Prom 14: Tüür / Beethoven / Bruckner, BBC SO, Y. Lim / P. Järvi

[bluestateprommer]

Monday 29 July 2024
19:30
Royal Albert Hall

Erkki-Sven Tüür: Aditus (first performance at The Proms)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (‘Emperor’), op. 73
[Encore: J. S. Bach (arr. Wilhelm Kempff): Flute Sonata No. 2, BWV 1031 - Siciliano]

Interval

Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1877 Linz version, ed. Leopold Nowak; second performance at The Proms, first performance of Nowak version at The Proms)

Yunchan Lim, piano (Proms debut artist)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Paavo Järvi, conductor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/exc2rz

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-24/prom-14/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021b7h

[kernelbogey]

Yunchan Lim:
Rather starry-eyed Guardian piece on him today.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/17/yunchan-lim-van-cliburn-korean-pianist-proms-muffins

[teamsaint]

A bit of token Tuur in this one. Shame they couldn't stretch to something more substantial, but hey,folks don't buy tickets for that sort of thing.

[smittims]

I must admit the Tuur will be the only item I'll be listening to here. If I want to hear the other works I'd prefer other performers. It must be hard for today's musicians to compete with digitally-remastered 'classic' recordings

[bluestateprommer]

For the most part, a high-energy opening with the E-ST Aditus, with a quiet ending that I wasn't expecting. It sounded a tad less 'abrasive' than other ES-T works that I've heard on record.

Interesting to feature Igor Yuzefovich talk about Yunchan Lim, although maybe not such a surprise, since Yunchan Lim apparently isn't all that keen on giving interviews:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/yunchan-lim-interview-i-decided-that-i-will-give-up-everything-for-music

PS: Generally very straight-up reading of LvB 5 from Yunchan Lim, with a few indulgent stretched-out moments in the finale, but he earned the right :) . But overall, those few moments aside, a pretty fresh and no-fuss reading. Excellent choice of the JSB / Kempff encore (about to be archived above).

Will be interesting to hear from anyone who was in the RAH tonight. My guess is that the quotient of Korean-Britons in the hall was considerably higher than usual, in terms of concertgoer demographics.

[jonfan]

A great Emperor Concerto full of fun and virtuosity at the service of the music. Wonderful rapport with the orchestra as TS observed.

[Darkbloom]

For the most part, a high-energy opening with the E-ST Aditus, with a quiet ending that I wasn't expecting. It sounded a tad less 'abrasive' than other ES-T works that I've heard on record.

Interesting to feature Igor Yuzefovich talk about Yunchan Lim, although maybe not such a surprise, since Yunchan Lim apparently isn't all that keen on giving interviews:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/yunchan-lim-interview-i-decided-that-i-will-give-up-everything-for-music

PS: Generally very straight-up reading of LvB 5 from Yunchan Lim, with a few indulgent stretched-out moments in the finale, but he earned the right :) . But overall, those few moments aside, a pretty fresh and no-fuss reading. Excellent choice of the JSB / Kempff encore (about to be archived above).

Will be interesting to hear from anyone who was in the RAH tonight. My guess is that the quotient of Korean-Britons in the hall was considerably higher than usual, in terms of concertgoer demographics.

You are correct about the Korean quotient. Credit to them for making the arduous trek from New Malden.

Frankly I found it a bit dull. Nothing to get excited about at all. I've already forgotten it. I didn't feel that much rapport with the conductor, who was strait-laced and foursquare throughout. Lim's platform manner would be best described as 'reticent'. I've never seen someone who wanted to be on stage less. He couldn't wait to scurry off. Not quite sure what separates him from any number of gifted pianists, but this is the first time I've heard him so perhaps I didn't hear his best.

[bluestateprommer]

Very fine Bruckner 1 from Paavo J. and the BBC SO, which may not be much of an evaluation given that I'm not a Brucknerian at all, despite several decades of trying. Paavo J. did seem to take a very "non-cathedral"-y approach, per the standard verbal excesses of Tom Service's commentary. (The latter made it refreshing to hear Katy Hamilton in the interval discussion. KH is more than welcome to be a Proms presenter on R3, at least in my book.)

[Darkbloom]

I thought the Bruckner was very good. The first two (of the 9, I know there are others) are much lighter and more Schubertian than Wagnerian, at least to me. As so often, the conductor woke up for this and was engaged throughout, in contrast to his laborious accompanying of the concerto. I know the concerto- symphony combo is a hallowed tradition but I've heard so many one-sided performances I'd quite like to hear the concerto after the interval for once.

