Brahms

Swam (swimming lesson in fast lane which is not good) Mass (fire engine in road when I arrived) 2 cars parked on double yellow line at bottom of our road! Hot again. Played Elijah and Brahms Requiem plus RVW and Howells songs on piano. Such wonderful music. Middle E flat not working but no sign of a dead animal inside the piano thank God! Fabulous exhibition at the Wallace collection and had a lovely chat to a curator.  Talk Revd Lucy Winkett and Sarah Hamilton discussed Brahms's requiem. Best pre Prom talk so far this season. The problem with having sung in a great chorus like the Philharmonia for so long is that the memory of that great choral sound stays. As a result the BBC efforts at Brahms's Requiem under Richard Farnes were disappointing. Yes the sopranos coped well and there was some soft singing but too much loud organ and orchestra exhausted ATB so some lines were inaudible. Faster tempi did not help. The text was unclear. The soprano soloist just did not have the right sound above the stave! Such a pity as this is great music. I felt unmoved by it. It needs expressivo dolce cantabile. This we did not get.