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Kenneth Alwyn Conductor - Composer - Writer - Presenter "Kenneth Alwyn gives intense and vital readings" Records and Recordings e-mail: filomusicuk@aol.com |
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Kenneth Alwyn is also an entertaining guest speaker - follow this link for lecture titles |
| BIOGRAPHY |
Kenneth Alwyn, FRAM, is the Musical Director of the Philomusica Orchestra and a composer, writer and presenter of concerts and programmes for Radio and Television. These include a BBC TV series on "The Orchestra" with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC "Omnibus" programme on Tchaikovsky - directed by Sir John Drummond. Kenneth Alwyn was a principal conductor of the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden where he shared the rostrum with the luminaries working with the company at that time: Malcolm Sargent, Ernst Ansermet, Arthur Bliss, William Walton, Hans Werner Henze and Benjamin Britten who nominated him as conductor of the original production of "The Prince of the Pagodas". In 1958 the BBC invited him to the BBC Concert Orchestra - an association which continues with this and the other BBC Orchestras on radio and television and as a member of the BBC Advisory Committee. His wide theatrical experience ranges from conducting Opera at the Edinburgh Festival; Musical Director to Sir Robert Helpmann and Sir Tyrone Guthrie to working with Frank Loesser on the London production of "Most Happy Fella". Kenneth Alwyn's concerts are worldwide, including a period as principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, where he gave the first performance in Japan of Holst's "Planets" and presented all the Beethoven piano concertos with Rudolf Serkin. His recording career began in 1958 with Decca's first stereophonic recording, "1812" with the London Symphony Orchestra. Prophetically numbered 2001, it has survived until the Millennium, and indeed has recently been re-issued on vinyl. Other early recordings include the Symphonies of Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim, a well-known "Rhapsody in Blue" with Daniel Adni and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rossini, Vaughan Williams and the film music of Sir Arnold Bax with the London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras. In 1991 Kenneth Alwyn recorded for Decca Coleridge Taylor's Trilogy "Hiawatha" with the Welsh National Opera and Chorus, Helen Field and Arthur Davies and in which he cast Bryn Terfel as Longfellow's prophetic hero. More recent releases include "The Man who wrote the Warsaw Concerto" with the BBC Concert Orchestra, (a "Gramophone" Critics Award for 1995), Lord Berners' "Wedding Bouquet" with the Dublin Chamber Choir and Orchestra, (the "Gramophone" Critics Award for 1996), the music of Miklos Roza, with the City of Prague Philharmonic and, with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the prestigious "Gramophone" Award for the best CD of 1998. Kenneth Alwyn devised, wrote and composed the BBC "Battle of Britain" tour of North America with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the RAF Central Band and the BBC singers; the BBC Concert to commemorate "D Day" broadcast from Portsmouth on the 50th Anniversary and the "Pageant of St George" broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall and commissioned by the Imperial Cancer Fund. His march "The Young Grenadier" dedicated to HM the Queen played and recorded by the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards at the Trooping of the Colour, and his "Fighter Command 1940" (reflecting his own flying experience) is now a standard RAF Ceremonial March. Entries for Kenneth Alwyn are to be found in: The Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians |
| REVIEWS |
"Mr Alwyn
(conducting the LSO) showed a flair for Tchaikovsky rare in an English
conductor." "Kenneth Alwyn conducted a
brilliantly persuasive 'Hiawatha'." "The CBSO gave Sibelius' Second
Symphony under the direction at once sensitive and penetrating of Kenneth
Alwyn. He showed a quite exceptional grasp of the work - his reading
was brisk, invigorating and completely Sibelian." "Kenneth Alwyn gives intense and
vital readings." "Mr Alwyn exercised a deliciously
light-handed control over the LPO." (conducting Holst's 'Planets') "Kenneth Alwyn was a revelation." "With his past experience with
the Royal Ballet . . . 'Swan Lake' was particularly buoyant and 'Capriccio
Espanol' and 'Kikimora' showed his lively ear for tone colouring." "Alwyn's tempi are ideal and the
playing of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is every bit as good as the
famous American Symphony Orchestras." "Kenneth Alwyn, the conductor of
the BBC ensemble, led a brilliant account of Holst's 'Planets'." Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Capriccio Italien, & Marche SlaveDecca ADEC 2001 "The 1812 Overture, Tchaikovsky’s musical tribute to celebrate victory over Napoleon’s army, is one of those 19th-century works which is seldom performed in the concert hall due to the enormous number of instruments it requires. This programmatic symphonic work with its battlefield participants – male-voice choir, bell chimes, percussion, and cannon-fire – requires the utmost from everyone involved, from the tutti strings right up to the balance engineer. The gratifying result of a production made with only the very best ingredients can now be enjoyed once again with this re-release of a DECCA recording. The London Symphony Orchestra, led by Kenneth Alwyn, has achieved a remarkable feat, their rich timbre enhancing every nuance of this closely-knit score. Sonorous strings and polished brass wind passages ensure that the listener’s attention will be riveted right to the very last bar." |
