Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Celebrating 60
Ken Bruce salutes the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra on their 60th anniversary featuring an archive concert from their 25th anniversary year - 1977.
Celebrating 60 - Ken Bruce salutes the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra on their 60th anniversary. 2012 will be a celebration of bronze, silver, gold and. diamonds. Yes, this summer we'll host the Olympic Games and celebrate the H.M Queen's Diamond Jubilee but Radio 2 kicks off the year with an 11 part archive series celebrating another 60th anniversary - the birth of the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra.
In this first programme Ken recalls the early days of the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra when they were called the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Opera Orchestra and their principal conductor was Stanford Robinson - the brother of broadcaster Eric Robinson. Then a chance to hear a concert from the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ archives from their silver anniversary year - 1977. 25 Glorious Years from the Royal Festival Hall features music from Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss II); The Desert Song (Romberg); Glamorous Night (Novello); and Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien.
Hailed by Sir Arthur Bliss as "a worthy instrument, ready at hand to present a brilliant new era of 'entertainment' music'" the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra are very much today a jewel in Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Radio 2's crown. The Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra made its first broadcast on 11th September 1952 on the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ General Overseas Service with a repeat broadcast on the domestic service three days later. But the story starts 20 years before when the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ brought together a bunch of players under the title the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Theatre Orchestra - their main role was to provide incidental music to radio plays - under their principal conductor Leslie Woodgate.
When not required in the drama studios, the orchestra gave light music and opera concerts. In 1949 the orchestra was renamed the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Opera Orchestra with Stanford Robinson as conductor. Its brief was to be an "opera cum second symphony orchestra.an orchestra capable to putting over the finest light music to great effect". Three years later the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ decided the time was right for a light music orchestra and the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra was born.
Today, the 60 musicians who make up the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra broadcast weekly in Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Radio 2's Friday Night Is Music Night. They are equally at home playing Bach and Beethoven as accompanying Dame Shirley Bassey. In this 11-part series, Ken Bruce trawls the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra archives for some classic performances from their first 60 years.
A feast for light music fans - each week the series will broadcast a show from the orchestra archives. The series will feature archive performances from the likes of light music legends Sidney Torch; Vilem Tausky; Robert Farnon; Eric Coates; Willi Boskovsky; Stanley Black; and Ron Goodwin. Plus concert performances from Matt Monro and Dudley Moore as well as more recent collaborations with Michael Bublé; Lionel Richie and Peter Gabriel.
Ken Bruce talks to the players and conductors past and present for their musical memories and tells the story of this remarkable group of Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ musicians.
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Music Played
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Barry Wordsworth
High Adventure
(Charles Williams)
- Friday Night Is Music Night.
- Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ.
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Barry Wordsworth
Hungarian Rhapsody
(Liszt, arr. Torch)
- Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Plays Classical Masterpieces.
- Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ.
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Theatre Orchestra Cb: Stanford Robinson
Monckton Melodies
(Monckton)
- The Golden Age of Light Music – Four Decades of Light Music Vol 1 20’s & 30’s.
- Guild.
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Caro Mio Ben
(Giordani)
- Beniamino Gigli in Concert 1938-1955.
- Eklipse.
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Prelude Act 3 - Lohengrin
(Wagner)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Our Waltzing Years
(Arr. Sidney Torch)
-
John Hanson & Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Kenneth Alwyn
Serenade: The Student Prince
(Romberg)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Kenneth Alwyn
Farnon Fantasy
(Robert Farnon)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Adagio - Spartacus
(Khachaturian)
-
Cynthia Glover, John Lawrenson & Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Vilem Tausky
Bess You Is My Woman Now (Porgy and Bess)
(Gershwin)
-
John McCarthy Singers & Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Vilem Tausky
Polotvsian Dances
(Borodin))
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Vilem Tausky
Overture: Die Fledermaus
(Strauss II)
-
Cynthia Glover, John Lawrenson & Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Vilem Tausky
A Waltz Dream
(Oscar Straus)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Opening & Closing Number – Pineapple Poll
(Sullivan)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Intermezzo – Karelia Suite
(Jean Sibelius)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Vilem Tausky
Shine Through My Dreams (Glamorous Night)
(Ivor Novello)
-
John McCarthy Singers, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Elizabethan Serenade
(Binge)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Carousel Waltz
(Richard Rodgers)
-
Ensemble & Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra
25 Glorious Years of Theatre Music
(Various)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Ashley Lawrence
Capriccio Italien
(Tchaikovsky)
-
Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Concert Orchestra Cb: Barry Wordsworth
High Adventure (Sig Tune)
(Charles Williams)
- Friday Night Is Music Night.
- WMEM.
Broadcast
- Fri 20 Jan 2012 20:00Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓÆµ Radio 2