CBSO: Weber, Mozart and Brahms - from Symphony Hall - 5.10.17

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

CBSO: Weber, Mozart and Brahms
Radio 3 in Concert - 7.30 p.m.


Brahms grappled with his First Symphony - and the weight of music history - for well over ten years. But he needn't have worried. From the pounding heartbeats of the opening, to the roof-raiser of a peroration, it's really no wonder it was instantly dubbed "Beethoven's Tenth". Tonight's concert also gives the opportunity to hear Artist in Residence Jörg Widmann in two musical guises: as soloist in Mozart's valedictory Clarinet Concerto (about which Mozart wrote "I smoked a glorious pipe of tobacco. Then I orchestrated almost the entire Rondo..."), then as maverick composer in the "linguistic confusion" of his Babylon-Suite. And to open, the overture to Weber's masterpiece of Romantic opera, Der Freischütz.

Weber: Der Freischütz - Overture
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A K.622
Jörg Widmann: Babylon-Suite
Brahms: Symphony No 1

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (conductor)
Jörg Widmann (clarinet).

[ARBurton]

CBSO: Weber, Mozart and Brahms
Radio 3 in Concert - 7.30 p.m.


Brahms grappled with his First Symphony - and the weight of music history - for well over ten years. But he needn't have worried. From the pounding heartbeats of the opening, to the roof-raiser of a peroration, it's really no wonder it was instantly dubbed "Beethoven's Tenth". Tonight's concert also gives the opportunity to hear Artist in Residence Jörg Widmann in two musical guises: as soloist in Mozart's valedictory Clarinet Concerto (about which Mozart wrote "I smoked a glorious pipe of tobacco. Then I orchestrated almost the entire Rondo..."), then as maverick composer in the "linguistic confusion" of his Babylon-Suite. And to open, the overture to Weber's masterpiece of Romantic opera, Der Freischütz.

Weber: Der Freischütz - Overture
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A K.622
Jörg Widmann: Babylon-Suite
Brahms: Symphony No 1

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (conductor)
Jörg Widmann (clarinet).

Just caught up with this via the Iplayer - anyone know what happened to the Weber?!

[Zucchini]

Programme too long I think - premiere of Babylon ran to about 40mins - & Widmann was happy to open the concert with the Mozart

[Stephen Maddock]

The Weber was never on this programme (only on the Wednesday matinee in place of Babylon) - it was an error in the BBC listings.

[bluestateprommer]

Programme too long I think - premiere of Babylon ran to about 40mins - & Widmann was happy to open the concert with the Mozart

If this CBSO concert had been a Prom, it could easily have been a "club sandwich Prom" (to quote a Petroc-ism), with two intervals for these 3 works. This was obviously highly demanding for the CBSO and MG-T to play 3 big works like these in a single evening. JW's interpretation of Mozart K. 622 came across as rather hearty and extrovert, at least IMHO. He didn't seem to go for the "autumnal melancholy" interpretation here.

JW's suite from Babylon was obviously the main 'novelty' of the evening. While it did strike me as rather long, as I didn't realize that it would go 40 minutes, ultimately, it was long in a good way. JW manages the trick, rare for composers these days that I can tell, of writing contemporary concert hall music that has continuous energy and drive, and doesn't stay rhythmically stuck in the mud in one place (unlike too much US contemporary music of recent years that has percussion noodles in short bursts that don't actually move the music on). Parts of JW's music sounded like bits of Mahler and Shostakovich refracted through his own prism, but again in a good way. Cute surprise to hear a Russian-trepak style "Hey!!!" from the orchestra at one point. I think that the opera Babylon got somewhat mixed reviews. But one other thought after hearing this work (twice; 1st time at work on earbuds, 2nd time at home on laptop speakers) was that this music could actually go well as a ballet. Even with the longeurs, JW's Babylon Suite is possibly the most engaging contemporary music for orchestra that I've heard in a good while.

MG-T's Brahms 1 generally went well, especially given how exhausting the evening must have been for the musicians, especially with the Widmann suite. No exposition repeat in the 1st movement, and a few brass blips, both again understandable in the context of the concert's duration, nor was there an encore (which I again gather seems to be semi-standard practice with MG-T's concerts). Certainly value for money, and another example of her programming flair with the CBSO.