Friday night at the Barbican BBCSO

[Alison]

Life enhancing Prokofiev 6 tonight.

Not note perfect but a searching survey of the score

and the Barbican acoutic heard at something like its finest.

I really didnt want it to end; consistently stimulating of timbre.

Fascinating, moving, uplifting.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

and the Barbican acoustic heard at something like its finest.

It's good to hear someone saying something positive about this acoustic. It's one of the few major British concert venues I've yet to visit.

[Alison]

I just felt it brought me face to face with the music as if for the first time.

It might all have sounded anaemic in the Royal Albert Hall.

[gedsmk]

For the most part I like the acoustic. Solo piano (Murray Perahia) can sound fabulous. Orchestra in full swing (Leipzig Gewandhaus) likewise.

[Petrushka]

For the most part I like the acoustic.

So do I. Perhaps it depends on where you sit. My preferred location is Row A in the Circle.

[Spatny]

I go to the Barbican frequently, and in my opinion, the place to sit for best acoustics are centre stalls, row K & L. Unfortunately these are the highest priced seats, and the view of the stage is not as good, as higher placed seats.

[french frank]

And ... there was the première of Dalbavie's oboe concerto, too, performed by Alexei Ogrintchouk. If excellent were here, I'm sure we'd be getting a cryptic review by now . Any comments?

[3rd Viennese School]

Yes. It was short and sqeaky!

It was good to hear Prokofiev symphony no.6 in E flat minor opus 111. Dont often get to hear this one. The best of the 7 symphonies. It's got everything in it! Saw it live at the Barbican in 2003 when it was Prokofiev's anniversary.
Very slow mvt 1 however. The scream towards the end of mvt 2 should be even more dramatic than at the start of mvt 2. ( Note the same thing happens at the end of Prokofiev 2 mvt 2 theme and right at the end of mvt 2!)
Good to hear the angry endng. If this is arguably Prokofiev's best work why is it so neglected?

[Suffolkcoastal]

I think Prokofiev 6 is the finest Soviet/Russian symphony of the 20th century. Its neglect in the concert hall is baffling, perhaps it is considered too risky by many concert programmers who prefer to keep to a narrow selection of 'popular' classics.

[french frank]

I think Prokofiev 6 is the finest Soviet/Russian symphony of the 20th century. Its neglect in the concert hall is baffling, perhaps it is considered too risky by many concert programmers who prefer to keep to a narrow selection of 'popular' classics.

In which case, well done BBC for programming it!

[bluestateprommer]

If this is arguably Prokofiev's best work why is it so neglected?

The answer is pretty obvious, namely that it's subtler than the 5th Symphony, without quite the big tunes or slam-bang raise-the-roof finish. JB and the BBC SO did quite well with it. Regarding programming Prokofiev 6, I vaguely recall that the Chicago Symphony did it several years back with Dutoit, but it is very true that performances of it are rare. However, Vladimir Jurowski has Prokofiev 6 scheduled with the Philadelphia Orchestra in February.

Listening to this BBC SO concert a few weeks back on the iPlayer, the Dalbavie concerto struck me as OK, although I did have a "that was it?" sense after the end of it. No criticism of the oboe soloist, though, who performed it splendidly.

Sidebar about the Barbican, where I admit I've never heard a concert (have walked by and strolled in the lobby, though), from a New Year's Day article about Maurizio Pollini from The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jan/01/maurizio-pollini-interview-nicholas-wroe

"....it was Pollini's threat to cancel a 1983 concert at the Barbican because of its notoriously poor acoustics that began the process of improving the hall's sound"