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01.09.08Press on 'posh talent show'
Isabel Berwick, Financial Times
Some may feel that The X Factor is not natural viewing for FT readers (other than those who hope that watching can help nudge up the dismal ITV share price). But TV talent shows nowadays come in many demographically targeted guises, and I commend a very different musical event, Maestro (BBC2, Tuesdays) to anyone who is usually too sniffy for the genre.
This series has heavyweight classical music credibility (the chairman of the judging panel is conductor Sir Roger Norrington) and features a bunch of rather charming celebrities who are learning how to conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra. The prize is conducting the orchestra in front of 30,000 people at the Proms in the Park in September.
The celebs include ubiquitous but very funny Sue Perkins and David Soul, yes, it's Hutch - now aged 64). Each has their own mentor, a professional conductor trying to teach them how to do the job.
Confusingly, the first show was in a documentary format but the series has now switched to live conduct-offs, with only the merest snatch of recorded preamble about the preparation that goes into each performance. This is frustrating - Maestro is so keen to flaunt its intellectual credentials and proper music-making that it forgets to convey to the rest of us exactly what it is that each contestant is learning about the art of conducting, so that we might learn something too.
In the first week, all the tuition seemed to be taking place in a sixth-form college and, indeed, Jane Asher and Katie Derham are a bit dull and swotty, while all the men are cool and overly confident. Just like A-levels all over again. And, shockingly, the orchestra join in with the playground politics. Given the chance to vote off one of the two lowest-scoring celebrities - this week Coronation Street's Bradley Walsh (18 points out of 40 from the judges) versus Soul (22 points) - the players gave up on my baby, and knocked out Soul. They were seduced by Walsh's annoying classroom buffoonery. Even posh talent shows turn out to be shallow.
Recent News
08.12.08More Maestro for Christmas
A revealing new documentary, Maestro: The Inside Story, will be shown over Christmas.
13.09.08Sue takes Hyde Park by Storm
Maestro winner Sue Perkins tonight wowed the 35,000-strong Proms in the Park audience at the Last Night of the Proms.
10.09.08Sue's win - first verdicts from the press
Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s arts correspondent, was first up with a review of the Maestro Final posted on the Guardian Culture Blog at 9.53 this morning. A Spectator review has also been posted by Henrietta Bredin.
09.09.08Congratulations to Sue Perkins!
At tonight’s Grand Final, writer and comedienne Sue Perkins emerged from the audience vote to win the BBC’s first ever Maestro competition.
04.09.08Vengerov flies in for Final
Virtuoso violinist and conductor Maximum Vengerov will replace Simone Young on the panel of judges for the Maestro Final on Tuesday 9 September.
02.09.08Dramatic vote saves Jane and Goldie
The Maestro series reached new levels of tension as four students faced the orchestra vote.
01.09.08Opera stars join Maestro
Soprano Rebecca Evans and tenor Alfie Boe will join the Maestro show for Episode 4.
01.09.08Do Men Hog the Podium?
Will female conductors ever achieve equality? I think they will, says conductor Madeleine Lovell
01.09.08Press on 'posh talent show'
TV talent shows come in many demographically targeted guises - I commend a different event - Maestro.
26.08.08Bradley exits the competition
Bradley Walsh did not survive the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote this week.
26.08.08Behind the scenes
Maestro viewers have asked about the various musicians who have helped the students in their preparation.
22.08.08What the papers said ...
I watched Maestro (BBC2) mostly because it was there … how wrong could I be because it was riveting.
22.08.08Sue's reality check
Maestro student Sue Perkins posted a thoughtful article in the Guardian newspaper. These are her thoughts on what she has learned
22.08.08How Goldie got into Classical
Ex-grilfriend Bjork had a hand in Goldie’s conversion to classical …
22.08.08The Thoughts of Alex and Brad
Alex: “The first thing you have to learn as a conductor is how to stand up straight.”
21.08.08Lessons learned, by David Soul
Rejected student David Soul bares his … about what he learned from the Maestro experience.
19.08.08Second student leaves Maestro
Following the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote, Bradley Walsh was saved and David Soul exited the competition.
19.08.08Don't smile at the brass ...
In the run-up to Episode 2, Katie Derham has been finding out how to get an orchestra to do what she wants …
12.08.08First student exits Maestro
The BBC Concert Orchestra decides who remains in the competition.
05.08.08How hard can it be?
Journalist Christopher Middleton visitis the students as they try out their conducting skills on an orchestra of young musicians in a church in London.
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