R3 LIVE in Concert BBC SSO 7.30pm on 28th February

[salymap]

From City Halls, Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthias Pintscher

Cello soloist Johannes Moser.

Weber orch Berlioz - Invitation to the Dance

Lutoslawski - Cello Concerto

Interval

Johann Strauss [son] Overture, Die Fledermaus

Beethoven - Symphony no 7 in A.

Presented by Louise Fryer. We seem to have had a lot of Beethoven 7s recently, but a chance to compare interpretations for those that wish to.

[Hornspieler]

From City Halls, Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Matthias Pintscher

Cello soloist Johannes Moser.

Weber orch Berlioz - Invitation to the Dance

Lutoslawski - Cello Concerto

Interval

Johann Strauss [son] Overture, Die Fledermaus

Beethoven - Symphony no 7 in A.

Presented by Louise Fryer. We seem to have had a lot of Beethoven 7s recently, but a chance to compare interpretations for those that wish to.

Thanks Sally!

HS

[jayne lee wilson]

Whether or not you know the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto, but especially if you don't (and in the light of recent discussions re Goodall, 20thC et al) please listen to this 1970 masterpiece. Very dramatic with its own emotionally compellingly "logic", it may surprise you... (and if you really hate it, it's only 23' or so...)

[Thropplenoggin]

Whether or not you know the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto, but especially if you don't (and in the light of recent discussions re Goodall, 20thC et al) please listen to this 1970 masterpiece. Very dramatic with its own emotionally compellingly "logic", it may surprise you... (and if you really hate it, it's only 23' or so...)

I'm currently persona non grata when 20th Century music is being discussed for some provocative ("boorish") comments what I wrote. Verily, I like Penderecki's Cello Concerto No. 2, and Shostakovich's second cello concerto, and so will give the Lutoslawski a go. I have heard it said that Penderecki is a poor man's Lutoslawski. I think I read that on The Guardian in one of Tom Service's blogs. Possibly in the 'comments' section. I came to Penderecki via Kubrick. I tend to trust that director's judgement.

Ah, Kubrick! Ah, humanity!

[BBMmk2]

I whopleheartedly agree with you there< JLW! I must admnit to be a Lutoslawski fan. this concerto bowled me over, when I first heard, in tha classic recording by Rostropovich.

[Richard Tarleton]

Whether or not you know the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto, but especially if you don't (and in the light of recent discussions re Goodall, 20thC et al) please listen to this 1970 masterpiece. Very dramatic with its own emotionally compellingly "logic", it may surprise you... (and if you really hate it, it's only 23' or so...)

The Wiki entry states:

Lutosławski did not support the Soviet regime, and these events have been postulated as reasons for the increase in antagonistic effects in his work, particularly the Cello Concerto of 1968–70 for Rostropovich and the Royal Philharmonic Society. Indeed, Rostropovich's own opposition to the Soviet regime in Russia was just coming to a head (he shortly afterwards declared his support for the dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). Lutosławski himself did not hold the view that such influences had a direct effect on his music, although he acknowledged that they impinged on his creative world to some degree. In any case, the Cello Concerto was a great success, earning both Lutosławski and Rostropovich accolades. At the work's première with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Bliss presented Rostropovich with the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal.

This presentation must have been at the official London premiere - the very first performance by Rostropovich and the BSO under Edward Downes took place at Exeter University in 1970, Lutoslawski came on afterwards to acknowledge the applause, but there was no sign of Arthur Bliss! Jayne you mention it being very dramatic, Rostropovich's "acting" as the cello part was being oppressed by the orchestra made it a great deal easier to follow. Part two of the concert was easier fare - the Rococo Variations and Borodin 2 - quite a concert.

[Hornspieler]

Oh dear oh dear!

That has got to be the worst playing by the BBC Scottish this last two years.

Invitation to the dance? Excuse my club foot. I played that on the opening night of the London Festival Ballet in 1951. If we'd played it like that, Anton Dolin would have cancelled the rest of the season.

Cello concerto? Not my scene. Say no more.

Then we had Die Fledermaus. Rather limp, I thought. Never mind, there's Beethoven to come.

Sack the second horn! Dreadful playing in the scherzo.
Sections repeated that I've never heard done before. Okay, so they're there - but most conductors choose which ones to ignore.

Send me a PM Thropplenoggin and I'll email you a photo of Ludwig, headphones awry and tears streaming down his cheeks.

HS

On second thoughts, sack the conductor!

[Nick Armstrong]

I started the journey home around 7.30 and, hoping for some good live music, I turned on the radio. I'm afraid I switched it off crossly almost immediately at that wretched first piece... It's become a classic example for me of lazy programming on the radio (I seem to have to switch it off regularly on R3) and it was disappointing to see it loom up on a live concert programme Sounds like I missed very little...

