Live in Concert - Thursday 20 February at 7.30 pm

[Serial_Apologist]

Tonight's concert from Cheltenham Town Hall, in which Thomas Sondergard conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, includes performances of Bartok's "Divertimento" and Mozart's Symphony No. 40. However, given that it must be many years since it last received a broadcast on R3, I want to draw particular attention to the Cello Concerto of Samuel Barber, the second item on the programme, with Alban Gerhardt taking the solo part - this being a neglected work of great charm, warmth, and a melodic inventiveness to compare with the Violin Concerto of six years earlier. For listeners of more traditional persuasion who might draw the line at, say, Shostakovitch's two works in this genre, and find the later Barber a tough listen, the third movement of this work, in which the slow and serious second subject leads to an eventual culmination of near-expressionistic intensity, offers may I say a useful bridge away from the neo-romanticism of that earlier work into more advanced musical territory.

[Honoured Guest]

This concert is to be repeated on the next night (Friday 21 Feb) in the Grand Theatre, Swansea (while Brangwyn Hall is restored). One hour nearer to West Wales (two hours shorter return driving time) and with local parking and no adjacent international stadium rugby match! I don't know about the Italian restaurant situation ...

[Richard Tarleton]

Yes thanks both - will listen to the first half on R3, with interest to the Barber. Don't think I'll pile into the car on Friday though. Very familiar with both venues, driving times etc. (see 20 years, etc.) - we're regulars at the Brangwyn Hall and I'm greatly looking forward to its return to service, blazing acoustics (Swansea's answer to the Musikverein ). We saw Alban Gerhardt there not long ago.

[teamsaint]

Just bumping this interesting programme for tonight.

Thanks to 12 tone for flagging it up.

Here is the full menu :
Bartok: Divertimento
Barber: Cello Concerto

8.30 During the interval, Fiona Talkington talks to soloist Alban Gerhardt, including music by Britten and Faure.

8.55
Mozart: Symphony no. 40

Alban Gerhardt (cello)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Sondergard (Principal Conductor)

[amateur51]

Tonight's concert from Cheltenham Town Hall, in which Thomas Sondergard conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, includes performances of Bartok's "Divertimento" and Mozart's Symphony No. 40. However, given that it must be many years since it last received a broadcast on R3, I want to draw particular attention to the Cello Concerto of Samuel Barber, the second item on the programme, with Alban Gerhardt taking the solo part - this being a neglected work of great charm, warmth, and a melodic inventiveness to compare with the Violin Concerto of six years earlier. For listeners of more traditional persuasion who might draw the line at, say, Shostakovitch's two works in this genre, and find the later Barber a tough listen, the third movement of this work, in which the slow and serious second subject leads to an eventual culmination of near-expressionistic intensity, offers may I say a useful bridge away from the neo-romanticism of that earlier work into more advanced musical territory.

Almost a year to the day, as it goes

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?7525-Stravinsky-Barber-and-Dvorak-Wed-6th-Feb-at-7-30&highlight=Weilerstein

[Maclintick]

Just heard the Mozart, & will have to catch up with the interesting-looking first half on I-player. I have enormous regard for Thomas Sondergard as an interpreter of 20th century music, but I'm afraid I found an almost complete absence of any connection with Mozartian sensibilities in this performance. It made me wonder whether he'd conducted any of the operas, where human entanglements are so beautifully mirrored
in the orchestral writing, and which are transmuted in these later symphonies & piano concertos into quasi-operatic roles anchoring the emotional drama ( cf. the writings of Alfred Brendel & others ). This was the kind of performance which I dread will be referred to as "refreshing" by those with little time or empathy for what the mature Mozart was communicating.

