Sir simon and BPO bashing out a rather impressive Rachmaninov Symphony No2 at the moment.
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Thanks Barb (*said in Jim Royal accent*) - just switched over. I'm pretty allergic to the Rattle gurning, but it sounds all very pleasant if one doesn't watch too closely.... and while doing other things...Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
UPDATE... I was going to say something more about all the faces and the knowing looks and the frequent moments of private ecstasy by Sir Si, but I won't - not sure what point there is in parading a pet aversion. But how DO the orchestra deal with watching that week in, week out??
Last edited by Nick Armstrong; 23-09-11, 20:09."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Excruciatingly over-indulged. A not bad orchestra being slobbered over by a stick waver who has no idea how to interpret such music, which personally is not my favourite Rachmaninov symphony in any case. I'm reaching for the nearest bucket in case the nausea finally overcomes me, or the off switch gets me first. In fact I have switched off.Comment
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Originally posted by Ariosto View Post
You were posting as I updated, Ari...
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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No naturalness of utterance.Comment
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I must admit that I too wonder how that orchestra can live with him.
At one point I fell asleep (it's been a long and hard day) and when I suddenly woke up (just like being in orchestra) I saw him "conducting" and there was no sound! Everyone else had stopped. What an exhibitionist!Comment
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Well I enjoyed it
As always Sir Simon brought out bits that I'd never heard in a work that I thought I knew pretty well, and apart from the fact that his clarinettist was a bit short of puff & reminded me of Mark Mardell, and his oboist appeared to be Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin, I thought he did pretty well in repertoire that neither he nor the BPO regard as everyday fodder..
I noted that there were moments in which Rattle started a transformation into a hommage a Abbado, certain gestures (not the gurning natch) and he's developed this wiggly left-hand possibly sub-Gergiev, plus he's taken occasionally to balancing like Haintink used to do with the LPO, tho he doesn't berate the brass like Haitink used to
You may have guessed that I'm a big fan of the Tousled Scouser and I'm fascinated by his continuing transformation. The orchestra seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially the strings who were swaying about virtually as one and they did some lovely yearning for him too.
[Puts tin hat on & nips down to the Nissen Hut before Ariosto & Caliban start their shelling]
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Could you live with it though? I did notice the finger twitching though and my thought was something along the line of "how soon can they get this guy sectioned." But I love him really. Beats comedy hour any day.Comment
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I got the impression that the orchestra was feeling like it was Kidz Day Out - at last something with big choons!Originally posted by Ariosto View PostI think ol' Simes does some nifty programming to keep things interesting for him, for the BPO and for us.
And we need to remember that he gets elected by the orchestra - not sure when it's all up for renewal - but he must be doing something righht - could it be the funding negotiations with Berlin's version of BoJo? - and the EMI contract is always nice
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... i really enjoyed the Aranjuez with a Flamenco artist playing .... quite magical ... the sound of that orchestra is a bit special too ... lovely basses ...According to the best estimates of astronomers there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.Comment
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If an orchestra can find a chief conductor who does not interfere and who they can cheerfully ignore, they are content to live with the situation.Originally posted by Ariosto View Post
They play the works in the accomplished manner that they always have done and he charms the audience with his antics and milks the applause for a great HvK, Abbado or Kleiber interpretation.
The audience are satisfied, the conductor basks in his own self-centred glory and the orchestra can be assured that the money will keep on rolling in.
So long as we like what we hear, who's complaining?
VH
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His contract has been renewed until 2018 (it's a ten-year contract). I am much more prepared to respect the judgement of the superb Berlin Phil musicians than I am that of the Rattle detractors here.Originally posted by amateur51 View PostComment
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I too, Mary. Even with the grotty sound on my kitchen TV, it came over as a Rach 2 performance to die for. Wonderfully expressive, but at the same time Rattle kept it moving. Would I want a recording in order to hear it repeatedly? I'm not sure, but that doesn't matter. And with all due respect, Ventilhorn, I don't think they played the piece "in the accomplished manner that they have always done" since, as Rattle pointed out, this piece is not meat and drink to the BPO.Originally posted by Mary Chambers View PostComment
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Oh I'm sure there are lots of factors that make him bankable for contract renewal purposes. And in the right music, he can really deliver (the recent Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet orchestration, for instance). I just cannot watch the man, that's all.Originally posted by Mary Chambers View Post"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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I can feel a new thread coming on - Performers I Can't Bring Myself To WatchOriginally posted by Caliban View Post
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