[Roehre]

.... I must admnit to be a Lutoslawski fan. this concerto bowled me over, when I first heard, in that classic recording by Rostropovich.

Which -in 1977- was my first introduction to Lutoslawski as well as Dutilleux ("Tout un monde lointain"). A most treasured LP it still is.
I couldn't listen to the concert. perhaps I will through iPlayer, but HS has made some critical comments re the orchestral playing....

[Rolmill]

I only caught the Beethoven, but thought the playing was not good - the strings in particular seemed very scrappy in places to my (inexpert) ears. Was this really the same orchestra which gave us the stunning Vaughan Williams 4/5/6 Prom only six months ago? Is the difference in execution standard mainly down to the different conductor, or are other factors more significant?

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm sorry to say the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto wasn't given the best of performances - an oddly constrained account of a piece which really needs strong contrasts of mood and dynamics in the actual playing. Neither conductor nor soloist seemed to feel the sweep or flow of the piece, the musical events sounded too discrete, mere "sound events", not gelling into the vision of an individual trying to cope with a society, a collective with which she must try to engage and compromise but remain herself.

I watched this concerto live on the Berlin DCH last Friday, with Rattle and Miklos Perenyi. Wow! Now THERE'S a performance. The Philharmoniker polish and power was all there but the orchestra really LET GO! Thrillingly individual account - and how committed, personally involved the players within the orchestra looked - swept up in their own sound-waves... the Cantilena was overwhelmingly intense. Perenyi looked drained at the end.
(Now in the Archive).

[Bryn]

I'm sorry to say the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto wasn't given the best of performances - an oddly constrained account of a piece which really needs strong contrasts of mood and dynamics in the actual playing. Neither conductor nor soloist seemed to feel the sweep or flow of the piece, the musical events sounded too discrete, mere "sound events", not gelling into the vision of an individual trying to cope with a society, a collective with which she must try to engage and compromise but remain herself.

I watched this concerto live on the Berlin DCH last Friday, with Rattle and Miklos Perenyi. Wow! Now THERE'S a performance. The Philharmoniker polish and power was all there but the orchestra really LET GO! Thrillingly individual account - and how committed, personally involved the players within the orchestra looked - swept up in their own sound-waves... the Cantilena was overwhelmingly intense. Perenyi looked drained at the end.
(Now in the Archive).

Looks like the iPlayer team might have taken the same view as you, jlw. So far they have only made it available in low bandwidth via the iPlayer's 'Listen Again' facility, even via the HI Bandwidth switch. Perhaps an HD version will be made activatable later today?

[salymap]

Not much encouragement to struggle with IPlayer then. Not well anyway, and it doesn't sound worth the bother.

Let's hope for better LIVE events soon.

[Hornspieler]

I only caught the Beethoven, but thought the playing was not good - the strings in particular seemed very scrappy in places to my (inexpert) ears. Was this really the same orchestra which gave us the stunning Vaughan Williams 4/5/6 Prom only six months ago? Is the difference in execution standard mainly down to the different conductor, or are other factors more significant?

So what went wrong last night?

Have the orchestra been doing too much travelling lately?

Is the constant swopping and changing of "guest" leaders unsettling the players, particularly the strings?

Are the acoustics of Glasgow's City Hall to blame (the RSNO seem to manage all right)?

Was it the conductor's fault?

The strange mix of East European, Western European Romantic, Light Operatic and traditional "classical" symphonic music must have kept a lot of potential advocates of all those types of music away and the hall did sound half full at times:

Spectre de la Rose" That's what the Balletomanes call Weber's little bon-bon.
Well the opening solo by the principal cellist certainly gave me the shivers and gave dire warning of the agony to come.

Lutoslawski Cello Concerto To begin with, I thought the soloist was still tuning up! I make no secret of the fact that I dislike the works of Penderecki, Janacek, Lutoslawsky and Szymanowsky, but I wonder what the Beethoven fans in the audience thought of the piece?
Certainly the applause sounded enthusiastic - was that because it was finally over?

Die Fledermaus overture. Probably the orchestra were finally at ease and they sounded settled at last, but the BBC Concert Orchestra would have given a more sparkling performance.

Finally Beethoven's 7th symphony. I thought the Bournemouth orchestra's performance last week was pretty awful, but it was awesome compared with this travesty.
Sloppy string playing, second horn struggling in the third movement with those very notes that should be well within his compass, a mad dash to be first to finish and all those repeats which sound wrong even to untutored ears. (When the first movement unexpectedly jumped back to the beginning, my bust of Beethoven rattled with annoyance.)

Not a good night, but I stuck it out to the end.

HS

[Bryn]

Not much encouragement to struggle with IPlayer then. Not well anyway, and it doesn't sound worth the bother.

Let's hope for better LIVE events soon.

HD sound version now available via the iPlayer, should anyone want to bother (given the general thrust of comments here to date).