Philharmonia from the RFH - Petrenko

[Hornspieler]

So nobody listened to last night's concert?

Well, I only heard the Tchaikowsky P/C and it was the worst performance that I ever heard.

Even Joseph Cooper** with his "Operation Concerto" was not as bad as that.

At one stage in the second movement, the soloist was half a bar out with the orchestra - and it was the orchestra that had the tune at that point.

The Liadov was, to put it kindly, superfluous.
I didnt't wait for Prokofiev 5 - but will catch it later this week.

Any comments?

HS

** He of the silent keyboard (In collaboration with Stanford Robinson)

[jayne lee wilson]

Sorry HS, I was unwell last night - but admittedly a bit dejected about the lack of response to last Friday's Tippett/Beethoven/Mark Simpson marvel...

https://guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/21/bbcso-brabbins-review

and still on iplayer...

[amateur51]

This was a concert I was going to attend because it looked so promising but I didn't get my act together and I even contrived to miss it on the radio.

Just in case Maestro Jurowski's lawyers are about to take exception to Hornspieler's review, I should point out that last night's conductor was Vasily Petrenko, not Vladimir Jurowski

[Nick Armstrong]

Just in case Maestro Jurowski's lawyers are about to take exception to Hornspieler's review, I should point out that last night's conductor was Vasily Petrenko, not Vladimir Jurowski

[Simon B]

Yes, I listened, as I was at the concert. Or one very much like it, except for it being conducted by Vasily Petrenko rather than Jurowsky. Whoever he might be (given that likely candidates Michail Jurowski and Vladimir Jurowski invariably transliterate their names as such).

I wasn't going to comment, as experience has led me to expect hyperbole. And yea verily, the fountain of hyperbole doth flow forth bountifully. Though congratulations on the good fortune of anyone for whom that truly was the worst Tchaik PC1 they'd ever heard.

I wouldn't bother with the Prokofiev either as it was ruinously disastrously catastrophically awful. There were, indeed, some lapses of ensemble and several split notes. Alistair Mackie was completely wasting his time playing those trumpet solos with idiomatic "Russian" blare and bravura as, at some entirely unrelated point in the symphony, someone else dropped a mute.

As such it inevitably follows for everyone in the RFH and the R3 audience of several dozen that an evening spent self practising self evisceration with a rusty knife would have been much preferable.

[It may be the lowest form of "wit", but, honestly...]

[Hornspieler]

This was a concert I was going to attend because it looked so promising but I didn't get my act together and I even contrived to miss it on the radio.;sadface:

Just in case Maestro Jurowski's lawyers are about to take exception to Hornspieler's review, I should point out that last night's conductor was Vasily Petrenko, not Vladimir Jurowski

My profound apologies to Maestro Jurowski. I actually missed the opening announcements and, having read something somewhere on the message boards yesterday, I actually tuned in expecting to hear a programless concert by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.

HS


Côtes de Beune (Premier Cru) does tend to reduce one's acuity.

[Petrushka]

...ruinously disastrously catastrophically awful...

Wow, in over 40 years of concert-going I've never been to a concert at which that could be said.

Got to be worth a listen, surely?

[MrGongGong]

programless concert by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.

Now I would pay good money to hear a concert without any programme
do they have to actually turn up ?
Do you get porterage ?

[teamsaint]

I assumed the BFO thing was a new form of "mystery " concert, which might be fun....

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Hmm. 4 stars in The Grauniad today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/25/philharmonia-petrenko-review

Must take a listen on iPlayer to see which side of the fence I fall...

[gedsmk]

Wow, in over 40 years of concert-going I've never been to a concert at which that could be said.

Got to be worth a listen, surely?

Intrigued, so gave the concert a listen. The bit in the piano concerto where the piano is half a bar out? Played perfectly. Prokofiev not as on the edge as other performers but not half bad. V good sound quality from the bbc considering it was the rfh. Rather enjoyed it all, actually. Will give the pc a second listen tonight to make sure.

[marvin]

So nobody listened to last night's concert?

Well, I only heard the Tchaikowsky P/C and it was the worst performance that I ever heard.

Even Joseph Cooper** with his "Operation Concerto" was not as bad as that.

At one stage in the second movement, the soloist was half a bar out with the orchestra - and it was the orchestra that had the tune at that point.

The Liadov was, to put it kindly, superfluous.
I didnt't wait for Prokofiev 5 - but will catch it later this week.

Any comments?

HS

** He of the silent keyboard (In collaboration with Stanford Robinson)

Well I have just listened to it on iPlayer on my laptop. The sound was a bit distant and the tempi a bit measured at times BUT what on earth was wrong with it otherwised?
I have been listening to this concerto for nearly seventy years now and so am very familiar with it. I am no musicologist and so can't discuss the nuances and intricacies that abound on this forum, by peeps that seem to be very knowledgeable (perhaps too much for their own good).
Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise, is my mantra - thank goodness.

[gedsmk]

I know bad piano concerto performance when I hear it; Stephen Hough destroying Rach 2 at the proms being an example that comes to mind. I simply cannot find anything particularly wrong with this one. could someone wiser and more experienced please point out the errors, either of technique or artistic judgement, that warrant such opprobrium? And in which bars in the second movement was the soloist half a bar out? Cheers!

[french frank]

Secko's view thereof: http://www.edwardseckerson.biz/revie...festival-hall/

Guardian gave it though one reader comment was a bit disparaging.

[Simon B]

It wasn't. The Philharmonia retains the name and nothing else from its great days of the past. It is unquestionably the weakest of the London Orchestras these days.

Bee. Bonnet. Or so it seems, anyway.

I listened again, obviously via the iPlayer this time, and remain intrigued (for which read mystified) as to what the substantiation for the alleged awfulness of the Tchaikovsky could be.

As if technical perfection has much connection with the value of a performance anyway, beyond a reasonable threshold...