Prom 27: López/Rachmaninov/Walton, BBC SO/BBC SC, 4 Aug 2023

[smittims]

Oh dear! I haven't been to a concert for many years, the behaviour of some of the audience being one reason, and this news would certainly postpone any wish to resume.

As for the concert itself, maybe 'you had to be there'. I thought it was good but not outstanding, The Lopez a cheerful crowd-pleaser, the Rachmaninov well-played but without depth , and the Walton rather hectic; I though the chorus were being rushed . I thought the baritone's unaccompained solo too parlando. I hope this isn't going to become a peforming tradition. Does it come from TV drama, Rap, or the pre-bout orations of wrestlers? My keynote here is Dennis Noble who sang it at the premiere , 'sang' being the mot juste here .

[Pulcinella]

Oh dear! I haven't been to a concert for many years, the behaviour of some of the audience being one reason, and this news would certainly postpone any wish to resume.

As for the concert itself, maybe 'you had to be there'. I thought it was good but not outstanding, The Lopez a cheerful crowd-pleaser, the Rachmaninov well-played but without depth , and the Walton rather hectic; I though the chorus were being rushed . I thought the baritone's unaccompained solo too parlando. I hope this isn't going to become a peforming tradition. Does it come from TV drama, Rap, or the pre-bout orations of wrestlers? My keynote here is Dennis Noble who sang it at the premiere , 'sang' being the mot juste here .

Audience (mis)behaviour is certainly a deterrent.
At a recent Opera North performance of Ariadne of Naxos we remonstrated (firmly but gently) with the mother of a 9-year old who had been constantly fidgeting and talking to her mother, and she reported us to the hall steward for threatening and abusive behaviour! The steward was more sympathetic to us, found them other seats, but they left anyway!

I quite enjoyed the Prom, but yes: Hampson was too histrionic for me, and parts of BF were a bit rushed, but it was good to hear the organ in its full glory at the end.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Oh dear! I haven't been to a concert for many years, the behaviour of some of the audience being one reason, and this news would certainly postpone any wish to resume.

As for the concert itself, maybe 'you had to be there'. I thought it was good but not outstanding, The Lopez a cheerful crowd-pleaser, the Rachmaninov well-played but without depth , and the Walton rather hectic; I though the chorus were being rushed . I thought the baritone's unaccompained solo too parlando. I hope this isn't going to become a peforming tradition. Does it come from TV drama, Rap, or the pre-bout orations of wrestlers? My keynote here is Dennis Noble who sang it at the premiere , 'sang' being the mot juste here .

Yes why was it so parlando ? The solo is marked ad lib quasi recit. But all the words have a note value so should be pitched . I wonder why parts appeared to be spoken loudly.*

Incidentally I hope one of Simon B’s irritating topers in the audience passed a pint to the first trumpet . I’ve never heard that bit at the end played so fast.

* I listened back . As they say “recollections may vary.” In fact TH pretty much hits every note.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Side stalls as usual. I'm probably at the intolerant, some would say curmudgeonly end of the spectrum though so your mileage may vary as they say.

It is now a blanket thing that you can take beer, wine etc in with you. Makes me want to scream personally but there we go. The stench of ethanol all around, arm up arm down arm up arm down arm up arm down and on and on and on and on and on and on. Slurp it, spill it, chuck a glass of red over your nice and probably expensive white coat as the lady next to me at Shostakovich 5 did. It's enough to make me want to hit the booze...

Sorry to hear this but I’m not surprised. My wife was wondering whether they were singing along as well as that’s the other new trend. Our local cinema has an IMAX screen where scents are released during the screening . Presumably having red wine smells drifting around the Albert hall helps recreate that “authentic Belshazzar’s Feast feel.”
Seriously it’s really off -putting and the halls and opera houses only do it to make money. Last Arena Prom I went to one lad came in with four plastic pints of lager spilling on the floor. It was just like Twickenham - it’s impossible to carry those without spilling. Only eclipsed by the ENO audience member I saw ordering 2 x 250cls of red pre first act and another 2x 250 for the interval.

[smittims]

It's funny because, in the past, I've found Hampson rather bland and detached. Perhaps he was over-compensating.

