BaL 2.05.15 - Scriabin: Prometheus (Poem of Fire)

[Pulcinella]

Not this one in posh skool! :)

Good to know that the parents are getting value for money out of their no doubt extortionate fees then, bbm!
Extra servings of spotted dick and custard as a BH school dinner treat? Or are desserts posh there too?

[BBMmk2]

Good to know that the parents are getting value for money out of their no doubt extortionate fees then, bbm!
Extra servings of spotted dick and custard as a BH school dinner treat? Or are desserts posh there too?

Ordinary skool c
uisine for the kids separate room for the staff and food too(most of the time!)

[ardcarp]

When the Mayday Bank Holiday was first introduced by the Labour Government (c.1978?) I was extremely annoyed that independednt schools chose to ignore it. Firstly it makes them appear partisan when they shouldn't be, and secondly everyone should enjoy a National Bank Holiday regardless of its origin. Can you imagine anyone in France passing up the opportunity for a saint's day knees-up on the mere pretext of being atheist?

[Serial_Apologist]

bank holiday mode

Phrygian, by the feel of things

[Serial_Apologist]

When the Mayday Bank Holiday was first introduced by the Labour Government (c.1978?) I was extremely annoyed that independednt schools chose to ignore it. Firstly it makes them appear partisan when they shouldn't be, and secondly everyone should enjoy a National Bank Holiday regardless of its origin. Can you imagine anyone in France passing up the opportunity for a saint's day knees-up on the mere pretext of being atheist?

They gave us all a day off on EMPIRE DAY at my fascist boarding school... and this, in the 1960s!!!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

They gave us all a day off on EMPIRE DAY at my fascist boarding school... and this, in the 1960s!!!

I remember the Empire Games in Cardiff in 1958.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But what about Scriabin and his music?

[waldo]

I remember the Empire Games in Cardiff in 1958.

My mother's best friend broke her nose in the Empire swimming pool in Cardiff. She dived head-first into the shallow end..........

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My mother's best friend broke her nose in the Empire swimming pool in Cardiff. She dived head-first into the shallow end..........

That sounds horrible. I hope she recovered.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was staggered by this music today. As for the Hollywood Ending… well, Scriabin invented it. Hollywood just copied.

[waldo]

That sounds horrible. I hope she recovered.

Yes. I think this must have happened in the early sixties. I gather there was a fair bit of reconstructive surgery - teeth were involved, too - but she went on to lead a happy, prosperous life. It might have helped that she had wealthy parents. I used to think of it every time I passed the pool on the bus home......

[ardcarp]

...but back to Scriabin. Clearly a phenomenon; a force of Nature even. But he does keep one's nose to the emotional grindstone. No easy listening!

[Nick Armstrong]

But what about Scriabin and his music?

... neither work is Scriabin at his best IMO... the "Hollywood conclusion" of Prometheus requires an entire mine of salt!

...but back to Scriabin. Clearly a phenomenon; a force of Nature even. But he does keep one's nose to the emotional grindstone. No easy listening!

Oh dear. Another BaL that's not going to cost me anything (silver lining). Over the years I've tried and tried not least because there are pieces of early Scriabin that I love - especially the early piano pieces, parts of the piano concerto, and I also went through a big phase of listening to his first symphony... in the Muti version: Bbm, I agree

Muti is one of the few conductors that can really "pull off" Scriabin's work.

- as does Mr Mival it seems.

But.

I cannot get past the impression that Scriabin in his latter years is the musical equivalent of a pub bore with a megaphone (and too much booze inside him). Hearing all those relentless climaxes repeatedly on BaL did nothing to help, in fact.

I could hear that the chosen versions were better than the others but...

Not a piece I'll ever want to hear at home. Maybe live, by the right team (Jurowski/LPO for instance) - although I have heard it live once and it left me wanting to ... find a different pub.

[Bryn]

Not a piece I'll ever want to hear at home. Maybe live, by the right team (Jurowski/LPO for instance) - although I have heard it live once and it left me wanting to ... find a different pub.

Never have guesed you were a Fosters ("bland and inoffensive") man.

[Nick Armstrong]

Never have guesed you were a Fosters ("bland and inoffensive") man.

Mine's a pint of Old Thumper, actually, if you're buying, Bryn!

Or a Broadside, failing that