Prom 4: MacMillan/Mahler, Hallé/Hallé Choir & Youth Choir & Children’s Choir, Elder

[JC]

I caught only the Mahler 5 and was mightily impressed with the playing of the Halle especially in the Scherzo, the RAH is absolutely perfect for this piece. For me up there with the great Abado/Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Proms performance as the best I've heard from the Proms.

But what about Berstein and the VPO in 1987 (and yes I was there).

[Ein Heldenleben]

But what about Berstein and the VPO in 1987 (and yes I was there).

No it wasn’t as good as that - that had everything including just about the best first trumpet I’ve ever heard.

[smittims]

That opening trumpet call is one of the most arresting openings to a work: I always think of it as announcing the Twentieth Century, with all that that implies. Yet it's actually a quotiation from Mendelssohn: no, not the Wedding March (!), but the Song Without Words in E minor, op. 62 no.3.

[Master Jacques]

Listening to this highly respectable but oddly uneventful Mahler 5th this afternoon, I find myself wishing that The Elder was giving us a corking Rubbra 5th instead. Much more his thing. And it seems to my jaundiced mind that there's more music in it - at about half the length!

[cloughie]

It seemed very carefully prepared this performance - so many subtleties in the orchestral textures . The Hallé have set a standard in this major symphonic work that the rest of the season might well not surpass and there are some illustrious names coming up. It wasn’t about orchestral sheen or superficial virtuosity but something a lot deeper than that - esp the strings.

Very well described Held. Also I felt that the Adagietto was spot on - neither rushed nor too slow.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Very well described Held. Also I felt that the Adagietto was spot on - neither rushed nor too slow.

Thank you Cloughie . Yes the Adagietto was a good example. So tempting to milk it for all it’s worth but much more effective if you follow a middle path . Just listened to the finale on R3 - a beautifully transparent sound balance.

[Ein Heldenleben]

That opening trumpet call is one of the most arresting openings to a work: I always think of it as announcing the Twentieth Century, with all that that implies. Yet it's actually a quotiation from Mendelssohn: no, not the Wedding March (!), but the Song Without Words in E minor, op. 62 no.3.

That’s funny I always think it’s the Last Trump and Death !

just looked up the Mendelssohn and it’s subtitled Trauermarsch which fits the death feel. Have to say apart from the opening triplets (4 notes) I don’t see a parallel quote.

[Petrushka]

That opening trumpet call is one of the most arresting openings to a work: I always think of it as announcing the Twentieth Century, with all that that implies. Yet it's actually a quotiation from Mendelssohn: no, not the Wedding March (!), but the Song Without Words in E minor, op. 62 no.3.

That opening always reminds me of the Wedding March and the Haydn Military Symphony.

[Brixton Dave]

I was at the concert, but watching the MacMillan just now on the iPlayer was a revelation. I thought it was well produced - and they didn't have the usual large array of cameras in the hall. I am going deaf and starting to use hearing aids - the iPlayer subtitles were helpful.
May try the Mahler later - the concert was actually packed out - but generally the audience was concentrating and well-behaved, unlike this concert in Sweden https://webcache.googleusercontent.c...attack-ensued/

[oddoneout]

I was at the concert, but watching the MacMillan just now on the iPlayer was a revelation. I thought it was well produced - and they didn't have the usual large array of cameras in the hall. I am going deaf and starting to use hearing aids - the iPlayer subtitles were helpful.
May try the Mahler later - the concert was actually packed out - but generally the audience was concentrating and well-behaved, unlike this concert in Sweden https://webcache.googleusercontent.c...attack-ensued/

I managed to catch the MacMillan in full on the Tuesday afternoon Proms repeat, having missed half of it on the live broadcast. What I found interesting was that although I didn't have the text, and only a few snippets of info regarding the work it didn't matter - the music itself was enough - but good to see that the technology served you well.
As has been remarked in other posts the scale of the work may prove an issue for those wanting to perform it in future, but even in these benighted times there are places where there is still a combination of orchestral and choral forces that could be mustered to provide a really good community performance(in the sense of working together, not a tickbox Arts Council grant funded "experience"). Birmingham was my first thought, but even in my rural backwater, the nearby city has good orchestral and choral resources(of all ages) if the wish to perform it was sufficient to sort out the logistics.

[silvestrione]

Listening to this highly respectable but oddly uneventful Mahler 5th this afternoon, I find myself wishing that The Elder was giving us a corking Rubbra 5th instead. Much more his thing. And it seems to my jaundiced mind that there's more music in it - at about half the length!

Ah, if only someone like Mark Elder would restore the Rubbra to the repertoire!
But - I'm not with you on the Mahler: it's on another level, for me, so much richness and inventiveness, bar by bar. And Elder and his players brought this out.

[Master Jacques]

Ah, if only someone like Mark Elder would restore the Rubbra to the repertoire!
But - I'm not with you on the Mahler: it's on another level, for me, so much richness and inventiveness, bar by bar. And Elder and his players brought this out.

I'm very glad we agree about the Rubbra: a major symphonist whose music has "nothing of the circus about it", and is none the worse for that. It's too good not to be rediscovered, though most of us probably won't be around to see it.

As for the Mahler ... I apologise for breaking my general rule, of trying to shut up about music which I don't particularly like. In this case my feeling is something (but not everything) to do with the fact that so many other supreme symphonists don't get a hearing, squeezed out by the Proms' annual Mahler-fest - but that's the 'jaundiced' thought I acknowledged, so I'll keep quiet now!

[jonfan]

I have just listened to the Mahler and think it was superb.

Couldn’t agree more. Watching on TV Sir Mark looked quite frail in interview, but as soon as the music started he was a young man again but with the experience that comes with age. The orchestra responded to the slightest look and gesture, every player intent on making this symphony something special. Sir Mark’s pacing leading to the final triumphant chorale was masterly. A Mahler 5 up there with the best,

[kernelbogey]

Couldn’t agree more. Watching on TV Sir Mark looked quite frail in interview...

I couldn't bear to watch the whole interview but my totally subjective impression was that he didn't like his interviewer. (Can't imagine why.)

[kernelbogey]

I chose to watch & listen to the tv Mahler in chunks - just finished - and agree with those who've praised the performance: especially the Laendler and the finale. I don't have comparisons at my fingertips, but I loved it. What musicians! I get what EH has said about preparation.

Btw I have never seen clarinets and oboe held aloft (like horns) before.