[richardfinegold]

I wasn’t expecting to like Yuja Wang’s Rhapsody hugely as they played her Chopin Bflat minor Sonata last night and I disliked her excessive staccato and weird left hand accents in the opening so much I switched off.
But she played the Rhapsody absolutely beautifully. Not milking the famous D Flat variation - a real model of how to do it. The virtuosity was always in service of the music. The only thing I did notice was the slight tendency for the above the stave to be a bit tinkly - almost as if the notes are being underhit. Maybe it’s just the way she has the piano voiced . But I’m just nit -picking. Her octaves are more muscular than most - I mean really extraordinary. And the accuracy in the “crème-de-menthe skips “ - remarkable. This was the second lovely Proms Rach piano performance after Stephen Hough’s wonderful first piano concerto . And the prospect of an outstanding Rach 2 later in the week. What a feast.
Hardly one ever plays the encore - the Polka de W.R. - lovely to hear it so beautifully played.,

Are you sure that playback system is adequately capturing the high treble? ThePiano is one of hardest instruments to reproduce accurately, particularly in the last two octaves

[Ein Heldenleben]

Are you sure that playback system is adequately capturing the high treble? ThePiano is one of hardest instruments to reproduce accurately, particularly in the last two octaves

Pretty sure because other pianists in the same hall e.g. Ben Grosvenor , possibly even the same Steinway and on the same sound system sounded less feathery and tinkly in that register . Either she has the treble voiced to sound feathery light or she chooses not to hit the keys that hard. I noticed the same tinkly sound on her Liszt Concerto last year. It’s all personal taste - some might prefer it.
If you contrast her Tea For Two with the original Tatum played on an inferior piano his right hand sounds so much more struck and sounded. . And as for the left hand - there’s just no comparison. It helps that he doesn’t need to spread the left hand tenths and also as he improvised the piece it suits his (almost unparalleled) technical strengths. To put it at its most basic he just hits the keys harder and that helps generate the phenomenal swing.
That said she played beautifully last night.

[symphony1010]

My overwhelming impression of this concert was how rushed much of it felt. Yes, Yuja is phenomenal but I have rarely been moved by her playing. Then compare this Belshazzar with Previn back in '82. Pacing, commitment - yes, but it all seemed rushed for my taste and rather bland. Judge for yourselves - I've put 1982 online here. Notice too the quality of BBC engineering then and now. Finally, in Previn we hear a mature conductor thoroughly entrenched in Walton's style. A completely different piece of music in these hands and the booze stayed in the bar!

https://youtu.be/F7kLoEGb8SA?t=2602

[smittims]

You said it for me there, symphony1010. I agree fully.

[Sir Velo]

Having listened to this yesterday, the overriding feeling was that neither soloist nor chorus could suspend their disbelief in the text of the OT. The words "Mene Tekel Upharsin" which should convey an almost overwhelming sense of foreboding instead had all the menace of a greengrocer announcing the weight of vegetables placed on the scales.

[Bryn]

I have not listened to the whole concert yet. I caught a few minutes of the Walton and was sufficiently unimpressed to not bother activating the BBC Sounds offering. Given the comments regarding Ligeti and the Barry work, I might leave listening until a week tomorrow's Afternoon Concert, when a Ligeti Etude or so, played by Yuja Wang, will be included in the broadcast.

Oops. I got my Walton Proms mixed up.

[Pulcinella]

Having listened to this yesterday, the overriding feeling was that neither soloist nor chorus could suspend their disbelief in the text of the OT. The words "Mene Tekel Upharsin" which should convey an almost overwhelming sense of foreboding instead had all the menace of a greengrocer announcing the weight of vegetables placed on the scales.

I thought Hampson was particularly 'off-message' throughout. Odd, as he's recorded the work with Rattle.

[duncan]

Pacing, commitment - yes, as ever the choir not always perfectly in tune but much better than BBC Chorus in this Prom.

The current BBC Chorus sang well and might have sung better if they had had advanced warning of the performance speeds which were considerably slower during rehearsal!

[edashtav]

The current BBC Chorus sang well and might have sung better if they had had advanced warning of the performance speeds which were considerably slower during rehearsal!

A useful, penetrative insight.

[Simon Biazeck]

The current BBC Chorus sang well and might have sung better if they had had advanced warning of the performance speeds which were considerably slower during rehearsal!

Gosh! Were you there during the rehearsal?