Prom 35: Berg/Mahler, BBC SO, Josefowicz/A. Davis, 10 Aug 2023

[bluestateprommer]

Thursday 10 August 2023
19:30
Royal Albert Hall

Berg: Violin Concerto
[Encore: J. S. Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C for solo violin, BWV 1005 - III. Largo]

interval

Mahler: Symphony No. 7 in e

Leila Josefowicz, violin
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/en32rz

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-2023/prom-33-rachmaninov-mahler-werfel-and-pejacevic/

[french frank]

Thursday 10th August, 19.30:

"Grief and loss haunt an emotionally charged programme from Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra pairing two 20th-century masterpieces, each premiered after their composers’ deaths.

"Berg’s Violin Concerto weaves quotations from Bach into music contrasting expressive Romanticism with cooler serial techniques. American-Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz is the soloist. Heard here in Deryck Cooke’s performing version, Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 is another deeply personal work, charged with anguished love for an unfaithful wife (see Prom 33), and written on the brink of the composer’s own final illness."

[Gargoyle]

AD unwell Oramo steps in, but M7 replaces 10. Gutted, was really looking forward to this.

Box Office offered full refund incl. booking fee, but I shall go along anyway.

[smittims]

That is a disappointment . I too was eagerly awaiting Sir Andrew's Mahler 10. Heigh-ho... it could be worse. I hope Sir Andrew is not seriously ill and look forward to hearing him again.

[Petrushka]

AD unwell Oramo steps in, but M7 replaces 10..

So the BBCSO can just throw together Mahler 7 at three days notice during a busy Prom season? I know they performed it in 2019 but half the orchestra must have changed since then.

[Ein Heldenleben]

So the BBCSO can just throw together Mahler 7 at three days notice during a busy Prom season? I know they performed it in 2019 but half the orchestra must have changed since then.

You’re right that’s some ask. Wouldn’t it be easier for the conductor to learn Mahler 10?

[Petrushka]

You’re right that’s some ask. Wouldn’t it be easier for the conductor to learn Mahler 10?

Depends how well he knows it already but surely not from scratch in three days? These are still difficult scores and you can't just busk it! It all sounds a bit insane to me but then I'm not a musician so probably know nothing.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Depends how well he knows it already but surely not from scratch in three days? These are still difficult scores and you can't just busk it! It all sounds a bit insane to me but then I'm not a musician so probably know nothing.

He did Mahler 10 in 2010 and 2011 with the CBSO but perhaps it just takes longer to prepare than Mahler 7. It presumably requires very detailed preparation when working with an orchestra who haven’t played it recently. Mind you the same thing might be true of Mahler 7. Whatever combination it does sound very daunting for all involved.
I remember reading that David Owen Norris not expecting to get to the final of a Piano Competition didn’t prepare a second concerto. He then had four days to “work up “ another . His choice : Brahms 1 ! Presumably without a score for the performance. He didn’t win..

[Gargoyle]

So the BBCSO can just throw together Mahler 7 at three days notice during a busy Prom season? I know they performed it in 2019 but half the orchestra must have changed since then.

I'll find out whether they can just 'throw it together' on Thursday

[Petrushka]

I'll find out whether they can just 'throw it together' on Thursday

I'll be listening!

[Simon B]

So the BBCSO can just throw together Mahler 7 at three days notice during a busy Prom season? I know they performed it in 2019 but half the orchestra must have changed since then.

It's entirely possible that they'll have exactly the same amount of rehearsal time on it as would have been the case with Mahler 10 - which unlike the 7th none of the orchestra may have played in years. They will have had to fix a much bigger percussion section + lots of cowbells etc and extra players elsewhere at fairly short notice but in London that shouldn't be a problem.

Like most of the major London orchestras (and perhaps to an even greater degree because of their niche) the BBCSO can pretty much sight-read fiendishly difficult contemporary scores so Mahler 7 should be a doddle at a technical level.


Maybe it's just coincidence but unfortunately AD has cancelled every one of several concerts I had tickets for over the last year or so since last seeing him conduct Gerontius in Edinburgh last August. I hope he is OK and wish him well.

[CallMePaul]

You’re right that’s some ask. Wouldn’t it be easier for the conductor to learn Mahler 10?

How easy would it have been for the BBCSO to find a conductor able to conduct Mahler/Cooke 10 when Sir Andrew's withdrawal was known? How much rehearsal time would such a conductor have had?

[Alison]

My tastebuds were already in alignment for M10 so perhaps need to listen to a recording to get this disappointment out of my system. The old Bournemouth Rattle version is on the radar.

Best wishes to Gargoyle for Thursday.

[Gargoyle]

My tastebuds were already in alignment for M10 so perhaps need to listen to a recording to get this disappointment out of my system. The old Bournemouth Rattle version is on the radar.

Best wishes to Gargoyle for Thursday.

Thank you!

I too have been consoling myself with some M10s - Sanderling BSO, Dausgaard Seattle & Ormandy Philadelphia (it's been a long evening!).

[smittims]

Apart from the Ormandy I've enjoyed Rattle/Berlin and a Mark Wigglesworth live broadcast released on a BBC Music Magazine disc .