[edashtav]

Just heard the Mozart, & will have to catch up with the interesting-looking first half on I-player. I have enormous regard for Thomas Sondergard as an interpreter of 20th century music, but I'm afraid I found an almost complete absence of any connection with Mozartian sensibilities in this performance. It made me wonder whether he'd conducted any of the operas, where human entanglements are so beautifully mirrored
in the orchestral writing, and which are transmuted in these later symphonies & piano concertos into quasi-operatic roles anchoring the emotional drama ( cf. the writings of Alfred Brendel & others ). This was the kind of performance which I dread will be referred to as "refreshing" by those with little time or empathy for what the mature Mozart was communicating.

I'm in Maclintick's position as I heard only the Mozart live. Unlike him, I have "little time or empathy for what mature Mozart was communicating" although the little empathy and understanding that I do have includes respect for this G minor symphony.

I've absolutely 100% in agreement with Maclintick's strictures re Sondergard's interpretation. His view of the score didn't refresh it but did, I felt, trivialise it. He gave us swift, pretty Mozart - aural wallpaper.

I have greater hopes for the first half - more from me, I hope, once the iPlayer streams it.

[jayne lee wilson]

I just don't recognise the Mozart 40th that I heard tonight from the above posts; apart from a few moments of exposed uncertainty early in the andante, I found this both passionate and precise, with a light, energetic, but intense touch on the dark matter with which Mozart deals in this work. For me that's exactly what it needs; I have as little time for big-band, heavy, symphonic-orchestral Mozart as I do for any overemphasised operatics transposed into the symphonies. Whatever their stylistic connections, they are not operas: the emotion needs to emerge from clarity of structure and development, not melodrama, with a certain intensity and cohesion in the ensemble.
This was a notably, even daringly, HIPP-style performance, with little or no vibrato. The centrally-placed lower strings of the BBCNOW gave a firm, very present yet tuneful foundation to colourful, characterful winds (just occasionally showing a little less confidence in this style of playing) and light, bright-toned, penetrating violins (showing clearly the advantages of the left/right separation of 1sts and 2nds).
As broadcast via HDs, the close, dry and slightly boxy acoustic at Cheltenham emphasised the presence and momentum of the orchestra. I felt that Sondergaard served the music and chose the tempo giusto throughout - all beautifully related, neither driven nor dragging, never vague or muddied in the phrasing. The reading was very thought-through: the 1st movement slightly restrained until the coda, with a noticable increase in tension and intensity through the minuet and finale. Lovely flow to the andante, with a light, airy lift to the rhythm, the violins impressive in their tonal range, from feathery lightness to an intense, climactic attack.

One other telling detail: that dramatic fragmentation of the main finale theme at the start of the development was held in a perfect balance between continuity and instability. All too often it goes for little, the conductor in fear of courting modernism or melodrama; tonight I felt it was just right: almost, but not quite, over the edge.

I almost always prefer period-instrument or chamber-orchestral performances of this repertoire - I would guess that the orchestra was somewhere around largish-chamber-orchestral-sized for the Mozart tonight, and was surprised how much I enjoyed the BBCNOW and Sondergaard with their faithful, poised and passionate presentation.

[edashtav]

Play it again, Sam

Well, I'm glad Songergard's Mozart worked so well for you, Jayne. Your defence is detailed and cogent. I'll say no more on that score except to plead "Guilty,M'lud" to rarely understanding Mozart whether the interpretation is fine or foul.

Let's get back to the first half - Bela Bartok's Divertimento and Sam Barber's end-of-WWII 'Cello Concerto. The best of Bartok brought out the best in Sondergard and the BBC NOW, I thought. The interpretation was shot through with fine things both in terms of detail and over-arching structure. Soon, I put my critical hat on a peg , sat back and just became enveloped by the score - the first piece of Bartok's that I encountered and a never-failing favourite.