The concerto was very warmly received but, frankly, when an artist has been hyped so much, as long as he doesn't fall off his stool or break a tooth on the keyboard, it's always rapturously received anyway. Glenn Gould had a point when he criticised these occasions, which often feel more like showbiz than music.

[edashtav]

Tuur's Aditus was literally an opener. A brassy chromatic theme lengthened on repetition. Having flowered and opened the Concert , Tuur's bang on a can opener died quietly to make way for the rest of the programme.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Emperor Concerto which started with a pert, fresh introduction from a rhythmic, expectant BBC SO. The soloist, Yunchan Lim, was a new name to me but he displayed a wonderful touch and spun beautiful lines. Capable of power when needed, his volume dropped in tender passages to a whisper and I did wonder whether it sounded better on radio than in the Hall?

The Bach Siciliano encore was delicious but I bet the Orchestra's flutes were itching to join In.
My appetite for hearing this young pianist in Chopin has been shapened.

I know and love the Bruckner Symphony No. 1 conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
on an Olympia CD which I bought for a song many decades ago. It must be a classic disc for I've seen a second hand copy offered on Amazon for over £100!

The BBC SO and Järvi gave the work an appropriately Schubertian lilt.

[Petrushka]

I thought the Bruckner was very good. The first two (of the 9, I know there are others) are much lighter and more Schubertian than Wagnerian, at least to me. As so often, the conductor woke up for this and was engaged throughout, in contrast to his laborious accompanying of the concerto. I know the concerto- symphony combo is a hallowed tradition but I've heard so many one-sided performances I'd quite like to hear the concerto after the interval for once.

The concerto was very warmly received but, frankly, when an artist has been hyped so much, as long as he doesn't fall off his stool or break a tooth on the keyboard, it's always rapturously received anyway. Glenn Gould had a point when he criticised these occasions, which often feel more like showbiz than music.

The pianist, of whom I'd previously not heard, was fine in the Beethoven but the orchestra was set a little too far behind the piano (at least over the radio) unless they were thinned down which might explain the sense of disengagement that was apparent.

The scherzo of the Bruckner 1 is one of my favourite from him but it's not the AB Symphony I reach for all that often, to be honest.

[Darkbloom]

The pianist, of whom I'd previously not heard, was fine in the Beethoven but the orchestra was set a little too far behind the piano (at least over the radio) unless they were thinned down which might explain the sense of disengagement that was apparent.

The scherzo of the Bruckner 1 is one of my favourite from him but it's not the AB Symphony I reach for all that often, to be honest.

I got the sense Jarvi was going through the motions a bit in the first half. There was a wry smile on his face at times, in contrast to the second half when he seemed more natural, although I don't think he's a particularly emotive performer, a bit Haitink-esque. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

I've become a bit jaded with some of the more standard Beethoven pieces recently, which maybe affects the way I hear them, so unless it's really something out of the box my attention wanders. I was one of the few there who went for the Bruckner. A lot of empty seats in the second half.

I think the orchestra was smaller for the concerto, I didn't notice any physical distance, in fact they seemed a bit closer than they normally are, with Jarvi right by Lim's elbow.

[smittims]

I couldn't remember if I'd heard 'Aditus' before, though I know some of Erkki-Sven Tuur's msuic. I was delighted by it: a breezy, life-affirming piece which knocks spots off anything the BBC Darlings could write, though to be fair I'll listen to their latest offerings as they turn up in the coming weeks.

I wonder if orchestral players enjoy this type of music; I hope they do. I did read that in the 1950s and '60s members of the Cologne Radio Orchestra became depressed after so many concerts of what was then avant-garde music. Maybe today's younger players are more used to what an old BBC-board regular used to call 'squeaky-gate ' music.

[silvestrione]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Emperor Concerto which started with a pert, fresh introduction from a rhythmic, expectant BBC SO. The soloist, Yunchan Lim, was a new name to me but he displayed a wonderful touch and spun beautiful lines. Capable of power when needed, his volume dropped in tender passages to a whisper and I did wonder whether it sounded better on radio than in the Hall?

The Bach Siciliano encore was delicious but I bet the Orchestra's flutes were itching to join In.
My appetite for hearing this young pianist in Chopin has been shapened.

This was certainly my response listening at home. I thought the opening orchestral intro very lively and fresh. The whole huge first movement really well shaped, by the combined forces.

[edashtav]

This was certainly my response listening at home. I thought the opening orchestral intro very lively and fresh. The whole huge first movement really well shaped, by the combined forces.

I'm glad you've written that, silvestrione, I felt in a minority surrounded by many dashed expectations.