Concert at Brighton Dome/ the London Philarmonic

Before I review this concert which was chiefly the work of Jean Sibelius, I would like to add my ha’pporth to the continuing debate of attendance v stay at home in the context of a classical music. The argument might be that it is preferable to stay in and enjoy the same pieces on a state of art audio system. I reject this for several reasons.

There is always something exciting about live performance and being there to see it. In the case of classical music concert you appreciate a great orchestra like the London Philarmonic literally working in concert to produce a sound. I love to see the bows of the violinists swinging in the air or the percussion section at full banging tilt orchestrated by a conductor.

These great orchestras have made huge contributions to music. Yesterday I heard a programme extolling the Royal Philarmonic. Toscanini, von Karajan and Otto Klemperer were regular conductors of this orchestra and made recordings too , the latter two discovered by the orchestra. Daniel Barenboim made his debut for this orchestra. The London Philarmonic regularly go on tour taking music out of London and they are the orchestra in residence at Glyndebourne. They are worthy of our support.

As for the experience I recall a friend of mine whose company sponsored a concert at Snape, Aldeburgh asking me what you actually do in a classical music concert as he had never been to one. Personally I do not follow the music totally but drift in and out with my thoughts. This I cannot do at the theatre as, however bad the production is, I feel obliged to follow it for fear of missing something. A classical music concert is a wonderful opportunity for thoughts to be inspired, drift and roam.

Conversely at home there is always some intrusion. It was David Mellor, a noted and notable music critic, who presented on Classic FM a tribute to the Royal Philarmonic but you had to endure advertising jingles. Even with a recording there is chance of someone calling or texting requiring a response.

At the Dome there were Sibelius pieces and a violin concerto by William Walton. Walton is not in the Premier League of composers and in a meandering piece I found my thoughts began to drift to such mundane matters as bills to be paid this week. Sibelius is in the Premier league and a fine orchestrator. This programme included his sixth and seventh symphony. The seventh was his last and curiously he produced very   little and no symphony in his last 30 years, leading a semi-reclusive life in the Finnish countryside. He was inspired by Finland and it was fitting that the conductor Osmo Vanska is a Finn. I have written before that I’m not entirely sure what the conductor adds as the musicians at this level invariably know the score in every sense.  I did see one violinist turn the pages but most of the leading ones did not bother. There is a tendency to develop the cult of the conductor and, more recently perhaps starting with Nigel Kennedy, the individual soloist too. At this concert the violin soloist, well-known Tamsin Little, performed but I found myself more drawn to the playing of Ji Hyun Lee, a first violinist who looked poised, glamourous and accomplished. One innovation that they might employ is to reduce the formality of orchestral dress from a rather severe black. Most conductors nowadays do not wear white tie but the modern black suit, but does the whole orchestra have to be in black attire? The place was not full and there were not that many under 50. Classic FM has done much to popularise classical music and David Mellor often makes the point that if Puccini and Verdi were around today they would be composing musicals not grand operatic works. The programme was dry and contained 15 pages of advertising. This needs a makeover.

So my view is that the classical music concert is an entertaining event but one which needs aligning and changing  to attract a younger audience.