Gosh, I was born as Sam Barber was composing his Cello Concerto and despite being a ridiculously dedicated follower of 20th century music, I'd never heard it before this morning via iPlayer. Perhaps, you feel that I've avoided it because it's too conservative, too much of a by-way to be worthy of bother. Yet, that is not true - I must have heard 90% of Barber's music and have been involved in performing some of his choral music. So, why have I not encountered it? Frankly, I hadn't realised that he'd written one! That's because, as today's excellent soloist remarked, it isn't scheduled very often. Alban Gerhardt's had it in his repertoire for aeons but had the chance to play it only four times. Other cellists ignore it, or fail to understand and project its merits. It isn't foolproof, is it? Barber's pieces tend to stand or fall depending on the quality and memorability of his themes, no, let me be more honest, his tunes. Barber was a tunesmith, often one of the highest order. Adagio for ... strg 4-tet, strings, or lightly disguised as "Agnus Dei" for choir impressed Toscanini at first sight and has continued to enthuse audiences for, I suppose, eighty years. Similarly, the early violin concerto is packed to the gunnels with luscious melodies, topped off with a helter-skelter finale. Sam Barber is the All-American Gay Boy and, like his earlier Russian analogue, Tchaikovsky, he doesn't shy away from wearing his romantic heart on his sleeve, especially in slow movements. Perhaps, this cello concerto has failed because its tunes are not instantly memorable. There are sinuous melodies throughout its slow movement but they are subject to scupulous scoring - to avoid occluding the cello line, they are shared around, sometimes embracing and entwining with each other, but never coming together in a big, bold, throbbing statement gushing with emotion. Throughout the piece, the quality of Barber's craftsmanship is impeccable, and, surprisingly, he's able to embrace a wide range of "modern" (in mid-century terms) cello techniques. Another factor may be the fractured, urgent third movement that is angular and jagged - Barber had been in the US airforce through a bloody war. Is this movement not as modern as anything that he wrote - had he heard Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, I wonder? Does anyone else share my feeling that Barber experienced problems with "ending" works rather as Willy Walton did from time to time?

I loved the performance with Alban Gerhardt's full-on advocacy and Sondergard's thoughtful accompaniment. Apparently, R3 is broadcasting it at a rate of 1 performance a year. That strikes me as about the right frequency for now - within five years we boarders will know it well enough to signal a thumbs up, or down. Once again, a from me to Radio 3, a signal that some of its scheduling is effective.

[Maclintick]

[QUOTE=jayne lee wilson;379279]

This was a notably, even daringly, HIPP-style performance, with little or no vibrato. The centrally-placed lower strings of the BBCNOW gave a firm, very present yet tuneful foundation to colourful, characterful winds (just occasionally showing a little less confidence in this style of playing) and light, bright-toned, penetrating violins (showing clearly the advantages of the left/right separation of 1sts and 2nds).
As broadcast via HDs, the close, dry and slightly boxy acoustic at Cheltenham emphasised the presence and momentum of the orchestra. [QUOTE]

Glad you enjoyed it, JLW. Perhaps I'm just not a HIPP Cat or wasn't in the mood last night. I'll give the Mozart another spin when I catch the first half on I-Player, but overall I thought the dry-ish Cheltenham acoustic didn't seem to give the players a lot of encouragement. At a guess the string strengths were 10-8-8-6-4, but I think their disposition on the platform wasn't as you suggest, but the rather more conventional spread from left to right in the order, 1sts, 2nds, violas, cellos, & basses, or at least that's what I heard listening on headphones.

[jayne lee wilson]

Listened back to the andante having located a score online... the string layout does appear to be as you say, Maclintick, but I'm at a loss to explain why it seemed so different live... unless there was some phase inversion going on somewhere on the night, or I'd left the Dac itself inverted (display only shows when changed). But it shouldn't have misled me to that extent. Listening again to the whole performance there is often considerable bass presence from center/center-right, whether an acoustical or a microphone-placing effect I've no idea. But I can only reiterate my view of the performance, which seemed just as good second time around, even if the violins' dialoguing wasn't quite as antiphonal as it sounded to me on Thursday!

Quite bizarre anyway. I'll now go into a sulk and get drunk over a curry. Then I can blame BBC engineers and Town Hall acoustics .

[Barbirollians]

Well, I'm glad Songergard's Mozart worked so well for you, Jayne. Your defence is detailed and cogent. I'll say no more on that score except to plead "Guilty,M'lud" to rarely understanding Mozart whether the interpretation is fine or foul.

