Prom 36: 'A Space Odyssey' (Ligeti / R. Strauss), LPO, 11 August 2023

[bluestateprommer]

Friday 11 August 2023
19:30
Royal Albert Hall

Ligeti: Requiem

interval

Ligeti: Lux aeterna
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30

Jennifer France, soprano
Clare Presland, mezzo-soprano (Proms debut artist)

Edvard Grieg Kor (Proms debut ensemble)
Royal Northern College of Music Chamber Choir (Proms debut ensemble)
London Philharmonic Choir

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ep6wxj

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-2023/prom-36-a-space-odyssey/

[french frank]

Friday 11th August, at 19.30:

"Gyorgy Ligeti was one of the boldest voices of the 20th century – a composer whose radical vision brought wit as well as invention to the world of contemporary classical music. Tonight, we hear two of his most famous works – the dramatic Requiem paired with the shimmering Lux aeterna, both of which featured in Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Also featured in the film was Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, with the iconic brass opening that calls to mind the image of the sun rising over the Earth and Moon." [RAH website]

[Serial_Apologist]

For anyone not familiar with Ligeti's Requiem, this may surprise, departing as its terrifying, violently agitated central section, the Dies Irae does from the generally gradual shifting densities, typical of most of his work of that period, as represented in the outer sections.

So, watch out, Atmosphères fans - you have been warned!

[smittims]

I wonder if anyone else has responded to the famous opening of Also Sprach... as I have. The major to minor clash, considered daring at the time, and soon copied by Mahler in his Sixth, though Strauss would have known it from the finale of Brahms' Third, sounds banal, even crass, when reversed (minor-major) a few bars later, though at least he doesn't make the mistake of bringing it back at the climax of the work.

In my youth I was a big Strauss fan and didn't see why some commentators looked down on him, but we all have our limits. He himself said he was a 'first-rate second-class composer'.

[ucanseetheend]

1. perfect example how you are short changed in many concerts .70 minutes .. I'll Stick to streaming and recordings . Oh and this new site is awful .Cannot attach files but lots of places to add url links .

[silvestrione]

Well, I no longer listen to Strauss, except on occasions like this, and I thought the second half of the concert terrific (have not heard the first half yet). That opening is glorious, surely? Young man's music perhaps...Gardner still young enough to bring out the best of it..

[Simon B]

Second time in a week the LPO delivered orchestral playing of a distinction unmatched so far by any other ensemble at this year's Proms - to my ears at any rate.

The end of ASZ never sounds quite right to me without a segue into the opening of Don Juan. Blame the Karajan/BPO CD for that...

The Ligeti was a compelling aural experience, though rather predictably a trial-by-audience on account of much of the music being so quiet, unlike the usual fraction of a curiously jam-packed house. Quite why it is necessary to spend most of the considerable duration of Ligeti's Requiem unzipping, ferreting around in, and then re-zipping your handbag is a question that shall remain, like so many, forever unanswered.

The "perfectly" timed mobile phone going off the instant the would-be silence beyond the end of Lux Aeterna commenced was grimly amusing in a "deity on the blower with some points they'd like to make" sort of way.

[Sir Velo]

The "perfectly" timed mobile phone going off the instant the would-be silence beyond the end of Lux Aeterna commenced was grimly amusing in a "deity on the blower with some points they'd like to make" sort of way.

One wonders whether these narcissists ever notice instances of solipsistic behaviour on the part of others or, if so, is it of the order of "there was this wretched man waving his arms at me all the time I was trying to eat my popcorn" or " for the first time all evening that ghastly racket had stopped so I thought I would take the opportunity of a quick call when I could finally hear myself speak"?

[LeWoiDeWeigate]

The "perfectly" timed mobile phone going off the instant the would-be silence beyond the end of Lux Aeterna commenced was grimly amusing in a "deity on the blower with some points they'd like to make" sort of way.

The two Ligeti pieces were beyond stunning - the Lux aeterna from the gallery particularly special save the Mssr Ricard de Tete who let their alarm go off... What I noticed last night was the number of (how can I put it kindly) 'visitors' in the audience, specifically the privately-owned boxes who looked rather perplexed at the goings-on. I can't help but wonder whether some enterprising hotel concierges are selling weekend tickets to 'The Proms' to an unsuspecting group of tourists who think they're in for the whole flag and tunes nonsense and end up with 30 minutes of some of the most difficult choral music ever written...

To the concert. Yes, this was an utterly superb performance last night - ASZ has in the past passed me by but I felt new depths and complexity to it last night and the hand of Wagner and Mahler has never been so obvious to me before. Ligeti is a particular favourite of mine anyway - it is worth grabbing a copy of the score for the Kyrie just to see what the choir were dealing with (Scribd is, as always, your friend) and they certainly pulled it off - which coincidently is what I'd like to do various body parts of anyone who doesn't turn their phone off next time I'm in the Big Top...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Second time in a week the LPO delivered orchestral playing of a distinction unmatched so far by any other ensemble at this year's Proms - to my ears at any rate.

The end of ASZ never sounds quite right to me without a segue into the opening of Don Juan. Blame the Karajan/BPO CD for that...

The Ligeti was a compelling aural experience, though rather predictably a trial-by-audience on account of much of the music being so quiet, unlike the usual fraction of a curiously jam-packed house. Quite why it is necessary to spend most of the considerable duration of Ligeti's Requiem unzipping, ferreting around in, and then re-zipping your handbag is a question that shall remain, like so many, forever unanswered.

The "perfectly" timed mobile phone going off the instant the would-be silence beyond the end of Lux Aeterna commenced was grimly amusing in a "deity on the blower with some points they'd like to make" sort of way.

Good to hear that it was jam-packed. I think if you put 2001 / Kubrick in the billing that makes a difference. In the hall you would have missed a quite superb interval feature with Matthew Sweet on the Ligeti / Kubrick saga. That man’s knowledge of arcane movie stuff never ceases to amaze me.

[Kingfisher]

The LPO is in a golden age . We should cherish it while we can.

[Pulcinella]

The LPO is in a golden age . We should cherish it while we can.

Are you our former Martin Pecheur, from Cornwall then Shropshire?
If so, welcome back; if not then welcome aboard!

[Alison]

Entirely agree about the orchestral playing, all departments, and Ed Gardner has continued Jurowski’s penchant for interesting programming.

His appointment, having seemed low key at first, is proving well justified. I wish we could have studio recordings on Chandos but understand that his LPO collaborations will be confined to the in-house label.

[Kingfisher]

Are you our former Martin Pecheur, from Cornwall then Shropshire?
If so, welcome back; if not then welcome aboard!

No - Hertfordshire by way of Notts!

[Pulcinella]

No - Hertfordshire by way of Notts!

Welcome then!

Perhaps I should have checked first: your alter ego still exists (and posted recently).

LeMartinPecheur
Full Member
04-04-07
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