. St George's, Hanover Square, London W1S 1FX on 22 March 2018 features David Owen Norris, Susanne Heinrich, The Hilliard Ensemble, Patrick Hughes, Carmen Troncoso et al.

David Owen Norris recommends a recorded version of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat D960

In the 2017/18 season, Wigmore Hall’s Haydn String Quartet Series showcases the full range of the composer’s invention, from the early Op. 20s to his late masterworks of the 1790s. In this two-part podcast, David Owen Norris explores the great craft of Haydn’s compositions and finds out from special guest Oliver Heath (first violinist of the Heath Quartet) what it’s like to play them.

David Owen Norris sifts through the available recordings of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21

David Owen Norris recommends a version of Poulenc's Flute Sonata

World renowned pianist and academic, Professor David Owen Norris breaks down a new understanding of performance success: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/beyond-surprise-or-satisfy-a-new-theory-of-performanceThat the key to an audience's attention is to fulfil or frustrate its expectations is a theory first hinted at in 1752 by Charles Avison. David Owen Norris fleshes it out with examples, including the blind-folded cellist and an occasion when Sir Peter Pears sang Eugene Onegin. And he takes the theory further by gazing into a looking-glass. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/beyond-surprise-or-satisfy-a-new-theory-of-performanceGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.ukTwitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

David Owen Norris recommends a recording from the available versions of Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio.

David Owen Norris compares recordings of Holst's The Planets and makes a personal recommendation

David Owen Norris looks at why Bechstein Hall was forced to change it's name

David Owen Norris compares recordings of this evergreen work and makes a personal recommendation

David Owen Norris compares recordings of Beethoven's last piano sonata and makes a recommendation

There are sad keys and glad keys, so they say; F sharp minor is turbulent and C major is sunny. Every pianist knows how a key feels under their fingers, as every key has its own combination of black and white on the keyboard. Before the Baroque period, keyboards had to be re-tuned to play in each different key. But with the development of the modern piano, so-called “equal temperament” evened out the differences between the keys. One great masterpiece represents this development – JS Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, which expresses his faith in the new tuning system by having pieces in all the 24 different major and minor keys. But another curious factor of keys still remains a problem – the fact that different countries tune their pianos to different pitches. So middle C is, for instance, a bit higher in Germany than in the UK. Featuring Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Iain Burnside and David Owen Norris.

Glenn Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Gould was well known for his unorthodox musical interpretations and mannerisms at the keyboard. He stopped giving concerts at the age of 31 to concentrate on studio recording and other projects. Featuring Kevin Bazzana, Murray Perahia, Stephen Hough, David Owen Norris and Gidon Kremer

The piano is an unusual musical instrument in that all ten digits of the performer can be used to sound different notes simultaneously. Fingers need practice, and practice makes perfect. Working hard to build strength and dexterity is part and parcel of every pianist's story, and just as in sport, exercises are a necessary evil. But what can start out as a chore when young can eventually become a pleasure when technique is more advanced and exercises turn into Chopin or Moskowski Etudes – written and designed for developing technique but also being very beautiful music. Featuring Lucy Parham, Gwilym Simcock, Richard Sisson and David Owen Norris

The piano is rare in that it's an instrument that can be played by two people at the same time. The intimacy of sharing a stool and playing shoulder to shoulder can make for a very pleasant experience. And there are many great pieces of music composed for piano duet. Views from the stage and from the rehearsal room come from David Owen Norris, Pascal and Ami Roge and the Labeque sisters.

The action, or hammer mechanism, is the defining development in the history of the piano. It is the complex mechanical balancing act connecting the pianist to the strings, from the key to the hammer, allowing minute control of loud and soft, allowing each pianist to express themselves in their own unique way. Featuring Angela Hewitt, David Owen Norris and Ulrich Gerhartz.

David Owen Norris recommends a version from recordings of Chopin's Mazurkas

David Owen Norris with a personal recommendation from the available recordings of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage, Book Two (Italy)