Prom 24: Bournemouth SO, Klieser / Karabits, 2 Aug 2023

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  • Lordgeous
    Full Member
    • Dec 2012
    • 835

    #31
    Originally posted by edashtav View Post
    I

    Ivan Karabits’ 40 year old Concerto for orchestra was fun, ‘easy listening’. It had energy and vitality and more inner consistency that Derrick Skye’s new piece heard in the first BBC WNO Concert, earlier this week.
    I'm not sure about 'easy listening' - I thought it stunning, enjoyable, memorable and, dare I say it, the only piece among new 'works' this year that I would go out of my way to hear again. Brilliantly performed too.

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    • edashtav
      Full Member
      • Jul 2012
      • 3672

      #32
      ‘Twas a period piece and neither better nor worse than many better known works of its period. It was very well played with love and commitment. I stand by ‘easy listening’ : that’s not to describe it as ‘light’. It was facile and enjoyable. At times, I was reminded of Panufnik, the Elder.

      I’m mourning the lack of ‘music of our time’ in this year’s Proms: stuff which stretches me, gritty music that needs several hearings for understanding.
      Last edited by edashtav; 05-09-23, 12:42.

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      • Serial_Apologist
        Full Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 37835

        #33
        Originally posted by edashtav View Post
        ‘Twas a period piece and neither better nor worse than many better known works of its period. It was very well played with love and commitment. I stand by ‘easy listening’ : that’s not to describe it as ‘light’. It was facile and enjoyable. At times, I was reminded of Panufnik, the Elder.

        I’m mourning the lack of ‘music of out time’ in this year’s Proms: stuff which stretches me, gritty music that needs several hearings for understanding.
        Me too Ed - and I'm willing to bet we are not in some tiny minority.

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        • edashtav
          Full Member
          • Jul 2012
          • 3672

          #34
          Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post

          Me too Ed - and I'm willing to bet we are not in some tiny minority.
          but… you may be able to cram us into half of the RAH. I remember those heady days when each year,Ollie Knussen, had a Prom full of pieces that he wanted / needed to promote. In 2013, all of us in the cheaper upper seats were invited to descend into the Stalls. I didn’t know that a good friend and enthusiast for ‘real’ modern music had popped down from Northumbria and, on being, demoted, arrived in the Stall seat next to mine! He greeted me, “I thought you’d be here!”

          What a great and unforgettable night, enjoyed live by, maybe, 1,500.

          Paul Kilbey in his review got it right:

          “His 2013 Proms appearance was no exception to this rule, juxtaposing two contrasting works for piano and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky, in between a symphonic sandwich of orchestral pieces by Hans Werner Henze and Michael Tippett. The playing of both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Proms debutant Peter Serkin was just as impeccable as the programme, and the whole thing served as ample proof that even a less attention-grabbing Prom will often remain a musical occasion of the highest calibre.“

          [my emboldening.]

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          • Lordgeous
            Full Member
            • Dec 2012
            • 835

            #35
            Originally posted by edashtav View Post
            ‘Twas a period piece and neither better nor worse than many better known works of its period. It was very well played with love and commitment. I stand by ‘easy listening’ : that’s not to describe it as ‘light’. It was facile and enjoyable. At times, I was reminded of Panufnik, the Elder.
            .
            I would query "facile" - OED: produced without effort or careful thought​!

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            • edashtav
              Full Member
              • Jul 2012
              • 3672

              #36
              Originally posted by Lordgeous View Post

              I would query "facile" - OED: produced without effort or careful thought​!
              Well, I can’t look into the mind of the composer.

              My faclie referred to listening: the idea that the music does not engage the listener’s brain at a significant level.

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              • Lordgeous
                Full Member
                • Dec 2012
                • 835

                #37
                Originally posted by edashtav View Post

                I’m mourning the lack of ‘music of our time’ in this year’s Proms: stuff which stretches me, gritty music that needs several hearings for understanding.
                Any suggestons as to who might be writing such music these days?

