THREE CHOIRS FESTIVAL: Roderic Dunnett previews the 2024 edition of the UK's oldest music festival, 27 July until 4 August.
SPONSORED: Ensemble. Unjustly Neglected - In this specially extended feature, Armstrong Gibbs' re-discovered 'Passion according to St Luke' impresses Roderic Dunnett.
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Born on 4 December 1879 at Hillsborough, County Down, Ireland was Hamilton Harty, who eventually raised the status of the Hallé Orchestra in the early thirties to the renown it has enjoyed ever since. Prior to that, Harty's growing reputation as a composer, pianist and conductor, especially when he came to live in London in 1900, provided the basis upon which his conductorship of the Hallé succeeded so triumphantly. He died at Hove in England on 19 February 1941.
CD Spotlight. What treasures! - British music for flute and piano, enjoyed by the late Howard Smith. 'Smith and Rhodes present definitive, warmly recorded performances of this gorgeous, all-UK repertory, some of it apparently on disc for the first time.'
CD Spotlight. Elegant Precision - A recital by Charlotte de Rothschild, heard by Howard Smith. '... consistently reliable ...'
CD Spotlight. Doubly Welcome - Chamber music by Hamilton Harty delights Bill Newman. '... an unforgettable wit and charm ...'
CD Spotlight. Across the Meadow - British light music, reviewed by George Balcombe. '... a wasteland of clone music.'