Interviews

Richard Wigley of the BBC Philharmonic

Beethoven tops the Frog!

There’s been a huge buzz in the world of classical music ever since the Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic embarked on a series of concerts to perform the entire Beethoven Cycle - all nine Beethoven symphonies - at the Bridgewater Hall.

But an experiment by BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Phil to offer recordings of the concerts as free downloads has 'astonished' everyone at their popularity - and left them pondering the possibilities for listening to live orchestral music.

In the first week, there were more than 650,000 downloads of the first five Beethoven symphonies from the Radio 3 website. Or put another way: Beethoven's Symphony 1 - which notched up 164,000 downloads in the first week - would have knocked Crazy Frog (149,000) off the top of the charts!

(The symphonies are free of charge and therefore not eligible for the official UK download and Top 40 singles charts)

Beethoven downloads: to your iPod

Richard Wigley, General Manager of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester said it's exceeded all expectations.

"It's astonishing! The take-up has been absolutely enormous! It’s ten, twenty times what we expected." Adding: "I have to say that it’s the most exciting thing I’ve been involved with."

Performing the entire Beethoven Symphony Cycle is a rare and iconic event – it’s 50 years since the legendary John Barbirolli led Manchester’s Halle Orchestra through this exhausting and exhiliarating repertoire.

And already the Phil’s principal conductor Gianandrea Noseda has been receiving rave reviews for his ‘radical’, ‘daring’ and ‘shocking’ interpretation of Beethoven’s music. [read the reviews on the BBC Radio 3 site]

When told of the download figures, Noseda said: "I'm thrilled that our performances have reached such a large, new audience and hope this trial will encourage more people to experience and enjoy orchestral music live in concert."

Roger Wright, Controller of Radio 3, said: "The response has been incredible and much bigger that we expected. "The success shows Beethoven's enduring appeal and we hope this will encourage new audiences to explore online classical music."

Daring: Gianandrea Noseda

Richard Wigley said that what began as an experiment to attract a new audience to Beethoven could well prove to be a new era for classical music.

“I think we spend a lot of time creating absolutely pristine recordings, particularly for the CD age. And those recordings will still be available.

"But this may well be something more immediate, this will be much more about live performance, getting the thrill – without too many changes made back in the studio – the thrill of what it’s like to be in the concert hall, even though you’re 12,000 miles away."

But what about the traditional Radio 3 listener who has yet to join the iPod generation and is wary of MP3 download technology? Mr Wigley said he's tried it at home - and it's easy:

“My daughter has an iPod which she uses all the time through the iTunes site. And once you’ve done it once, it’s no problem. Once everything is plugged in – and that’s straightforward as far as I can tell – you push a couple of buttons from the BBC Three website, go away and make a cup of tea – and hey presto! You’ve got a symphony."

The BBC Philharmonic will conclude its Beethoven Symphony Cycle with Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7 on Thurs 16 June at The Bridgewater Hall, and Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 on Sunday 19 June. Tickets available from 0161 907 9000 (returns only for Sun 19 June).