So where is the birthday boy?


My life has been enriched by the music making of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as these LPs from my collection show, even if we have had our ups and downs. So I want to join in congratulating the BBCSO on its 80th anniversary. It is fantastic to see that the orchestra is performing a birthday concert of largely contemporary music in London on Friday (Oct 22) under the baton of its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek.


Except there is one small problem. Surprise, surprise, Jiri Belohlávek is not conducting at the birthday party, chief guest conductor David Robertson is. The irony free zone known as the BBC website tells us that "the concert will also feature film footage of chief conductors past and present". Watch the screen closely for a rare glimpse of the orchestra's present chief conductor.


* Also on the screen at the Barbican concert should be Colin Davis, who was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1967-71, and Pierre Boulez who followed him from 1971-75. Jirí Belohlávek took up the position in 2006.

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