Let's get back to the first half - Bela Bartok's Divertimento and Sam Barber's end-of-WWII 'Cello Concerto. The best of Bartok brought out the best in Sondergard and the BBC NOW, I thought. The interpretation was shot through with fine things both in terms of detail and over-arching structure. Soon, I put my critical hat on a peg , sat back and just became enveloped by the score - the first piece of Bartok's that I encountered and a never-failing favourite.

Gosh, I was born as Sam Barber was composing his Cello Concerto and despite being a ridiculously dedicated follower of 20th century music, I'd never heard it before this morning via iPlayer. Perhaps, you feel that I've avoided it because it's too conservative, too much of a by-way to be worthy of bother. Yet, that is not true - I must have heard 90% of Barber's music and have been involved in performing some of his choral music. So, why have I not encountered it? Frankly, I hadn't realised that he'd written one! That's because, as today's excellent soloist remarked, it isn't scheduled very often. Alban Gerhardt's had it in his repertoire for aeons but had the chance to play it only four times. Other cellists ignore it, or fail to understand and project its merits. It isn't foolproof, is it? Barber's pieces tend to stand or fall depending on the quality and memorability of his themes, no, let me be more honest, his tunes. Barber was a tunesmith, often one of the highest order. Adagio for ... strg 4-tet, strings, or lightly disguised as "Agnus Dei" for choir impressed Toscanini at first sight and has continued to enthuse audiences for, I suppose, eighty years. Similarly, the early violin concerto is packed to the gunnels with luscious melodies, topped off with a helter-skelter finale. Sam Barber is the All-American Gay Boy and, like his earlier Russian analogue, Tchaikovsky, he doesn't shy away from wearing his romantic heart on his sleeve, especially in slow movements. Perhaps, this cello concerto has failed because its tunes are not instantly memorable. There are sinuous melodies throughout its slow movement but they are subject to scupulous scoring - to avoid occluding the cello line, they are shared around, sometimes embracing and entwining with each other, but never coming together in a big, bold, throbbing statement gushing with emotion. Throughout the piece, the quality of Barber's craftsmanship is impeccable, and, surprisingly, he's able to embrace a wide range of "modern" (in mid-century terms) cello techniques. Another factor may be the fractured, urgent third movement that is angular and jagged - Barber had been in the US airforce through a bloody war. Is this movement not as modern as anything that he wrote - had he heard Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, I wonder? Does anyone else share my feeling that Barber experienced problems with "ending" works rather as Willy Walton did from time to time?

I loved the performance with Alban Gerhardt's full-on advocacy and Sondergard's thoughtful accompaniment. Apparently, R3 is broadcasting it at a rate of 1 performance a year. That strikes me as about the right frequency for now - within five years we boarders will know it well enough to signal a thumbs up, or down. Once again, a from me to Radio 3, a signal that some of its scheduling is effective.

I am surprised that this work is so unknown to you edashtav . It has been recorded a number of times and Yo Yo Ma's lovely recording is coupled with two of the most famous Barber concerto recordings of all- John Browning's account of the Piano Concerto and Isaac Stern's classic Violin Concerto for about a fiver !

[Maclintick]

Let's get back to the first half - Bela Bartok's Divertimento and Sam Barber's end-of-WWII 'Cello Concerto. The best of Bartok brought out the best in Sondergard and the BBC NOW, I thought. The interpretation was shot through with fine things both in terms of detail and over-arching structure. Soon, I put my critical hat on a peg , sat back and just became enveloped by the score - the first piece of Bartok's that I encountered and a never-failing favourite.

I loved the performance with Alban Gerhardt's full-on advocacy and Sondergard's thoughtful accompaniment. Apparently, R3 is broadcasting it at a rate of 1 performance a year. That strikes me as about the right frequency for now - within five years we boarders will know it well enough to signal a thumbs up, or down. Once again, a from me to Radio 3, a signal that some of its scheduling is effective.

