R3 in Concert one-stop shop

[bluestateprommer]

Taking a cue from teamsaint's separate running thread on the R3 Lunchtime Concerts, here's the start of a parallel running thread on Radio 3 in Concert offerings, for general discussion. Managed to catch a few offerings just before the 30 day deadline, such as:

(a) A few weeks back, heard the LPO/Jurowski concert with Kancheli, Martinu, & VW 9 on iPlayer. On the separate thread, it's a shame that only RVW 9 got the bulk on the attention, as the whole concert was worth hearing, even if it was a concert of two halves. Given that ECM New Series has promoted Giya Kancheli's music for years on their albums, it may say something that GK's music seems to get very few live airings that I can tell, certainly in the USA. So that made this one worth hearing on its own.

To be honest, I found the listening experience of GK's Mourned by the Wind a bit 'meh', although this wasn't the fault of Isabelle van Keulen, the LPO or VJ. It was nice that GK was in the hall to take a bow. The big surprise, however, was the second half, in hearing Martinu's Memorial to Lidice juxtaposed with RVW 9. Until hearing the two works in succession, I never realized how close the sound worlds of the two works are. Full marks to VJ for making the connection and pairing them. It was also interesting to hear VJ's interpretation of the end of RVW 9 as RVW's own spirit dispersing into the cosmos after his own end.

(b) Just heard the RSNO concert with Elim Chan pinch-hitting for Neeme Jarvi, the program of Tchaikovsky's R&D, LvB 2 (Louis Schwizgebel), and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. On paper, this looks like pretty tame programming, if still a hefty workout for the orchestra. In practice, though, the RSNO sounded on really strong form, warm sound, and well paced, without any strange point-making or pulling out of shape of phrases from EC. Maybe one or two odd lightly scrambled passages from Schwizgebel in the LvB, but no harm done. This is all the more interesting given that Elim Chan made her guest-conducting debut with the RSNO not long before, something like 2 weeks earlier, and she got the emergency call back pretty fast. Tom Redmond went on about the chemistry between her and the RSNO on their first concert together, as did the RSNO press office here. Given that orchestras always need to keep their eyes out for future music directors / principal conductors, one wonders if her stock with the RSNO just shot up.

[Alison]

Enjoyed the 'BBC Proms Dubai' concert tonight.

Really wonderful K466 from Benjamin Grosvenor, seemingly Brendel and Cherkassky all in one, and Edward Gardner enjoying himself in Mendelssohn and Elgar.

The old BBCSO small sound sloppiness long gone.

Perhaps not the best acoustic from the new to me venue.

[bluestateprommer]

Caught the Bournemouth SO's R3 concert of a few weeks ago with Schubert 8, the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations and Mendelssohn 5. The twist, which I was hoping for when I stumbled across this R3 concert just within the 30-day limit, is that guest cellist Johannes Moser performed the original version of the Rococo Variations, which obviously represents Pyotr Ilyich's original (better) thoughts rather than Wilhelm Fitzhagen's distortions of the original. JM made a well-spoken case for the original in his pre-recorded comments with Ian Skelly. In general, his interpretation was a no-fuss one, which is interesting given that the one time I've seen JM live, his stage manner struck me as very energetic, to the point where had he accidentally let go of his bow, it would have impaled several members of the orchestra (and possibly the conductor). However, his announcement of the Tchaikovsky Nocturne encore (featuring the orchestra, not just a solo encore) was understated charm itself.

Karabits indulged in the very occasional nudge of pacing in the Schubert, but just ever so slightly. Regarding the Mendelssohn, where he took a rather brisk pace for the scherzo, KK spoke of the 5th as his favorite Mendelssohn symphony, interesting since it does tend to sit in the shadows of 3 and 4. The whole concert shows what sounds to be the continuing warm musical partnership between Karabits and the Bournemouth SO.

[pastoralguy]

I heard the start of last night's concert which featured the RLPO under Sir Andrew Davis with pianist Garrick Ohlsson as I drove home from work. The concert started with

Nicolai. 'Merry Wives of Windsor'. (A little lacking in sparkle).

Elgar. 'Falstaff'. (A very good performance, imho)

Brahms' Second Piano Concerto.

A very good concert that was enhanced by a good broadcast.

[BBMmk2]

One thing to remember about Radio 3 In Concert, and that's to remember they exist!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I heard the Brahms concerto - as so often with Andrew Davies, I found it a thoroughly reliable and highly enjoyable performance, without ever stunning with its insights and power.

