Proms at Perth: Haydn / Tippett / DSCH, Heath Quartet / S. Osborne, Sun. 3 Sept. 2023

[bluestateprommer]

Sunday 3 September 2023
14:00
Perth Concert Hall
Mill Street
Perth
PH1 5HZ

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 (first performance at The Proms)
Tippett: Piano Sonata No. 2 (first performance at The Proms)

interval

Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57

Heath Quartet
Steven Osborne, piano

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/egmcd4

https://www.perththeatreandconcerthall.com/whats-on/proms-at-perth-233202

[bluestateprommer]

More belated catch-up Proms listening, where the lack of traffic on this thread is notable (but then the Proms Chamber Music concerts have historically tended to get low traffic on the Forum in all its various incarnations). In fairness, perhaps, this seemed a somewhat low-key chamber music Prom, though not because of any concerns about the quality of the performances, which were very good all around from the Heath Quartet and Steven Osborne, initially separately in the first half, and then combined after the interval for the DSCH. It may be partly because the running time was so short, with just about an hour's worth of music in total. Even with the very extended interval literary feature, the program was done in 95 minutes. Admittedly, it was necessary to end well on time so as to avoid a possible radio clash with Les Troyens following on pretty much straightaway.

It was also rather curious how Steven Osborne kind of undersold the Tippett piano sonata, even saying something to the effect of, for first-time listeners, "don't look for coherence, because there isn't any". That didn't stop him from giving a very good reading of it, to be sure. As with all the "Proms at..." concerts, this is well worth a listen. It's just a shorter listen than usual. But maybe this is in unintended line with results from a patron survey by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, where one notable audience demand was for shorter concerts:

https://www.rpo.co.uk/news-and-press/813-orchestral-audiences-call-for-modernising-changes-to-draw-more-people-to-the-concert-hall-this-season