LIVE tonight on R3 at 7.30pm BBC Philharmonic play Sibelius

[salymap]

John Storgards conducts the BBC Philharmonic in

Sibelius - Symphony 1

Interval Music

Sibelius - Symphony 5

Presented by Petroc Trelawny

[jayne lee wilson]

..... I'd just add that this is the start of a complete Sibelius cycle on Radio 3, be grateful for big mercies etc., with nos. 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon (9/06) and finally 3, 6 & 7 next Thursday (13/06).

After early hospital attendance today my brain will probably fade all too soon, but I'll hear what I can, and should be in place for the last concert, which looks a cracker.

[teamsaint]

..... I'd just add that this is the start of a complete Sibelius cycle on Radio 3, be grateful for big mercies etc., with nos. 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon (9/06) and finally 3, 6 & 7 next Thursday (13/06).

After early hospital attendance today my brain will probably fade all too soon, but I'll hear what I can, and should be in place for the last concert, which looks a cracker.

Thanks for the info on this cycle Jayne.
Hope you are able to enjoy the concerts to the full.
I'll try to catch them tomorrow.

[salymap]

..... I'd just add that this is the start of a complete Sibelius cycle on Radio 3, be grateful for big mercies etc., with nos. 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon (9/06) and finally 3, 6 & 7 next Thursday (13/06).

After early hospital attendance today my brain will probably fade all too soon, but I'll hear what I can, and should be in place for the last concert, which looks a cracker.

My sincere sympathy Jayne. I am on antibiotics to get rid of an infection caused by new BP tablets,
which my nurse has still increased. Bestio

[EdgeleyRob]

..... I'd just add that this is the start of a complete Sibelius cycle on Radio 3, be grateful for big mercies etc., with nos. 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon (9/06) and finally 3, 6 & 7 next Thursday (13/06).

After early hospital attendance today my brain will probably fade all too soon, but I'll hear what I can, and should be in place for the last concert, which looks a cracker.

Hope all is well Jayne.

[gradus]

Annoyingly I heard only the closing bars of the fifth which seemed to go very well but I wonder if anyone heard a truly remarkable performance of Lemminkainen's Return this afternoon played by the BBC Phil. Unfortunately I didn't catch the name of the conductor and can't find any reference to it on the R3 website. Such a pity as it was a performance of great vigour and rhythmic life, to my ears as fine as the classic Beecham LPO performance from the thirties and I've never heard better. Definitely one for Sibelians to seek out.

[Black Swan]

Jayne, hope you are better.
I was at the concert tonight. I thought the Fifth was performed better than First but that is my opinion. A really good concert. I have tickets for the whole series so I am looking forward to Saturdays and next Thursday's performance.

[Roslynmuse]

I was there too and on the whole I would agree that No 5 came off better than No 1. I wasn't wholly convinced by either, though, to be honest, and they didn't seem as fine as the performances of 3 and 7 Storgards gave a year or so back. There were some moments of ragged ensemble and the balance seemed bass-heavy to the point of obscuring middle register detail. No real pianissimi either. Or perhaps it was just where I was sitting (stalls, right hand side ie in the double bass firing line). That said, I'll be back for the other two concerts. No 5 really is an extraordinary piece, though, and No 1 is much better than I remembered it! (So perhaps I'm being a bit uncharitable in my overall response to the concert after all.) One thing that really was disappointing - the number of empty seats.

[salymap]

I've only heard no 1 so far and itcertainly seemed 'bass heavy' on the various radios I tried. And it rather dragged/slowed down in places.
However my hearing is not what it was so I may be wrong.

[Roslynmuse]

The was a mike about four inches from the bridge of the principal bass player - can't say I've ever seen that before...

[Serial_Apologist]

Annoyingly I heard only the closing bars of the fifth which seemed to go very well but I wonder if anyone heard a truly remarkable performance of Lemminkainen's Return this afternoon played by the BBC Phil.

I would never listen to this movement alone, only all the Legends - otherwise it's tantamount to opening a novel at the last page and reading, "And they lived happily ever after". There's plenty of single movement tone poems by Sibelius of similar length they could have programmed, eg "The Oceanides".

[teamsaint]

I had a listen to the concert after reading a couple of posts on here.
I have to say I agree that i felt that #1 did seem to tend towards the ponderous. I put my stopwatch on the Andante, and it seemed to be very close to the composers mark of 54. So either other interpretations are faster than the mark, or Sibelius had a wonky metronome.

(or i miscounted of course).
The marking is" Andante ma no troppo lento" I think, so I assume that Sibelius wanted a gentle flow, and that wasn't really what seemed forthcoming.
All said though, an enjoyable concert. got to get what you can from these things. moments of bass heaviness, but my kitchen stereo probably not the best to judge on.
Just left wondering why certain (admittedly great) symphony cycles get so many airings, and others get so few.
would perhaps have been interesting to make it a longer series, and pair the Sibelius with some Rautavaara. Or Simpson. or Arnold. or Ivanovs. or Williamson. or something.
or something.

[Black Swan]

I was there too and on the whole I would agree that No 5 came off better than No 1. I wasn't wholly convinced by either, though, to be honest, and they didn't seem as fine as the performances of 3 and 7 Storgards gave a year or so back. There were some moments of ragged ensemble and the balance seemed bass-heavy to the point of obscuring middle register detail. No real pianissimi either. Or perhaps it was just where I was sitting (stalls, right hand side ie in the double bass firing line). That said, I'll be back for the other two concerts. No 5 really is an extraordinary piece, though, and No 1 is much better than I remembered it! (So perhaps I'm being a bit uncharitable in my overall response to the concert after all.) One thing that really was disappointing - the number of empty seats.

I agree with you that it was really shocking the number of empty seats in the hall. I do agree about Bass heaviness. My seat was center in the front row of the circle so I wasn't so close to the bass section. Again, I think the BBC Phil have a very good wind and brass section, although I really think the Bassoon section is weak. But maybe I am hyper critical as I felt the same about their performance of the Rite of Spring.

But looking forward to tomorrow night.

[Andrew Slater]

It seems that one person's 'bass-heaviness' is another's 'bass-audibility': I was pleased to actually hear the basses, as to my ears, the hall is usually 'bass-light'. Both performances sounded fine to excellent to me ..... but then I'm not a Sibelius expert.

Yes, the audience numbers were disappointing - the stalls section was particularly sparse. Still a lot better than in June 2009 for the Haydn concerts combined with 7pm starts. I think there were about 250 in for one of those.

I think there might be some resistance within the audience to some of the symphonies - someone yesterday had concerns about tomorrow's fourth. So I'm looking forward to it.....

[Black Swan]

The Fourth is brilliant. I am truly looking forward to tomorrow. I am not a Sibelius expert just a lover. But although I was ecstatic about the 5th I was underwhelmed by the 1st symphony