[bluestateprommer]

Some more recent listening to Radio 3 in Concert offerings, just before the 30-day deadline (as is BSP's wont), a double-dose of the BBC Philharmonic:

1. James Ehnes (violin) and guest conductor James Feddeck, with John Harbison's Remembering Gatsby, Barber's Violin Concerto, and Rach 2. Generally OK, but with a few reservations. The more "swing band" / "Jazz Age" pastiche moments in the Harbison sounded rather stiff under Feddeck's direction, kind of surprising since Feddeck is American. One would think that as an American, he'd let the band "swing", so to speak, but JF didn't. "Non-swing" parts, though, went fine. Ehnes did very well with the Barber concerto; his JSB encore may have been just a bit much, staying in the same high intensity mode throughout (but technically well dispatched, of course). Most of Feddeck's Rach 2 went quite well, generally with him content to let the orchestra play and blending the sound well. The slow movement felt a bit "fragment-y", not quite with the complete long-line throughout. But obviously no one in the hall minded. I admit to curiosity about Feddeck because I've seen some good reviews about him (e.g. he pinch-hit for Bychkov in San Francisco with Bruckner 8 a while back, if memory serves). OTOH, an orchestral acquaintance here once told me that if JF ever visited as a guest conductor, that person would ask for that week off. So mixed opinions beforehand, to be sure. On balance, though, from the younger generation of American conductors, he seems worth paying attention to.

2. Yan Pascal Tortelier's return with a program of Albert Roussel's Evocations and Saint-Saens 3. I'd never even heard of the Roussel work, so that alone made it of great interest. The BBC Phil was on splendid form indeed, with the CBSO Chorus in fine fettle as support. The one modest debit of the work is the one patter-like (even rap-like) passage for one of the male vocal soloists, but that was AR's fault, of course. While I admit that I can't hum any of Evocations on demand, it was very engaging listening, such that I made the effort to listen twice before the 30-day deadline. The Saint-Saens was mostly good, with a few mildly disruptive phrase nudgings from YPT here and there. But again, no doubt the crowd in the hall wasn't complaining, and the Roussel alone was eminently worth the listen.

[Alison]

Such stiff phrasing in the Nicolai Overture RLPO/Davis. Fluidity of line has never been Sir Andrews calling card.

[BBMmk2]

Such stiff phrasing in the Nicolai Overture RLPO/Davis. Fluidity of line has never been Sir Andrews calling card.

I haven't heard this particular performance, but fluidity of line a problem? That I can't believe.

[bluestateprommer]

More extremely late brief follow-up comments on some recent R3 in Concert listening:
(a) CBSO, Tiberghien, Canellakis: my main interest here was to check out Karina Canellakis, as there seems to be a fair bit of buzz about her, as one of the new fresh generation of female conductors, plus she's set for a BBC SO Prom later in this summer's season. This was a fine concert overall, where the Franck struck me as the freshest discovery of the evening. Granted, I'm always happy to hear Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, as it's my favorite SR work, even though the risk of a favorite work is that any rendition never matches either your favorite recording or the ideal performance in your head. One nice touch was that at the very end, as the final tam-tam crash rang out, KC must have done something in the hall to keep the audience from applauding early, as the tam-tam rang full out without the audience beginning to applaud after it was done. (Nelsons pulled the same trick in a concert performance relayed on R3 some years back with the CBSO that I recall.)
(b) Philharmonia, Helmchen, Blomstedt: normally, I would not check out on iPlayer concerts like this of standard repertoire, except that after hearing Blomstedt live (finally) at last summer's Proms, I figured that this would be worth a go, also to hear if his approach to LvB changed much in the short intervening time. Before that, at the concert's start, HB dedicated the concert to the Manchester victims, starting more of less with these words:

'The flags in London are all at half-staff. We all know why.'

MH did a very fine job with Brahms 1 in the first half. In the 2nd half, HB's interpretation of LvB struck me as pretty consistent with his Proms rendition, again with a just brief-enough pause after the 1st movement, for one. But given that his Proms LvB 7 was wonderful, it was nice to 'hear it again', so to speak, 9 months later with a different orchestra in London. As a bit of a bonus, it seems fitting to link out to this Gramophone interview with Philip Clark:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/herbert-blomstedt-interview

(c) Barry & Beethoven, Britten Sinfonia & Ades: the Barry work sounded much like updated neo-classical Stravinsky, in several places, besides the extended slow-tempo treatment of a familiar Christmas carol in the final section. With memories of Ades' very hard-driven LvB 8 from last summer's Proms in mind, I wondered if that would continue with LvB 1 and 2. For the most part in LvB 1, Ades seemed slightly more relaxed, though keeping the whole piece going at a good clip, in the HIPP manner. However, LvB 2 felt more over-driven, closer to the Proms LvB 8 in overall style.

