Cliff, i spoke with Dillon about the fact the quartets weren’t going to be broadcast shortly before the concerts started (it was clear they wouldn’t be; no microphones anywhere in sight), and he said the Ardittis were in the process of recording them, and that was the reason. Although it seemed fair enough to me at the time, in hindsight this seems strange considering how often precisely this sort of things happens on Radio 3 (just last year, they broadcast the world première of Michel van der Aa’s Violin Concerto, the very same performance of which was soon after released on CD!). The decision not to broadcast must have come from the Ardittis, and i agree that it was a real shame (and, to date, no CD release has materialised). It provided a deeply illuminating exploration of Dillon’s thinking and practice in a highly concentrated way. Last year’s final Arditti concert was broadcast, though, so hopefully the “Dillon affair” was just a one-off.
And BBC3 damn jolly well better broadcast more of these concerts on Hear & Now in December/January (especially the Arditti gigs).
Yes Sparky — I remember the waste of the entire Dillon string quartets in 2010.
Btw, there’s an interesting discussion of “in vain” at the first and as yet only issue of Talking Musicology.
Cliff, i spoke with Dillon about the fact the quartets weren’t going to be broadcast shortly before the concerts started (it was clear they wouldn’t be; no microphones anywhere in sight), and he said the Ardittis were in the process of recording them, and that was the reason. Although it seemed fair enough to me at the time, in hindsight this seems strange considering how often precisely this sort of things happens on Radio 3 (just last year, they broadcast the world première of Michel van der Aa’s Violin Concerto, the very same performance of which was soon after released on CD!). The decision not to broadcast must have come from the Ardittis, and i agree that it was a real shame (and, to date, no CD release has materialised). It provided a deeply illuminating exploration of Dillon’s thinking and practice in a highly concentrated way. Last year’s final Arditti concert was broadcast, though, so hopefully the “Dillon affair” was just a one-off.
That’s interesting to know, thanks. A question to sneak into the next meet the performers session!
Oops! There is indeed a second edition now. Apologies for not checking this first.