Handley: successor to Kempe?
The man for
the BBC baton
IN HIS tribute to Rudolf Kempe,
Desmond
Shawe-Taylor
poses
the question: Who'll take up
the haton as conductor of the
BBC
Symphony
Orchestra
(Leader page, last week)?
For
me there can be only one answer
—Vernon Handley.
I have heard Handley conduct
some
200
concerts
and
have
reviewed most of them. I was
pleased when the Composers’
Guild of Great Britain named.
him as Conductor of the Year
1973. He is a supreme protagonist among our own composers,
both past and present;
and
remember that it is the British
Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra which will have
to appoint a successor to Kempe.
Someone with a command of
20th century British music must
be a strong candidate. Handley
has a repertoire as embracing
as that of any other conductor.
I have never failed tc
be
‘absorbed by a Handley concert
and I have come to expect readings of inspiration and integrity.
Handley has conducted every
major British orchestra and been
entrusted with such -important
premieres as the Bliss Variations
for Orchestra with the LSO. His
recordings are growing monthly.
Who'll take up the baton of the
BBC SO? Is there really anyone
else?
John Frayn Turner
Guildford
: