BBCSSO/manze/city halls glasgow/29/11/12

[jayne lee wilson]

Terrific Jupiter Symphony from Manze and his usual team! Great interpretative interest, wonderfully natural rubato, plenty of colouristic variety, the emotional light and shade fully explored. If the BBCSSO didn't quite match the whiplash virtuosity of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven last week, Manze encouraged a strikingly warm and relaxed tone in places, but really let them off the leash to blaze when they should.
The smaller orchestra employed tonight seemed a better fit for this intimate acoustic than some of the larger recent orchestral events, fine as they were.

Didn't catch part one, which looked intriguing - I'm still a fan of the Rodrigo - had to have a sleep. Cat and I woke up in time for Mozart, and were both glad we did. As the announcer said, a symphony conceived amid "poverty, ill health and a broken marriage" and one W.A.M never heard. I hope there is still an audience for it in another 250 years, even if there wasn't much of one here tonight...(a silent majority out there somewhere I hope...)

[doversoul1]

Jayne
This is rather irrelevant but what did you make of the inclusion of that little adagio? Andrew Manze explained about the work but I couldn’t catch why he had decided to begin the symphony with this ‘opener’. I was VERY disappointed to find that it was to be yet another arrangement and an orchestral version as to that. Why can’t they leave this work alone if they can’t play on the right instrument, the glass harmonica? It took me quite awhile to recover from my sulk but I did enjoy Jupiter in the end.

You need to train your cat to wake you up at 7.30pm on the dot (but I do know it’s the cat that trains you and never the other way round).

[Flosshilde]

Why can’t they leave this work alone if they can’t play on the right instrument, the glass harmonica?

I suppose it would never be played if that was the case.

I remember an LP (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Conce...4273509&sr=1-3) that included it, played on a glass harmonica, released in 1965. I borrowed it from the public library.


What I don't like is one piece being played as a prelude to another with no break between to indicate when the first piece has finished, especially if either (or both) are unfamiliar. It's not so bad in the concert hall when one might get a visual clue, but on the radio it's impossible.

[jayne lee wilson]

Jayne
This is rather irrelevant but what did you make of the inclusion of that little adagio? Andrew Manze explained about the work but I couldn’t catch why he had decided to begin the symphony with this ‘opener’. I was VERY disappointed to find that it was to be yet another arrangement and an orchestral version as to that. Why can’t they leave this work alone if they can’t play on the right instrument, the glass harmonica? It took me quite awhile to recover from my sulk but I did enjoy Jupiter in the end.

You need to train your cat to wake you up at 7.30pm on the dot (but I do know it’s the cat that trains you and never the other way round).

I only turned the volume up just after the start of the Jupiter, so I didn't know they'd used the arrangement as a prelude. (I think puss woke up at the start of the repeat).
Rattle is fond of doing this sort of thing in Berlin, prefacing, say, a Bruckner or Mahler symphony with short unaccompanied choral works or a brief contemporary premiere, usually apt enough, but I guess everyone's waiting for the main event, so...

I was still recalling and relishing the warmth, blend and fullness of the BBCSSSO's Mozart today...

[Richard Tarleton]

Didn't catch part one, which looked intriguing - I'm still a fan of the Rodrigo

Missed the concert as I was out at, er, guitar club

[cloughie]

I only turned the volume up just after the start of the Jupiter, so I didn't know they'd used the arrangement as a prelude. (I think puss woke up at the start of the repeat).
Rattle is fond of doing this sort of thing in Berlin, prefacing, say, a Bruckner or Mahler symphony with short unaccompanied choral works or a brief contemporary premiere, usually apt enough, but I guess everyone's waiting for the main event, so...

I was still recalling and relishing the warmth, blend and fullness of the BBCSSSO's Mozart today...

I've got to say I thought the Jupiter a really lovely performance and the Adagio a positive add-on as a prelude. On the Rattle thing I remember him with the CBSO at Symphony Hall doing Ravel's Mother Goose using L'evetail de Jeanne as a prelude and that worked well - he also asked the audience not to applaude - a good move as it would have ruined the efffect!