LIVE tonight 7.30pm the BBCSSO conducted by Andrew Manze

[salymap]

Vaughan Williams symphonies 4 and 5, plus the Lark Ascending and Bach violin sonata in G minor, BWV 1001. Jennifer Pike, (violin) From Glasgow's City Halls

[Chris Newman]

Hi salymap,

It looks like a warm-up for Prom 46 where Manze and the BBCSSO play RVW's Symphonies 4, 5 and 6. Getting the idiom into their system.

bws
Chris

[salymap]

Yes Chris and he's already given a lovely performance of symphony 6 recently.

bws
saly

[mercia]

a strange juxtaposition (IMV) from the gentle Bach straight into the violent VW, still .........

[Hornspieler]

a strange juxtaposition (IMV) from the gentle Bach straight into the violent VW, still .........

Jennifer Pike's Bach was not just gentle - it was pathetic.

I do hope she does better with "The Lark Ascending".

HS

[Panjandrum]

Jennifer Pike's Bach was not just gentle - it was pathetic.

As in heartrending?

[Hornspieler]

As in heartrending?

Unaccompanied Bach is the ultimate test for any string player. One needs to "dig in" to the instrument - not skate carefully over the strings.
On tonight's performance, I would only give a rating of B minus.

HS

(Where on earth is Cellini when one needs his opinion?)

[Chris Newman]

Yes Chris and he's already given a lovely performance of symphony 6 recently.

bws
saly

Yes, Andrew Manze's Number Six on March 8th was something very, very special indeed. Tonight the Fourth took its time to develop the sort of fierceness I associate with Sir Adrian Boult, Paul Daniel or especially Ralph Vaughan Williams himself in his brilliant recording but Manze's Fifth Symphony sounded superb. Gorgeous Cor Anglais solo. I love his big arched phrasing. I enjoyed Jennifer Pike's Lark Ascending; maybe the last note was a bit abrupt (a hangover from the end of the Fourth Symphony perhaps). Andrew Manze is turning out to be a good egg with RVW and British music in general. I see that he is planning to do all Nine symphonies over several Prom seasons. I wonder if a set of recordings is mooted.

bws
Chris

[Hornspieler]

Hooray! A lovely performance of "The Lark Ascending" Maybe not approaching the benchmark set by the late Hugh Bean, but a sensitive and beguiling performance for all that (Those important horn solos were a bit overpowering - microphone too close?)

I have a splendid recording, made by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norman del Mar during a tour of the Far East of the Symphony Nº 4. Compared with that, I felt that tonight's performance was slightly lacking the savagery and malice of RVW's intentions; but no complaint about the 5th symphony - a most accomplished and moving experience and as good as I have ever heard.

A good night's listening, marred for me only by that rather limpid and (IMHO) out of place Bach.

I would have preferred that old war horse "The Wasps" overture to open this RVW tribute.

HS

[EdgeleyRob]

Getting the idiom into their system.

They already have judging by tonights performances, although I agree no 4 could have been more... violent...in parts.

I would have preferred that old war horse "The Wasps" overture to open this RVW tribute.

And maybe the Concerto Accademico, which is never heard,rather than the Lark.

[salymap]

I had to turn my hard drive/TV recorder off because of a bad storm, so hope to catch up on iPlayer later.

Having lost a cordless phone though a lightning strike some time ago I tend towards caution with storms and the electrics. I'm looking forward to Symphony 5, from all reports very fine.

[3rd Viennese School]

I managed to hear most of the VW4. But missed the first vital couple of minutes! I guessed after all the waffle that it wouldnt start until 1945. I put it on at 1940 and it was already crrash bang wallloping. How long was the Bach sonata then? 2 minutes?

On the plus side, enjoyed this symphony. The whole thing is made up of just 2 short 4 note motifs and you hear them both straight away from the off. The first one is the obvious sounding one, the second one isnt. Havent heard this symphony for ages and never on Performance on 3! Congrats to all.

Apparantly the rage of the symphony is directed not at Nazism but at the Dorking Bypass!

I put the bins out during Lark Ascending.

Heard no.5- not my favourite one of the box but listenable. But I never noticed this before- the tune in the middle of the slow mvt is the opening of no.6!
I thought maybe the scherzo could have been a bit more mysterious but instead sounded like every day stuff.

Not sure how the Bach fits in however.

3VS

[PJPJ]

Three and a half minutes - RVW adored Bach's music. It didn't quite come off. However, I did enjoy the two symphonies enormously - strong performances both, I think.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Heard no.5- not my favourite one of the box but listenable. But I never noticed this before- the tune in the middle of the slow mvt is the opening of no.6!

So it is!

[mercia]

Apparantly the rage of the symphony is directed not at Nazism but at the Dorking Bypass!

really ?!?

would that the A259 had such an inspirational effect on me