Spot on, Ed. I agree completely with your comments on the first half of this concert,
which I've now caught up with courtesy of I-Player. Hats off to BBC NOW/Sondergard/Gerhardt & Radio 3 for airing a relatively-neglected Bartok masterpiece, whose neo-baroque elements influenced Tippett cf. Corelli Fantasia, and an almost totally ignored cello concerto by Barber, which, as you say, is possibly a tad short on memorability, but makes up for it in the precisely-crafted relationship between soloist and orchestra, especially in that extraordinarily anguished finale. I suppose it was later eclipsed by the 2 magnificent Shostakovich works (as was Walton's) but surely solo cellists aren't so abundantly endowed with concerto repertoire that they can afford to ignore it completely ?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I found an almost complete absence of any connection with Mozartian sensibilities in this performance. ... This was the kind of performance which I dread will be referred to as "refreshing" by those with little time or empathy for what the mature Mozart was communicating.

... Sondergard's interpretation ... of the score didn't refresh it but did, I felt, trivialise it. He gave us swift, pretty Mozart - aural wallpaper.

I found this both passionate and precise, with a light, energetic, but intense touch on the dark matter with which Mozart deals in this work. For me that's exactly what it needs; ... This was a notably, even daringly, HIPP-style performance, with little or no vibrato. The centrally-placed lower strings of the BBCNOW gave a firm, very present yet tuneful foundation to colourful, characterful winds (just occasionally showing a little less confidence in this style of playing)

Hmm - faced with such contradictory reports, I felt a greater temptation to listen to the performance again. FWiW, I found great merits in the performance: all "repeats" were performed - each time the Music re-presented in the light of what had been heard subsequently, not a mere "cut-and-paste" going through it again - and there was superb orchestral balance throughout. Sondergard also had a real understanding of Mozart's phrasing - right from the start, he and the orchestra demonstrated the difference between "upbeat" and "downbeat" phrasing, which enabled them to bring out the syncopated effects when the composer shifts the phrasing (the difference between the first eight bars and bars 19 - 27, for a start) - and I was much attracted to the perky woodwind playing which, delightful in themselves, also made their poignant Music elsewhere all the more telling.

What I didn't like were Sondergard's tempi. The First Movement was a bit too "creamy" for an alla breve Allegro molto: the fire in this sturm und drang Symphony was dissipated a little by the choice of tempo. This isn't a HIPP thing: it's a matter of reading what Mozart wrote in the score and presenting it in performance - Furtwangler and the VPO are exemplary in this way, as well as other modern orchestral performances and recordings. The tempo of the Finale, too was too sedate for what I understand from Mozart's instructions: an alla breve "Allegro assai", which (as Leopold Mozart described it) is "little different from Presto" - this Movement should be a whirlwind, just at the edge of the players' abilities to perform it. The first time round of the Andante was also a little under tempo - there was more a feeling of three beats, rather than the two of the compound Time Signature - but the tempo had picked up for the Expo repeat. (And, oh! That demisemiquaver skipping against the gentle theme - and how it turned nasty at the start of the Development section: that was superbly done. Less keen on the portamenti, though.) The Minuet is at a speed I like (but it can be argued that this is, ironically, a bit hasty for a three-in-the-bar Alegretto) - but I hated the slowing down for the Trio (not in any score I know of - I have three - and dragging the Music; a really damaging feature, I thought). I wasn't keen on the frequent "expressive" rits that peppered the Movements, either - nor the mannerism of pausing at Mozart's structural silences, giving the impression that the Music had a stammer.

So, I'm not as enthusiastic as Jayne, but found Mac and ed's comments unfair: a performance I was frequently delighted and occasionally infuriated by - one whose strengths and weaknesses sharpened my own perception of this magnificent work.

[jayne lee wilson]

Wonderfully detailed (and instructive) listening, fhg, thankyou! Even if I would allow performers a little more licentiousness..

(If we were both conductors, I'm sure we'd infuriate each other... then sneakily admire...).