Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2022

[Barbirollians]

Thank you. That must be it. What a pity Sony didn't include it in their boxset; they did alternative versions of other works.

Not sure how well a mega party NYD concert would suit these grim times .

I enjoyed it but I thought last year’s Muti concert was truly special and hopefully this will be the last COVID blighted NYD concert.

[Petrushka]

Thank you. That must be it. What a pity Sony didn't include it in their boxset; they did alternative versions of other works.

I'm going from memory here - the VPO website doesn't make it clear - but I think that the chorus used was the latter day version of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein who gave the first performance. When Boskovsky recorded it for Decca he used the men of the Wiener Staatsopernchor.

[ardcarp]

What about the gunshots in Auf der Jagd? A woodslap just doesn't cut it.

I guess the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the U.S. may have had something to do with it.

I'm afraid the Vienna Phil's New Year concert is something avoided like the plague in the Ardcarp household. I can imagine Daniel Barenboim, brilliant conductor though he be, seeming a bit wary of that lot, who have the customs and practices (e.g. the wonky waltz rhythm) imprinted in their bones.

I have a lovely memory of Neville Marriner, once a close neighbour of ours, when I found him one day poring over a fat Mahler score with an unusually earnest expression. 'O God', he said, 'I've got to conduct this with the Vienna Phil in a few days' time, and they all know far more about it than I do.'

[cloughie]

I guess the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the U.S. may have had something to do with it.

I'm afraid the Vienna Phil's New Year concert is something avoided like the plague in the Ardcarp household. I can imagine Daniel Barenboim, brilliant conductor though he be, seeming a bit wary of that lot, who have the customs and practices (e.g. the wonky waltz rhythm) imprinted in their bones.

I have a lovely memory of Neville Marriner, once a close neighbour of ours, when I found him one day poring over a fat Mahler score with an unusually earnest expression. 'O God', he said, 'I've got to conduct this with the Vienna Phil in a few days' time, and they all know far more about it than I do.'

I must say that Marriner is not the first name I think of as a Mahler conductor! I wonder if he was tempted to wing it just a little!

[LHC]

I guess the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the U.S. may have had something to do with it.

I'm afraid the Vienna Phil's New Year concert is something avoided like the plague in the Ardcarp household. I can imagine Daniel Barenboim, brilliant conductor though he be, seeming a bit wary of that lot, who have the customs and practices (e.g. the wonky waltz rhythm) imprinted in their bones.

I have a lovely memory of Neville Marriner, once a close neighbour of ours, when I found him one day poring over a fat Mahler score with an unusually earnest expression. 'O God', he said, 'I've got to conduct this with the Vienna Phil in a few days' time, and they all know far more about it than I do.'

As this was Barenboim’s third time conducting the NYD concert (the others being 2009 and 2014), I doubt that his apparent reticence yesterday was due to any sense of wariness on his part.

[ardcarp]

I doubt that his apparent reticence yesterday was due to any sense of wariness on his part.

Maybe just weariness then.

[Petrushka]

I guess the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the U.S. may have had something to do with it.

I'm afraid the Vienna Phil's New Year concert is something avoided like the plague in the Ardcarp household. I can imagine Daniel Barenboim, brilliant conductor though he be, seeming a bit wary of that lot, who have the customs and practices (e.g. the wonky waltz rhythm) imprinted in their bones.

I have a lovely memory of Neville Marriner, once a close neighbour of ours, when I found him one day poring over a fat Mahler score with an unusually earnest expression. 'O God', he said, 'I've got to conduct this with the Vienna Phil in a few days' time, and they all know far more about it than I do.'

I must confess that I'd not thought of the Hutchins shooting as a reason for dispensing with the gunshots in Auf der Jagd but it's a valid point and one of those unintended consequences.

Re Marriner: If he was down to conduct Mahler with the VPO then either he or they must have cried off as the VPO concert archive lists just three concerts he gave with them consisting of more usual Marriner fayre: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

[gurnemanz]

'O God', he said, 'I've got to conduct this with the Vienna Phil in a few days' time, and they all know far more about it than I do.'

Reminds of a story in a book about the VPO. A guest conductor was annoying the orchestra with his manner. Someone commented to him " If you carry on like that we'll play it the way you're conducting it"

[ardcarp]

I must say that Marriner is not the first name I think of as a Mahler conductor! I wonder if he was tempted to wing it just a little!

Here? https://www.wqxr.org/story/neville-m...tor-active-90/

But not the VPO

[RichardB]

Apropos... I once heard from a friend who had an acquaintance in the BPO and asked them what Barenboim was like as a conductor. "I don't know", was the answer, "we never look at him." I can't say I've ever really been convinced by any of the recordings of his conducting that I've heard, although of course he has done many admirable things.

[Petrushka]

Apropos... I once heard from a friend who had an acquaintance in the BPO and asked them what Barenboim was like as a conductor. "I don't know", was the answer, "we never look at him." I can't say I've ever really been convinced by any of the recordings of his conducting that I've heard, although of course he has done many admirable things.

That's an anecdote I've heard many times about every conductor who ever lived. I think it crops up in the 1961 comedy film Raising the Wind with Kenneth Williams, Leslie Phillips & co.

[RichardB]

That's an anecdote I've heard many times about every conductor who ever lived. I think it crops up in the 1961 comedy film Raising the Wind with Kenneth Williams, Leslie Phillips & co.

I'm not surprised, I made it clear that I got this story at third hand!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Apropos... I once heard from a friend who had an acquaintance in the BPO and asked them what Barenboim was like as a conductor. "I don't know", was the answer, "we never look at him." I can't say I've ever really been convinced by any of the recordings of his conducting that I've heard, although of course he has done many admirable things.

It’s a story that easily provable one way or another by looking at his recordings with the orchestra. I did notice in his performance at the Sheldonian with , I think , the BPO of a Brahms symphony it was extraordinary how little he beat time - hardly at all. He did a lot of beginning of phrase gesturing to shape them a bit and very little cueing. But conducting the BPO in Brahms is a bit like telling Brahms how one of his pieces should go.

[jayne lee wilson]

You could almost plot or trace Barenboim's career through his evident devotion to Bruckner. A remarkably fresh, at the time groundbreaking, Chicago Symphony cycle (with a 4th and 6th still among the best) then the less interpretively confident or consistent, less orchestrally focussed Berlin Philharmonic one....

Finally the Berlin Staatskapelle set. He had a very close relationship with the latter and found a more "localised" more idiomatic sound there.
Perhaps his wonderful work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (never forgetting his close friend Edward Said's role in this) will be his greatest legacy, in human terms at least....

[Ein Heldenleben]

There’s a brief clip of Barenboim conducting the Brahms I mentioned on YouTube. The deputy leader of the violins and our very own Sarah Willis - the horn player - are clearly looking at the conductor . He’s beating time a bit more than I remembered but also letting his arms rest by his side . I wonder if he gets a bit fatigued . The orchestra seem intensely engaged - really tugging into the strings . They are also looking at each other - another good sign I think.

Having problems with the YouTube link but Barenboim BPO Sheldonian gets you there