Wagner/Sibelius/Brahms 4/CBSO/Nelsons/ Live 19:30/06/11/13

[jayne lee wilson]

Quick reminder...

Wagner Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude
Sibelius Violin Concerto (Valeri Sokolov, 1703 Stradivarius)
Brahms Symphony No.4

...live from the grand acoustic of Symphony Hall.

[jayne lee wilson]

Glorious sound from the CBSO tonight! The strings, so tender and delicate in the Lohengrin Prelude, produced great bite, weight and density in the Sibelius concerto, as the brass snarled out their scowling affirmations.
The excellent, accompanistically-sensitive Sokolov played WITH the orchestra, never showcasing any virtuosic excess.

Wide-ranging, beautifully balanced HDs sound, with whisper-delicate pianissimos and awesome power into the climaxes.

[Petrushka]

Didn't catch the Brahms 4, Jayne?

I prefer my Brahms with more fire in its belly than we had in the first movement here. Brahms' marking of Allegro non troppo didn't match up with the tempo from Nelsons which was surely too slow. The second movement was much better, a real feel of veiled mystery here and no complaints about the third movement either.

I remember we had a thread once on the last movement of the Brahms 4 which was along the lines of no one takes any notice of the tempo marking. It's allegro energico e passionate, for goodness sake, though you wouldn't think so judging from recordings/performances. I'm hoping that Chailly's new recording nails this last movement. The Nelsons performance had more forward momentum than his first movement but I kept on wanting more, not satisfied once again.

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes - after such anticipation, the Brahms 4 didn't quite match the intensities of part one...

The first movement had pleasingly lighter string and wind textures, prominent brass, but Nelsons was sometimes too deliberate in his expressive emphasis, leaning into or holding back a phrase a shade too much - and this, with the tempo moderato and a restrained coda, created a rather preludial impression. The adagio, sounding at first even more like a lovely wind serenade than usual, was shaped with great lucidity as a developing double-variation structure, Nelsons presenting it as a series of linked episodes rather than a quasi-sonata.
The scherzo, sounding very like a movement from a dance-suite, valued buoyancy and clarity more than sheerly energetic brilliance; and the finale confirmed Nelsons' expansive, carefully-built view of the symphony, yet giving very free expressive prominence to the gorgeous flute solo in the 12th variation - lovely in itself, but seeming over-emphasised in this interpretative context. Still lacking a little in drama and drive, full power was reserved only for the recapping 16th variation and the final pages - though even here Nelsons remained poised and coolly classical rather than fierily Romantic.

Light and airy textures, a neo-baroque feeling of prominent and soloistic winds, rhythmic poise and emotional restraint... a reading of the 4th Symphony which was something of a work-in-progress; it would be fascinating to hear it following their tour, after several more performances.

[Hornspieler]

Glorious sound from the CBSO tonight! The strings, so tender and delicate in the Lohengrin Prelude, produced great bite, weight and density in the Sibelius concerto, as the brass snarled out their scowling affirmations.
The excellent, accompanistically-sensitive Sokolov played WITH the orchestra, never showcasing any virtuosic excess.

Wide-ranging, beautifully balanced HDs sound, with whisper-delicate pianissimos and awesome power into the climaxes.

So light and delicate that nothing registered on my meters until the full orchestra joined in. What were the audio team playing at?

Awesome? So that dreadful Americanism, which is used to describe every action or event in the United States has finally arrived to grace the English language. Oh dear!

I have bad memories of this prelude. Charles Groves, black with rage, berating the four unfortunate front desk violinists, one of whom, at least, got a terrible attack of the perlies.
And a performance of the opera with the Welsh National Opera Company, in which I was so bored that I nearly dozed off towards the last Act, and Robert Thomas singing about " ... my trusty swoll.

I agree about the Sibelius. Very good in all respects.

I recorded the Brahms but have yet to listen to it. The reviews so far are not exactly glowing with excitement.

HS

Edit:
Actually, I do have a good memory, relating to Lohengrin.

At my audition for the Sterndale Bennet Open Scholarship in the Royal Academy of Music, it was the Prelude to Act III that was put in front of me for sightreading. The opening flourish is written for Horn in G. At the 4th bar, the transposition changes to Horn in E.
So what appears on paper to be an interval of a major third is actually an interval of a perfect fifth. Later, the transposition suddenly changes to Horn in D.

Thankfully, due to the tuition that I had received from my music master Antony Brown, who taught me to transpose by clef, tonic sol-fa (or instinct!) I sailed through the task set before me.
Yes, I was awarded the scholarship, which paid my tuition fees for three years.

"How do you transpose into all those different keys?" people often asked me.

"I don't" I replied "I simply change clefs, which a viola playing pianist does all the time without thinking about it."

[Sir Velo]

Yes - after such anticipation, the Brahms 4 didn't quite match the intensities of part one...

The first movement had pleasingly lighter string and wind textures, prominent brass, but Nelsons was sometimes too deliberate in his expressive emphasis, leaning into or holding back a phrase a shade too much - and this, with the tempo moderato and a restrained coda, created a rather preludial impression. The adagio, sounding at first even more like a lovely wind serenade than usual, was shaped with great lucidity as a developing double-variation structure, Nelsons presenting it as a series of linked episodes rather than a quasi-sonata.
The scherzo, sounding very like a movement from a dance-suite, valued buoyancy and clarity more than sheerly energetic brilliance; and the finale confirmed Nelsons' expansive, carefully-built view of the symphony, yet giving very free expressive prominence to the gorgeous flute solo in the 12th variation - lovely in itself, but seeming over-emphasised in this interpretative context. Still lacking a little in drama and drive, full power was reserved only for the recapping 16th variation and the final pages - though even here Nelsons remained poised and coolly classical rather than fierily Romantic.

Light and airy textures, a neo-baroque feeling of prominent and soloistic winds, rhythmic poise and emotional restraint... a reading of the 4th Symphony which was something of a work-in-progress; it would be fascinating to hear it following their tour, after several more performances.

I must remember to audition the duration of this radiophonic feast.

[Bryn]

Do sort yourself out Mr Hornblower. The OED has "awesome" down as late 16th century English.

[verismissimo]

Well, I was there in Symphony Hall, and it's interesting to note similarities and differences with observations made above.

The Lohengrin overture was magically quiet and together. Not surprised they didn't register on HS's radiogram. CBSO violins on top form. Altogether excellent IMO.

Sibelius also terrific. I hadn't heard Valeriy Sokolov before. Ukrainian and 28.

Jayne summarises the Brahms as classical rather than romantic, but with the presence visually of the conductor, one had the opposite effect. Nelsons, who has done such a first-rate job with that orchestra, seemed to leave every stone turned. Massive gestures, all so Deeply Felt. Sir Adrian would not have approved. I found in distracting.