Mahler's 6th Symphony at the Barbican on Wednesday night.

[RobertLeDiable]

There's a touch of the kappellmeister about Belohlavek. I didn't hear this Mahler , but I did hear his Mahler 8 that openend last year's Proms, and it was under-characterised, worthy, but dull. He's very competent and can get the orchestra to produce a decent sound, but most of the time I find him uninspiring.

[HighlandDougie]

I have to admit that my views about JB in advance were rather like those of R le D but I came away from the concert feeling that I had heard a very fine performance of the Mahler. Uninspiring it was not. He looks like what I imagine a kapellmeister might look like but the results which he achieved from the BBC SO were far from routine. It was certainly a good deal better than 'worthy but dull'. Both he and the orchestra looked a bit surprised at the end as if together they had created something greater than they had thought likely. So, I, for one, am very happy to eat my words and won't pre-judge JB again.

[Alison]

I agree with HD. Rarely have I enjoyed a performance so much with the scherzo placed third.
The string playing in particuar seemed beautifully prepared and phrased. If the hammer blows seemed
somewhat muted it was in keeping with the unsensational approach overall.

[Bryn]

I managed to capture from about 18 minutes into the first movement to about 10 minutes before the end of the finale from the HD Sound version (I forgot about it and so missed the start, then the HD stream conked out later). I have just finished fiddling about editing what I have in HD into the 192kbps aac derived version from the on demand version of the iPlayer. Phew! It took a couple of hours getting the edit points down to the millisecond, then adjusting the levels for consistency. Damn it was a long, drawn out performance! 87' 24" from the first note to the leading edge of the attack of the first clap of applause at the end! Must be the longest performance of the work I have encountered. Now to listen to it (having been put off until now by earlier negative comments).

[EnemyoftheStoat]

On a par with my Bernstein and Tennstedt recordings then. Funny though, it seemed nothing like as long.

As for earlier comments about undercharacterisation, it could be argued that we're too used to overcharacterised Mahler nowadays.

[Alison]

Not really a fast performance as was implied earlier in the thread.

I doubt if you're in the mood to listen now, Nethers !

The end of (i) was a highlight and (ii) a far from negligible account. A shame that the BBCSO
brass can often sound somewhat asthmatic under pressure. They go for it on this occasion though.

[Petrushka]

... unsensational approach overall.

Perhaps this explains why I felt underwhelmed. That dangerous edge was missing, the feeling that everything is going to hell in a handcart. This is what Tennstedt achieves in his 1983 Prom as does Bernstein in his VPO recording. In short it is what Mahler 6 is about. A stroll in the park it isn't.

I'll try and give it another listen before it runs out on the i-player.

[Bryn]

I'm a little over 8 minutes into the slow movement, Alison, and very much enjoying what I hear, and I am not exactly a Belohlavek fan, usually.

[Bryn]

Hmm, I wish I had thought to edit out the re-tune between the 2nd and 3rd movements. Also just heard a bit of a stutter during the scherzo. That will be the HD Sound stream struggling. Guess I will have to do a bit more minor repair work from the on demand version, and I've only got a few 90 minute overburn CD-Rs left. Ouch, there goes another HD Sound stumble.

[Alf-Prufrock]

Ouch, there goes another HD Sound stumble.

What accounts for these stumbles, I wonder. Their presence inhibits me from listening to the HD I-Player, quite frankly. Do they happen even though I've got good broadband because my ISP can't cope with so much traffic? Or is it at source for some reason? Or are there any settings awry on my computer? I should like to have someone's expert opinion.

[bluestateprommer]

I gave it a listen, in fact twice (of which more anon). It started a tad slackly (or slowly and weightily, to look at it another way) for me, but I got into the spirit of JB's interpretation more as it went along and any sense of "slackness" vanished. I stand firmly in the camp of the middle movements as preferring (II) Scherzo, (III) Andante, so it was in the spirit of giving something different a try to listen to this performance with (II) Andante, (III) Scherzo. I have to say that I retain my preference for Scherzo-Andante, but not because of JB's interpretation. Contrary to what others have noted, I felt that JB took a slower tempo in the Andante, and a faster tempo in the Scherzo, compared to what I've heard in the past. I also gauged that JB omitted the 3rd hammer blow.

