Tippett Piano Concerto; R3 in Concert, Weds 14/6/17

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Oh! Prince Edward! That "explains" everything.

Sorry - I've rather derailed the Thread ... as you were.

[Pulcinella]

Prince Edward is the CBSO's Royal Patron.
Good that he turns up on occasion, then.

[ahinton]

... His Royal Highness The Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis, Viscount Severn, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Honorary Member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty.

I suspect Private Eye has another monicker for him....

He needs yet another one?...

[ahinton]

So ... is there also a "Countess of Mercia" and a "Duke of Bernicia"???

"Lord of Middle Earth"? "Duchess of Narnia"?? "Viscount Neverland"???

The quality of Mercia is not strained. Coma Berenices. Lord of the Rings? Can't think of the others...

[jayne lee wilson]

The quality of Mercia is not strained. Coma Berenices. Lord of the Rings? Can't think of the others...

Game of Thrones Season 7 commences 17 July..... "hope this helps..."

[BBMmk2]

Game of Thrones Season 7 commences 17 July..... "hope this helps..."

Can't wait!

[bluestateprommer]

A very good performance of one of my favourite Piano Concertos - the soloist excellent, the orchestra/conductor not sounding quite at home in Tippett's sprung rhythms: two or three more rehearsals to get those "upbeat" shorter notes a little lighter, more of a skip in the step, I felt. In compensation, the "edge-of-the-seat" sense of danger had its own rewards and insights (but, if these were intentional, they hadn't been discussed with the pianist). And the joy of hearing this cubist pastoral, with its wonderful positionings of timbre, resonance, and register - it would have had to have been a much worse performance than this to stop it being a delight.

Presumably the Tippett would have gotten the lion(ess)' share of rehearsal time, as the least familiar of the 3 works on the concert. Just caught it on iPlayer, again barely making it under the 30 day limit (and right before the Proms takes over all the oxygen here). The performance was very fine, but in all honesty, after a fine start, it settled into too much pretty note-spinning for ~36 minutes. It rather reminded me of Martinu's music, in the filigree textures and sound-world, except that Martinu's music tends to have more forward drive.

Overall, the concert was indeed a fine one, with generally unidiosyncratic, solid leadership from MG-T on the podium. A few momemtary brass blips in the Stravinsky, and even slightly in the LvB, but certainly not enough to mar enjoyment. The engineering via iPlayer brought forth textures and threads in the Stravinsky that I'd never noticed before in other recordings and even live, particularly from the winds and in the piano balance. (Charmingly, the word in the pre-performance chat with Tom Redmond where MG-T said "I don't know the English word yet" might have been the hurdy-gurdy, not that she's reading this thread.) While it does seem counter-intuitive to put the overture last on the program, after hearing it, I can understand why, as rather the most forceful work on the program, plus also to send audiences out on a high. Except that MG-T threw in a gentle encore, the 'Waltz' from Leonard Bernstein's Divertimento for Orchestra. I'm gathering that MG-T is doing this as a regular feature at her concerts, to offer an encore, which sounds much like what Neeme Jarvi has done (at least for concerts in the USA).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The performance was very fine

No, it wasn't.

but in all honesty, after a fine start, it settled into too much pretty note-spinning for ~36 minutes.

No, it didn't. Honestly.

[bluestateprommer]

Well, we agree to disagree here (life would be dull if we all agreed with each other all the time). I remember hearing Tippett's Piano Concerto ages ago on a CD, where I pretty much had the same impressions then as now. I obviously don't have the score in front of me, but just go by how I react to it. A matter of taste, of course. Still, at least MG-T and SO were willing to take it on.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

- one of my favourite Piano Concertos, and one of my favourite pieces by a favourite composer; I just love it, and have from the first time I heard it.

[Richard Barrett]

- one of my favourite Piano Concertos, and one of my favourite pieces by a favourite composer; I just love it, and have from the first time I heard it.

It's very much in the mould of Midsummer Marriage, isn't it? with a strong influence of Hindemithian neoclassicism (an influence hardly ever given its due when Tippett's work is discussed, though for me it's almost always audible). But for me Tippett really gets going with his next big work, the Second Symphony. I do find the solo part of the Piano Concerto tends towards notespinning quite often, especially in the second movement.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's very much in the mould of Midsummer Marriage, isn't it? with a strong influence of Hindemithian neoclassicism (an influence hardly ever given its due when Tippett's work is discussed, though for me it's almost always audible). But for me Tippett really gets going with his next big work, the Second Symphony. I do find the solo part of the Piano Concerto tends towards notespinning quite often, especially in the second movement.

I don't find that - but on some recordings the forward balance of the soloist can obscure the fact that the part is accompanying solos and ensembles from the orchestra, which misses what I like to think is the point in these passages.

The Hindemith connection was discussed by the late Ian Kemp both in his writings and lectures (some of the latter of which it was my great good fortune - which, of course, I took for granted at the time - to attend). Kemp was, of course, also a (?the?) leading authority on Hindemith in this country in the '60s and '70s, when that composer's "rating" was at its lowest.

[ahinton]

It's very much in the mould of Midsummer Marriage, isn't it? with a strong influence of Hindemithian neoclassicism (an influence hardly ever given its due when Tippett's work is discussed, though for me it's almost always audible). But for me Tippett really gets going with his next big work, the Second Symphony. I do find the solo part of the Piano Concerto tends towards notespinning quite often, especially in the second movement.

I can't say that I find that in this delightful work (even if it might on occasion feel like note-spinning to the pianist!) but I do agree about the Second Symphony which has always struck me as one of Tippett's finest works; overall, though, Tippett's music still seems not to be receiving the attention that most of it richly deserves - I've no idea why this is.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

overall, though, Tippett's music still seems not to be receiving the attention that most of it richly deserves - I've no idea why this is.

Maybe because on the rare occasions that it is programmed, too few people - even on an enthusiastic Forum such as this - bother to listen?

[teamsaint]

Maybe because on the rare occasions that it is programmed, too few people - even on an enthusiastic Forum such as this - bother to listen?

In our media soaked world It's hard to get big audiences for many events. There is just so much to choose from, so many options for ways to listen. This applies to , for example, many concerts of core classical repertoire by prestigious orchestras.

I do strongly feel that narrow, unadventurous conservative programing can be, in part at least, be put down to defensive thought processes by programmers, along the lines of " If this doesn't wash its face , I can't be blamed because....."

On the other hand, in the classical world, a few less performances of, say, the Sibelius VC , and more of works like the Tippett PC might easily help develop audiences.
I don't particularly prefer the Tippett PC to the Sibelius VC, but I'd jump at the chance to hear it, whereas I pass up at least a couple of chance each year to hear the Sibelius.

There does seem to be a bit of ( what I think is) a myth around that core rep is guaranteed to fill halls, and that anything outside the big Romantic works and a few key C20 works are commercial suicide.