BBC Scottish Thurs 13th at 7.30

[Hornspieler]

A most attractice programme of Bartok and Hindemith including Bartok Piano Concerto No 2

See schedule for full programme, but don't miss this one!

HS

[amateur51]

"The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins, perform Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin Suite and his 2nd Piano Concerto with Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen. In the second half, Hindemith's Trauermusik and Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber"

[Hornspieler]

A truly wonderful concert!

The presenter was perfect. The Piano soloist was fantastic. The interval talk was interesting and enlightening and the second part, starting with a most tender rendering of Hindemith's Trauermusik was followed by an exuberant performance of Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.

Not only was I thrilled by the BBC SSO performance but I was very touched that this concert was dedicated to the memory of my very dear friend George Hurst.

Listen on iPlayer if you missed it.

HS

[jayne lee wilson]

The presenter was pleasantly mischievous wasn't he? He hadn't been invited to Martyn Brabbins' post-concert party and said - "Not having an invitation never stopped me going to a party before!" etc. Splendid!

Orchestra on fine form, a fiery display (in the Bartok items especially) on a freezing night when my listening room seemed impossible to warm up. Maybe I should take up air-conducting.
I did have some reservations about the Bartok 2nd Concerto, to wit, the bond between conductor and soloist - but if Olli Mustonen seemed almost wilfully inclined to extremes of dynamics and eccentricities of phrasing (his very first reply to the orchestra, both agogic and hesitant in its exaggeration, set the tone...) then that kind of risk-taking, surely, is what we listen to live performances for, rather than just drawing the tried-and-tested 3-star recommendation from the shelves. He certainly made you listen, as did the orchestra, bravely trying to track his inventiveness (or sheer unpredictability).
I was just a little suspicious of the engineering tonight. Were the dynamics being manipulated (even on HDs), or did Brabbins' just fail to give us a loud enough thwack on the final chord of the Weber Metamorphoses?

As HS says, the Funeral Music did, for once, sound genuinely felt as part of this memorial for a wonderful individual musician. Sweetly and beautifully done.

[Bryn]

The presenter was pleasantly mischievous wasn't he? ...

Mischievous? I began to think he might already have attended a pre-concert party, what with him referring to George Hurst as a composer, an' all.

I would go somewhat further re. the Bartok concerto. I thought both Mustonen and the orchestra presented decidedly wayward interpretations (each on their own course) to the detriment of the work. In the Miraculous Mandarin the kitchen department seems very much out of balance with the rest of the orchestra, too. I did wonder if that might have been down to engineering rather than Mr. Brabbins's approach to the work. I will listen again later to check whether I fond myt impressions reinforced or not, but must admit that last night I found the concert very much below par for the BBCSSO and Martyn Brabbins, let alone for Olli Mustonen.

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, I noticed the percussive emphasis, especially the bass drum - at the start of the Concerto's finale (and elsewhere) it made the lead lights (set in the wall to the rear of the speakers) rattle! Perhaps the smallish hall plays a part here, but I found the exaggeration quite enjoyable, and the violence in the Bartok very apt.