When I gave it a second listen, after the 1st movement, I jumped ahead on the iPlayer to the Scherzo, and then back for the Andante, obviously at the price of smoothness and breaks in concentration/continuity. That aside, and keeping my already stated bias in mind, I found that the faster starting tempo of the Scherzo contrasted very well with the relatively weighty start of the 1st movement.

On his blog, David Nice summed up his own preference for Scherzo-Andante very concisely:

http://davidnice.blogspot.com/2011/02/harbingers-of-spring.html

"The one thing I didn't manage to enlarge upon in the Arts Desk review was why I think the Allegro energico should always be followed by the scherzo, which it wasn't that evening:

1) It's a 3/8 replay of the opening march, in the same instrumentation;
2) The second subjects, Alma and the children respectively if you believe what she says, appear in the same keys - first F major, then D major;
3) The Andante is really only won when you've been through the two ordeals, and if you buy the children-in-the-sand image of the Scherzo, then the quotation from the Kindertotenlieder in the slow movement can only come after their Grimm-like annihilation;
4) The half-hour finale is too much after the grim scherzo."

It's interesting how people who prefer Andante-Scherzo make so much of the similar openings of the 1st movement and scherzo, but completely ignore the similarity of spirit of the scherzo and the darkness of the finale, which is what DN means by "too much". Of course, if one is a relative newbie to the symphony, it works either way, especially the end.

PS: Regarding JB and the BBC SO, there's this article from the Prague Monitor about JB's appointment as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, which has some buried news that's not been confirmed anywhere else about JB's contract as the BBC SO's chief conductor:

http://praguemonitor.com/2010/12/23/b%C4%9Blohl%C3%A1vek-become-czech-philharmonics-chief-conductor-2012

"A year ago he received an offer to extend his contract but he did not accept it, saying his work with the orchestra was sufficiently long and it fulfilled both parties' expectations. However, he will be returning to the BBC Orchestra as a guest conductor.

Belohlavek will end in his current position in London with the last concert of the BBC Proms festival on September 8, 2012."

The only person in the UK who's picked up on this is Norman Lebrecht (FWTW - not much, to be sure). There's nothing on the BBC SO's website, with the posting of the 2011-2012 Barbican season, about a change at the top, nor is there anything in any UK publications that I'm aware of. I'm sure things are going on behind the scene that we don't know about, unless the idea is to do a "joint announcement" later of JB leaving and a new chief conductor being appointed. kind of like what happened with the Los Angeles Philharmonic's last transition, with Salonen's departure and Dudamel's appointment announced at the same time.

Anyone want to start meaningless speculation on JB's successor at the BBC SO, whenever it occurs?

[Petrushka]

Anyone want to start meaningless speculation on JB's successor at the BBC SO, whenever it occurs?

My preference would have been for Edward Gardner but as he has been snapped up by the CBSO that now looks an unlikely event. EG has what it takes, has made recordings with the orchestra and conducted them at the Proms. Alternatives look thin on the ground. What about Vassily Sinaisky?

[Alison]

I'd go for Lionel Bringuier though I'm not sure if he has the range of repertoire
the post normally requires.

Good links, BSP x

[Alison]

Yan Pascal Tortelier would be another good candidate IMHO.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

My preference would have been for Edward Gardner but as he has been snapped up by the CBSO that now looks an unlikely event. EG has what it takes, has made recordings with the orchestra and conducted them at the Proms. Alternatives look thin on the ground. What about Vassily Sinaisky?

There are forthcoming opportunities to hear both of these at work with the BBCSO and the BBCSC, Sinaisky as soon as next Friday - Tchaik 1 and Schnittke's Faust Cantata. As for Gardner (who conducts Belshazzar's Feast - Sibelius and Walton - in December), the principal guest post at Birmingham might not preclude his succeeding JB. However, the hiatus last time around doesn't inspire confidence in a rapid succession.