Benjamin Britten in Queen's Hall - 13 December, 1933
from Journeying boy : the diaries of the young Benjamin Britten 1928-1938, pages 156-157:
Go to Queen's Hall for B.B.C. Concert. Beethoven's supreme Mass in D. I feel at the moment that it is impossible to conceive music greater than this. Boult even couldn't ruin it. Chorus not bad. Orch ditto though intonation poor, & Catteral [solo violin] was too hard in the Benedictus. The soloists - Adleheid Armhold (disappointing in a way, but very lovely in spots), Mary Balfour (not too good); Parry Jones (better); Keith Falker (too insignificant) - weren't a good quartet. But even all this couldn't spoil this God of a work.
John Evans (ed.), Journeying boy : the diaries of the young Benjamin Britten 1928-1938 (:London, 2009), p. 156-157. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1437667495940 accessed: 30 October, 2024
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Mass in D
written by Beethoven |
performed by Adleheid Armhold, Catteral, Keith Falker, Mary Balfour, Parry Jones, Adrian Boult, BBC Symphonic Orchestra |
Experience Information
Date/Time | 13 December, 1933 |
Medium | live |
Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |