BSO with Karabits Wed 28th November 7.30

[Hornspieler]

Live from the Lighthouse, Poole

Presented by Martin Handley

Kirill Karabits & the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra play Britten's Canadian Carnival, Shostakovich's 1st Violin Concerto (with James Ehnes) and Prokofiev's 7th Symphony.

Britten : Canadian Carnival
Shostakovich : Violin Concerto No.1

8.15: Interval

Prokofiev : Symphony No.7

conductor Kirill Karabits,

Britten composed his light-hearted Canadian Carnival as a souvenir of a visit to Toronto in 1939. A hoedown is enlivened by surprising harmonies and rhythmic hiccups, the waltz that forms a relaxed interlude keeps falling out of step with its accompaniment, and the familiar song "Alouette" is subject to raucous variation.

Shostakovich likened his First Violin Concerto to "a symphony for solo violin and orchestra". There is a brooding opening movement, rousing scherzo and whirling finale but the expressive heart of the concerto lies in its third movement, the darkly hued and deeply emotional passacaglia, richly imbued with philosophic meditation and sad lyricism.

Prokofiev wrote his Seventh Symphony after returning to Russia from the West in 1933. It is richly lyrical and immediately ingratiating, the style deemed appropriate by the government to inspire the Soviet masses. "It is the duty of the composer to serve his fellow men, to beautify human life and show the way to a radiant future," he wrote in his 1946 autobiography. This Symphony not only made those words manifest (the andante is one of the most effusively melodious pieces that Prokofiev ever created), but also showed that he was able to create music of surpassing quality under the tightest ideological strictures


James Ehnes, playing the difficult DSCH violin concerto Nº 1 must surely be essential listening.

Not my personal Prokofiev favourite, but will be interesting to see what Karabits makes of it.


HS

[Petrushka]

Having got myself into trouble for dissing last Friday's BBCPO programme on another thread can I just say that this one is right up my street and a good bit of programme planning too.

Prokofiev 7 is a wonderful, haunting work that doesn't receive its due in the concert hall (I've heard it just the once:BBCPO/Edward Downes RFH 1991) so its inclusion here is very welcome. Looking forward to this one.

[Bryn]

Having got myself into trouble for dissing last Friday's BBCPO programme on another thread can I just say that this one is right up my street and a good bit of programme planning too.

Prokofiev 7 is a wonderful, haunting work that doesn't receive its due in the concert hall (I've heard it just the once:BBCPO/Edward Downes RFH 1991) so its inclusion here is very welcome. Looking forward to this one.

I do hope they play the original, rather than the 'happy', ending.

[bluestateprommer]

The iPlayer signal kicked in and out at times for the Britten, so I'll have to give the Kermesse Canadienne another listen later, although it generally sounded good, one small brass blip aside. No such reservations in the DSCH Violin Concerto No. 1, with James Ehnes on absolutely cracking form, and KK and the Bournemouth SO well with him. Nice JSB encore from him as well, the 3rd movement from the Sonata No. 3. Will be interesting to hear the Prokofiev in the second half of the concert.

Part II: indeed it was very interesting to hear Prokofiev 7, excellently done by the orchestra and Karabits. We got the original ending, but then KK struck up the orchestra to give the later "happy ending" as the quick encore. Clever touch there. All in all, very, very, very good work from KK and the Bournemouth SO.

[jayne lee wilson]

I do hope they play the original, rather than the 'happy', ending.

No worries! They played both - the "cheerful" addendum following some applause... dilemma, what dilemma?

[jayne lee wilson]

A sad song that wears its tragedy lightly, I see Prokofiev's 7th Symphony as a postscript: after the popclassic, neoclassical No.1, the experimental janus-faced No.2, 3 and 4 worked up from opera and ballet, came the two Great Statements of 5 and 6: one triumphant, one tragic. A symphonic cycle thus perfectly balanced. No.7? "Emotion recollected, but not in tranquillity" (and I can't recall from whom I've stolen that...). The first movement seems to be the truth of it, the backward glance across a former grandeur, a yearning for lost joys, childlike petals of prettiness in the celeste; it's all gone now in the frosts of an oppressed Russian old age of the 1940s. Still wilder attempts to dance in the allegretto - "the heart dances, but not for joy" - or to find escapist consolation in the brief andante espressivo. And then the finale - maybe everything is alright after all? No, the shadows darken and deepen in the almost sinister twilight of the coda. Which only makes sense ending quietly.

But this is a concert, so the BSO and Karabits' took the very well-deserved applause at the close, following a performance of great sensitivity, but which shaded the moods rather brightly and lightly, keeping the shadows a little further away than he might. And then turned back to the orchestra to play the alternative, cheerfully nonchalant, ending. More applause of course - would you turn away in disgust at the travesty? The audience loved the audacity of it. Though deeply fond of the work in its truest, original form, I rather enjoyed the moment myself.

Lovely to hear Britten's fabulous and fantastical Canadian Carnival (which could almost be a paraphrase on Mahler 3(iii)) - lovely to hear it live at all really - and if KK didn't quite manage the atmosphere and tonal varieties of Rattle's CBSO taping, or find quite enough jauntiness in the violins' folksy hoedown, the BSO were poised and colourful, their vital and responsive sound showing (as in James Gaffigan's astounding Sibelius 4 last week) that The Lighthouse works just fine acoustically if you "play out" into it - certainly as a broadcast or webcast venue.

I should leave any comment on the DSCH 1st Violin Concerto to others, simply because I've never been much enthused by this oft-performed, over-recorded piece. The nocturne promises much, but neither of the quick movements ever fulfils that promise, or becomes demonic enough, or even inventive enough - the grimly downbeat ending just too throwaway, even in historical or personal context. The central passacaglia is indeed sublime, the one truly great feature of the work which Ehnes, the BSO and KK sung out firmly, with passion and power in reserve; but, passacaglia apart, I think Shostakovich did most of these things better elsewhere.

I can only add, once again, my gratitude for the sheer excellence of these live AAC webcasts. Tonight's was precise, satisfyingly dynamic, tonally natural and clearly 3-dimensional. Space and depth to spare! My thanks to Radio 3 and the engineers.

[Hornspieler]

.....But this is a concert, so the BSO and Karabits' took the very well-deserved applause at the close, following a performance of great sensitivity, but which shaded the moods rather brightly and lightly, keeping the shadows a little further away than he might. And then turned back to the orchestra to play the alternative, cheerfully nonchalant, ending. More applause of course - would you turn away in disgust at the travesty? The audience loved the audacity of it. Though deeply fond of the work in its truest, original form, I rather enjoyed the moment myself.

Lovely to hear Britten's fabulous and fantastical Canadian Carnival (which could almost be a paraphrase on Mahler 3(iii)) - lovely to hear it live at all really - and if KK didn't quite manage the atmosphere and tonal varieties of Rattle's CBSO taping, or find quite enough jauntiness in the violins' folksy hoedown, the BSO were poised and colourful, their vital and responsive sound showing (as in James Gaffigan's astounding Sibelius 4 last week) that The Lighthouse works just fine acoustically if you "play out" into it - certainly as a broadcast or webcast venue.

I should leave any comment on the DSCH 1st Violin Concerto to others, simply because I've never been much enthused by this oft-performed, over-recorded piece. The nocturne promises much, but neither of the quick movements ever fulfils that promise, or becomes demonic enough, or even inventive enough - the grimly downbeat ending just too throwaway, even in historical or personal context. The central passacaglia is indeed sublime, the one truly great feature of the work which Ehnes, the BSO and KK sung out firmly, with passion and power in reserve; but, passacaglia apart, I think Shostakovich did most of these things better elsewhere.

.

Well there's not much to add to the previous comments. A splendid concert by an orchestra and conductor in fine form.

I also have reservations about the violin concerto. For my taste, I could do without the opening movement, which I find rather tedious and over long. Certainly it does not (IMO) contain what I would call "violinistic" writing. But James Ehnes is a fine player and his performance was, as ever, magnificent.

A concert worth hearing if you were otherwise engaged last night.

HS

[HighlandDougie]

While I realise that I've come very late to this party, I've just come across this (EBU) concert on the Austrian Radio equivalent of i-player (it was last Wednesday's morning concert). I freely admit that I'm much more enthused by the Shostakovich concerto than JLW but it can in the wrong hands rather outstay its welcome, as well as sounding just a bit glib. Not here, though: what a terrific performance by James Ehnes. Great support from KK and the BSO too. And a fine performance of the Prokofiev 7th (an interesting comparison with James Gaffigan, to be found on Dutch Radio). I must now remember to look out for HS's reminders of when they are going to be on Radio 3. How amazingly lucky we are to have such easy access to all these musical riches.

[bluestateprommer]

Standard thread hijack, as bsp likes to do, but this seems as good a thread as any to post about the news that Kirill Karabits is to step down as chief conductor in Bournemouth in 2024:

https://bsolive.com/press-releases/kirill-karabits-and-the-bso-announce-new-chapter-after-15-years/

I can think of at least one BBC R3 presenter who's probably none too thrilled about this news. But 15 years is a long time for an orchestra-conductor partnership these days. By all accounts, the Bournemouth SO / Karabits partnership has been stellar.