Mozart and Mahler live tonight from the Barbican

[cloughie]

I have not previously held HB's direction in, high regard. However, I must concur. This was, indeed a particularly fine Mahler Seven.

HB?

[PJPJ]

admittedly I don't know the Mozart inside out but was there a short memory lapse by the soloist leading up to the last movement cadenza? something sounded odd to me at that point.

I think you're right. At his age I would have frozen solid then shook with terror. I'm looking forward to his recording out on DG next month.

[PJPJ]

I have not previously held HB's direction in, high regard. However, I must concur. This was, indeed a particularly fine Mahler Seven.

I've always been a fan of his unpretentiousness and will miss him when he leaves.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

JB revealed the glories of Martinu's Symphonies to me after I'd failed to "get" them for decades. I owe him a great debt of gratitude and shall also regret his departure from the BBCSO.

[EdgeleyRob]

Well!! Got your breath back yet? A truly wonderful Mahler 7, I'm still drying my eyes after as crazily brilliant a finale as I've heard, the manic mood-switching, irony and humour worthy of Bernstein himself...

And a Mozart D Minor both fiery and finely drawn, fully sung out by the BBCSO with some wonderful string and wind playing, and a young soloist who combined brilliant virtuosity - and power, especially in LVB's cadenzas - with a warmly expressive interpretative approach.

And after that terrific VW6 last night! Goodness me, I'm off to celebrate, or recover, or just remember that the real world still exists...

Agreed , brilliant.

[Bryn]

HB?

Sorry, I was and am using a tablet with some very strange touch screen keyboard quirks. It sometimes respoonds with a totally different character to thatt touched. JB, of course. Just to make thlngs even more diffiicult, I was and am trying to do it on a rather bouncy bus between Slough and Legoland.

[amateur51]

JB revealed the glories of Martinu's Symphonies to me after I'd failed to "get" them for decades. I owe him a great debt of gratitude and shall also regret his departure from the BBCSO.

Is this a reference to JB's live performances, his recordings, or both fhg?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Is this a reference to JB's live performances, his recordings, or both fhg?

Both.

That is, I've never attended any of the concerts, but the broadcasts were what I first heard; initially, with a heavy feeling that I was in for another disappointing half hour, a feeling that lifted after a few bars. The way he (Martinu and Belohlavek!) got the orchestra to "glow"; the joyous, dancing rhythmic precision; the sheer joy! Marvellous!




(I have a feeling I may have mentioned all this before! )

[amateur51]

Both.

That is, I've never attended any of the concerts, but the broadcasts were what I first heard; initially, with a heavy feeling that I was in for another disappointing half hour, a feeling that lifted after a few bars. The way he (Martinu and Belohlavek!) got the orchestra to "glow"; the joyous, dancing rhythmic precision; the sheer joy! Marvellous!




(I have a feeling I may have mentioned all this before! )

Nowt wrong with that fhg! - in light of your recommendation, I've put JB's Martinu set on my list

[Chris Newman]

You will not be disappointed by JB's Martinu set, Ammy. It is every bit as exciting as that Mahler 7 from the other night. Please, BBCMM, put the latter on a cover disc.

There is a lot more Moravian/Czech influence in parts of that symphony than usually noticeable in Mahler....noisier bits of the finale, to my ears, are nicked straight out of Ma Vlast.

[Petrushka]

... Mahler 7 from the other night. Please, BBCMM, put the latter on a cover disc.

Mahler 7 has already appeared as a BBCMM cover disc with Noseda and the BBCPO. Pity.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Mahler 7 has already appeared as a BBCMM cover disc with Noseda and the BBCPO. Pity.

Yes; a superb performance, the only downside of which was that it meant that Ilan Volkov's even better (IMO) Prom performance with the BBCSSO from about ten years ago isn't going to appear, either!

[euthynicus]

Yes, the Mahler looked up distinctly in the third movement, where the clumsiness of the articulation (not the playing exactly) fitted well with a plain nightmare vision, hardly troubled by modernist visions but quite exhilarating all the same. The fourth movement was voiced with great care, and again the finale had an uncomplicated exuberance that remained untroubled by its symphonic credentials or lack thereof (shades of concerto grosso). It ended a far cry from the lumpy, bad-Brahms phrasing of the first movement, let alone that grotesque travesty of the Mozart in the first half. Wasn't that unexpected, and awful? I'd never heard of the pianist, and arrived with no expectations beyond a professional and intelligent standard of Mozart playing that wasn't really met. Never mind the memory lapse; even the gabbled tempi could have been integrated into a dramatic vision of the piece, but this was porcelain Mozart, banal and untroubled by any sense of its D minor character. I wonder what DG think they have signed?

[Hornspieler]

...that grotesque travesty of the Mozart in the first half. Wasn't that unexpected, and awful? I'd never heard of the pianist, and arrived with no expectations beyond a professional and intelligent standard of Mozart playing that wasn't really met. Never mind the memory lapse; even the gabbled tempi could have been integrated into a dramatic vision of the piece, but this was porcelain Mozart, banal and untroubled by any sense of its D minor character. I wonder what DG think they have signed?

Yes, I too was singularly unimpressed by the Mozart performance. The young solist really seemed to do nothing but reproduce (most) of the notes.

In any case, I am totally opposed to the practice of sixteen year old "Prodigees" embarking on world tours. They need to fine tune their understanding of the composers' intentions and be prepared to learn from those whose performances are acknowledged world wide.

They should learn to listen and, by listening, will learn.

Hornspieler

** I spoke at length on this subject four years ago on the old BBC message boards and was shouted down by many others, but I still hold to the view that these young people are exploited by others for purely selfish reasons and they are doing irreparable harm to these young and immature performers.

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, I too was singularly unimpressed by the Mozart performance. The young solist really seemed to do nothing but reproduce (most) of the notes.

In any case, I am totally opposed to the practice of sixteen year old "Prodigees" embarking on world tours. They need to fine tune their understanding of the composers' intentions and be prepared to learn from those whose performances are acknowledged world wide.

They should learn to listen and, by listening, will learn.

Hornspieler

** I spoke at length on this subject four years ago on the old BBC message boards and was shouted down by many others, but I still hold to the view that these young people are exploited by others for purely selfish reasons and they are doing irreparable harm to these young and immature performers.

'Tis a comely youth, at all events...

http://imgartists.com/artist/jan_lisiecki1

http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/chopin/persons/detail/id/6801

Hired more for the photogenic qualities of his blond curls, than the finesse of his playing? Surely not!!