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                • edashtav
                  Full Member
                  • Jul 2012
                  • 3672

                  #38
                  Originally posted by Lordgeous View Post

                  Any suggestons as to who might be writing such music these days?
                  Brian Ferneyhough [New Complexity] and our own RichardB [ Richard born Swansea, 1959, is internationally active as composer and performer, teaches at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague and is Professor of Creative Music Research at the University of Leiden. His work encompasses a range from free improvisation to intricately-notated scores, and from acoustic chamber music to innovative uses of digital technology. Current projects include a major new cycle of works for the ELISION Ensemble, with whom Richard B has been working regularly since 1990, for the Fonema Consort and for Soundinitiative. ]

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                  • Lordgeous
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2012
                    • 835

                    #39
                    Originally posted by edashtav View Post

                    Brian Ferneyhough [New Complexity] and our own RichardB [ Richard born Swansea, 1959, is internationally active as composer and performer, teaches at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague and is Professor of Creative Music Research at the University of Leiden. His work encompasses a range from free improvisation to intricately-notated scores, and from acoustic chamber music to innovative uses of digital technology. Current projects include a major new cycle of works for the ELISION Ensemble, with whom Richard B has been working regularly since 1990, for the Fonema Consort and for Soundinitiative. ]
                    I knew Brian Ferneyhough when we were both young music student composers. Beautifully calligrapied (?) scores but I didn't understand the music then and, regretfully, still don't!

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                    • edashtav
                      Full Member
                      • Jul 2012
                      • 3672

                      #40
                      Originally posted by Lordgeous View Post

                      I knew Brian Ferneyhough when we were both young music student composers. Beautifully calligrapied (?) scores but I didn't understand the music then and, regretfully, still don't!
                      What a shame that you've not got to grips with Brian's works. Not that the Proms have helped- I remember only one early piece programmed in a Concert mainly centered on Harry Birtwistle.

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                      • Lordgeous
                        Full Member
                        • Dec 2012
                        • 835

                        #41
                        Originally posted by edashtav View Post

                        What a shame that you've not got to grips with Brian's works. Not that the Proms have helped- I remember only one early piece programmed in a Concert mainly centered on Harry Birtwistle.
                        I knew HB too - was at the premiere of 'Punch and Judy' - but again have really never warmed to his language. My loss, I'm sure. I'll creep back under my rock!

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                        • edashtav
                          Full Member
                          • Jul 2012
                          • 3672

                          #42
                          Originally posted by Lordgeous View Post

                          I knew HB too - was at the premiere of 'Punch and Judy' - but again have really never warmed to his language. My loss, I'm sure. I'll creep back under my rock!
                          Whilst I am an HB enthusiast, I took a by pass around Punch and Judy

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                          • bluestateprommer
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 3021

                            #43
                            Originally posted by Lordgeous View Post
                            I'm not sure about 'easy listening' - I thought it stunning, enjoyable, memorable and, dare I say it, the only piece among new 'works' this year that I would go out of my way to hear again. Brilliantly performed too.
                            This is actually what I did here, to give IK's work a 2nd hearing before posting on this Prom. On a first hearing, the work reminded me fleetingly of, curiously enough, Rodion Shchedrin's Concerto for Orchestra No. 1, in its mood changes and percussion-heavy elements. However, Ivan K.'s work rather lacks the snark of Shchedrin's opus, IMHO. I thought that the quieter, slower middle portion of IK's composition worked best, while the finale seemed a bit over the top with material that might actually have fit the Derrick Skye work, as Ed alluded to. However, points to Ivan K. for the restrained ending.

                            Felix K.'s reading of Mozart HC # 4 was a solid reading, perhaps a bit prim and proper, but it's obviously amazing what he's accomplishing as a musician and horn player. His introduction to the encore also showed him a charmer as a speaker, some icing on the cake after he clearly had already won over the Proms audience. Kirill K.'s reading of Rachmaninov 2 was likewise solid, with the odd phrasing nudge here and there, but no worries on that account.

                            I am wondering: given that the Bournemouth SO generally gets a Prom every other year, if this pattern holds, then they won't be back at the RAH until 2025. Karabits steps down as chief conductor next summer. So perhaps this Prom and the "Relaxed" Prom the next morning were Kirill K.'s last Proms as chief conductor in Bournemouth?

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