[bluestateprommer]

Selected recent listening and very tardy follow-up short remarks on selected Radio 3 in concert offerings:

(a) LPO, Istvan Vardai, Lay vicars of Westminster Abbey & Andres Orozco-Estrada: I have to admit that AO-E has generally struck me as not the most imaginative programmer in his concerts, as he tends to stay in his LPO and Houston SO programs that I've seen both from a distance with the tried and true. This one with the LPO thus seemed a bit more out of left field from him, in a good way, with perhaps a page out of the Thomas Dausgaard playbook in having the Westminster Abbey singers perform the 'Dies irae' plainchant in full, before the Rachmaninov. Unfortunately, audience applause after the 'Dies irae' masked the soft opening of the Rachmaninov. Vardai did a very good job in the DSCH Cello Concerto No. 1, with admittedly one unfortunate miss in a very exposed, high passage at the start of the finale (but then, David Pyatt missed a conspicuous bit as well). The Vasks was rather mellow, but a good contrast with the DSCH in that way.

(b) BBC Phil, Storgards, Messiaen & DSCH 14: I have to admit that for sheer imagination, this pairing of Messiaen's Quatour pour la fin du temps and DSCH 14 takes the cake. If this program was Storgards' idea, then I repeat my several times-mentioned comment on other threads that the BBC Phil really needs to elevate JS to chief conductor (if JS wants the job, that is). Martin Roscoe shrewdly mentioned the logistical difficulties of rehearsing the Messiaen, since not all 4 players are featured all throughout, and one doesn't want the first run-through all together to be the actual concert. Both works got solid readings from all involved.

(c) Elisabeth Kullman, Britten Sinfonia & Sir Mark Elder, performing Mahler (arr. Britten), Finzi, Mahler's Rückert Lieder, & Brahms 1: fine concert, with Sir Mark conducting Brahms 1 for the first time in this concert (remember that he's 70). He did perhaps oversell the idea of Brahms 1 on a more intimate scale trying to recapture the freshness of when the music was first new, as it was mostly a fairly straight-up rendition, once past slightly skating over the opening. EK sounded on very, very good form in the Mahler songs.

(FWIW, several R3 in Concerts before, Sir Mark E. conducted another work for the first time ever, with the Halle, Ravel's "17 minutes of orchestral tissue without music".)

(d) Kodaly, Britten, Stravinsky; Ulster Orchestra, Steven Osborne, Gergely Madras: this was a happy surprise, because it manages the near-impossible feat of putting on one concert two works on my own personal bucket list for live listening (i.e. I don't think that I'll ever hear them live in my lifetime), Kodaly's Peacock Variations and Britten's Piano Concerto. GM got a nice, warm, rich string sound from the UO in the Kodaly. A few of the faster moments in the Britten defeated the orchestra (though not SO, natch). But, again, with two wish-list works in the first half of a single program, no complaints on that account.

[bluestateprommer]

Managed to catch recently on iPlayer, just before the 30-day deadline:
(a) Juanjo Mena's final Manchester concert as chief conductor of the BBC Phil, mainly to hear Manuel de Falla's La vida breve. The concert was pretty much of all of a piece with JM's work that I've heard on R3; everything played well, but rarely really taking off, i.e. not much "Spanish fire" as such. The overture was actually the liveliest part of the concert. The singers did generally well in La vida breve, although there was one singer with a rather small, weak, vibrato-heavy sound (maybe kind of a flamenco-like voice?) who rather jarred in my ears.
(b) Oliver Knussen's June 16 Aldeburgh concert, which, at a guess, must have been his penultimate concert. Very, very fine concert indeed, where Knussen's interpretation of the full-orchestral version of Appalachian Spring had its surprises in particular passages that I don't recall from any other version. Knussen mentioned to Martin Handley that these were bits in a version of the score that Eugene Ormandy had requested, and depicted the preacher in rather harsher music compared to what surrounded it. It was clearly poignant to hear Knussen's voice now, so soon after he's gone. The new Philip Cashian concerto was well done, even if at only one hearing, the concerto didn't make a deep impression on me. The much less popular Copland opener was also very well done (one or two tiny blips aside), as was the Feldman after the interval.

