Prom 39: Ligeti / Bartók / Beethoven, Budapest Festival Orch., Sun. 13 Aug. 2023

[silvestrione]

I thought the Eroica was terrific especially the first movement with tremendous drive through the closing bars, so exciting.

No repeat though? I am so used to it now in modern performances that I was quite startled when it did not happpen

[richardfinegold]

I was there with friends on Sunday. One of our party had not heard the Bartok before and was a bit apprehensive beforehand as she had not always liked the Bartok pieces she had heard. However, she was very taken with the Piano Concerto and thought it was wonderful.

The Third PC can be a nice ‘gateway’into Bartok. My first was MFSP&C, which blew me away as a 17 year old. My school library had the Boulez/Barenboim lp PC 1/3, and I remember the 3rd completely enchanting me, especially the bird call music in the slow movement. The First PC was a tougher nut to crack, and had it, or Duke Bluebeard been my first exposure to Bartok, it may have put off further exploration (although I eventually grew to really like both works)

[Sir Velo]

It's funny how we all respond differently to music at different ages. For me, in my teens/early 20s it was the "barbaric" works that particularly appealed to me such as PC 1 and 2, Mandarin, the Sonata, while PC3 was too wistful and elegiac, and for a long time, one I struggled to come to grips with.