[BBMmk2]

I’ve noticed with especially the BBC orchestras, that conductors don’t stay long with their orchestras. A BBC policy?

[bluestateprommer]

Some more just-before-the-30-day-deadline listening from the Radio 3 in Concert line-up (sandwiching these between The Proms, natch):

(a) LvB, Faure & Brahms, with Quatuor Ebene and Martin Frost: absolutely wonderful concert from Wigmore Hall, 3 hearty works in terrific performances all around.

(b) Nicola Benedetti, MG-T and the CBSO: first, yet another outing for Stravinsky's Chant funebre, where I wonder if its novelty is starting to wear off, given its multiplicity of performances just about everywhere, it seems. MG-T and the CBSO played it well, so no worries there. NB's reading of DSCH VC 1 reminded me a bit of her Proms performance last season, where she seemed to hold back just a bit before unleashing the finale. But given how demanding the work is, "holding back" is a relative term. The CBSO Youth Chorus did very well with the Lithuanian folk songs. Unfortunately, the well-meaning audience applauded, very heartily, just after the last song, and disrupted MG-T's plan to segue directly from the songs into The Rite of Spring. The applause was understandable, but I have to wonder if it was indicated in the program booklet that MG-T wanted to have the folk songs lead straight into The Rite w/o pause. Clearly MG-T had to stop the orchestra and wait. I wonder also if this may have thrown the orchestra off its game just a bit, as there were several notable flubs that stood out in Part 1. Things settled down in Part 2. Admittedly, MG-T being in something like her 6th month of pregnancy may have forced her to hold back in her conducting gestures. OTOH, this was certainly a demanding program for the orchestra, as having DSCH VC 1, The Rite, and a "new" (thus unplayed by the orchestra before) Stravinsky work is a full menu.

(c) Thea Musgrave at 90 (BBC SSO, Jac van Steen, Evelyn Glennie, Nicholas Daniel): nice tribute to TM as she prepares to start her 10th decade. I honestly wouldn't say that any of her works really blew me away, and something like Two's Company probably demands to be seen live as well as heard (like all great music, to be sure). But all involved did her music proud, in the kind of program that could almost never be done on this side of the pond, without anything like BBC resources behind it.

(d) Paul Lewis, Orchestra Mozart, and Bernard Haitink: given Uncle Bernie's presence on the podium for this concert, one would think that it would have gotten a bit of notice here. The repertoire is very much meat and potatoes, Mozart 25 and Schubert Great C Major (the concert was from this past 1 April, before BH took his recent tumble @ the Concertgebouw after Mahler 9). PL was very clean-cut, no fuss, no muss with the Mozart. Haitink took the first movement repeat in the Schubert. His finale was a tad on the slower, more spacious side, in contrast to the first 3 movements, which certainly weren't speed-demon, but also weren't unusually or noticeably slow.

I’ve noticed with especially the BBC orchestras, that conductors don’t stay long with their orchestras. A BBC policy?

I've noticed that too, as the recent average does seem to be 6 years as chief conductor, particularly with the BBC NOW and the BBC SSO of late. However, I don't think it's BBC policy, but more just coincidence, or conductors deciding on their own that "it's time". Belohlavek was offered a contract extension with the BBC SO that would have taken him to a more-than-6 year tenure, but JB declined, presumably so that he could devote his attention to the Czech Philharmonic. Sadly, given his premature passing, focusing on one orchestra as chief conductor was probably the wise move for him, in retrospect.

With the BBC Phil and Juanjo Mena, as I've commented before, he's hardly the most scintillating of conductors, even if technically, he's kept the BBC Phil in very fine shape. Maybe both sides there felt the "seven year itch" mutually. Here in the USA, for music directors, something like 10 years is considered a long time these days, and I think the duties of a US music director are more extensive than a BBC orchestra chief conductor, because US music directors also have to do fundraising and gladhanding with donors, cover final musician auditions, that kind of stuff.

[aeolium]

An interesting concert on Wednesday evening, with Andreas Staier playing an all-Schubert programme and, unusually for him I think, on a modern piano. I've been very impressed by several of Staier's fortepiano recordings and cannot recall hearing him playing classical/early romantic repertoire on modern instruments.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000d4x

The second half seems somewhat short, perhaps allowing for one or two encores.