Prom 31: Brahms / Schubert, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Mutter / Barenboim

[Ein Heldenleben]

I wish I'd gone too, but I've been bitten too often when the advertised conductor fails to show both at the Proms and elsewhere. Jansons and Tennstedt especially but also Chailly and Kirill Petrenko. When you've booked days of work, paid for travel and hotel it's no small matter when this happens. Of course, the reality is that stuff happens, but it's really not worth risking a hefty bill to be disappointed when illness is a known quantity as with Jansons, Tennstedt and Barenboim. I did take a risk with Abbado in 2000 but got Haitink instead so that was luxury substitution.

I should add that I had to cancel a Prom myself after an eye operation in 2012 so stuff does indeed happen.

I suspect DB would have made this concert even if they’d had to stretcher him on. From years of opera going I just greet it with a shrug because some great opera singers seem to regard cancelling as their privilege. But I always now book refundable hotels. What’s really annoying is when they cancel on the day.

Cost of a trip for two to London excluding concert tickets easily £400.

[Retune]

I have tickets for Blomstedt at the RFH in November, and Argerich at the Barbican in February, the latter a year later than she was originally scheduled to play...

[bluestateprommer]

A few more reviews:

(1) Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk:

https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/prom-31-mutter-west-eastern-divan-orchestra-barenboim-review-beauty-against

(2) Michael Church (the one dissenter, it seems), The Independent (at least I gather so):

https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/prom-31-review-anne-sophie-mutter-west-eastern-divan-orchestra-3222620

While some might object to some of MC's verbiage, I see what he means, while still acknowledging the nature of the evening overall. In the Brahms, it seemed to me that A-SM was doing what she could to accommodate Barenboim's spacious tempi, but that when she had a solo without the orchestra, she cut loose more and picked up the pace. But A-SM was most certainly sensitive to Barenboim and to the occasion, and was fully aware of the significance of it all.

Regarding the Schubert, it does seem very fitting to evoke the name of Otto Klemperer for this concert, as so many here and Martin Kettle in The Guardian did. The spaciousness and sound balance did allow strands to come through that I don't recall hearing elsewhere, either on record or even live. Overall, perhaps not interpretations for all time, but still well worth the hearing.

[Retune]

Odd review by Michael Church, and not just his opinion of the Brahms. With only a single sentence devoted to the Schubert, and that spurious claim about Mutter reappearing after it, I genuinely wonder whether he stayed for the second half.

[oddoneout]

Odd review by Michael Church, and not just his opinion of the Brahms. With only a single sentence devoted to the Schubert, and that spurious claim about Mutter reappearing after it, I genuinely wonder whether he stayed for the second half.

And it would have paid him to look up vasculitis, which isn't a "devastating neurological ailment", it's an inflammatory condition of the blood, which may affect the nerves, among other parts of the body. It is a serious condition though in whatever form.
On a more general note I would just say that the issue of not moving much isn't necessarily relevant to a conductor's effectiveness. The orchestra has to watch(and listen) more closely if movement is minimal, and that can make for a better outcome, although obviously there are limits. Expansive gestures on the podium may look good to the audience but aren't always that helpful for the players if it's difficult to discern where the beat is among the arm waving.

[Retune]

Regarding DB's health, it's possible he has more than one condition. In August 2022, he mentioned that he had been diagnosed with vasculitis in the spring of that year. But in October 2022, when he dropped more engagements, he said he had been diagnosed with an unspecified 'serious neurological condition'. Some reports, like this one in the Guardian, conflate these two conditions. 'Vasculitis' is the name given to a group of conditions that cause inflammation of blood vessels. Some of them do have neurological effects (nerves need a blood supply, after all), but it's unclear if Barenboim is talking about one of these, or has an unrelated neurological condition. I don't think anyone has said 'devastating' except Church.

[richardfinegold]

Regarding DB's health, it's possible he has more than one condition. In August 2022, he mentioned that he had been diagnosed with vasculitis in the spring of that year. But in October 2022, when he dropped more engagements, he said he had been diagnosed with an unspecified 'serious neurological condition'. Some reports, like this one in the Guardian, conflate these two conditions. 'Vasculitis' is the name given to a group of conditions that cause inflammation of blood vessels. Some of them do have neurological effects (nerves need a blood supply, after all), but it's unclear if Barenboim is talking about one of these, or has an unrelated neurological condition. I don't think anyone has said 'devastating' except Church.

I am a a now retired Physician but not privy to DBs medical records. Essentially the above is correct. There are different types of masculinities, based on which parts of the bodies vascular is affected the most. The most likely is that DB has some type of small vessel vasculitis. The blood vessels that supply nerves are amongst the smallest in the body. There is also a possibility that the nerves themselves are under attack from the same auto antibodies that are hitting the vascular but this is less likely.
DB’s own understanding of what he has isn’t necessarily correct either; patients frequently have trouble understanding that their symptoms are due to an underlying cause, he isn’t medically trained, and he is in his eighties, after all. We have a friend with a form of vacuities called Wegeners Granulomatosis. It primarily injures the kidneys and the upper respiratory system. She recently had a brainstorm stroke due to small vessel damage in the cerebral circulation and from which she has thankfully largely recovered from, but she cannot seem to understand that the stroke symptoms, so different from her previous issues, are due to the vasculitis.
In the end for DB it’s academic; whatever the nature of the cause of his neurological condition the damage has been done. The goal of treatment is to treat the underlying condition to limit further damage and to maximize his rehabilitation potential.

[Darkbloom]

I knew someone who was being treated for rheumatoid arthritis. It turned out that it was actually vasculitis, which had destroyed one kidney and all but finished the other one.

[Darkbloom]

For me, this was a great Prom that will be long remembered. For those worried about security, it was just the usual bag check they've been doing for years - don't let it put you off. The Hall was as full as I remember seeing it - if there were empty seats, I didn't notice them, and the Arena was very obviously at full capacity. Barenboim looked rather frail hand in hand with the statuesque Mutter, but seemed to have no difficulty reaching and departing the podium without help in the second half. He conducted sitting down with some economy of gesture, rarely raising the baton in one hand but firing off passages precisely with the other, and doing a lot of work with his eyes and expression. He was as fully engaged with the music as ever. The Brahms is not a piece I know well and will explore more after this excellent performance. Mutter's Bach encore was wonderful. But what I'd really come for was the Schubert, an old-school but lively performance that was as good as any I've heard. Some of us in the Choir close to the stage exit rose to our feet spontaneously as he came off, which he seemed to acknowledge. I hope this isn't the last time we see him there.

It was definitely a sold out concert but I saw quite a few empty seats dotted around the hall. The last time I saw the WED they brought their own security and you were only a few feet from one of them glaring at you. I expected it to be the same the other night, if not worse, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Although security is definitely tighter than it used to be with stewards actively scanning the audience during the performance to make sure nothing funny is going on.

Barenboim definitely looked stronger in the second. Maybe they'd given him a shot of something to perk him up in the interval because I was concerned he might fall over to begin with. It was a struggle for him to get up on the podium for the Brahms.

I still don't quite know what to make of that concert. It was one of the odder evenings I've spent in the RAH. I have a sneaking suspicion that DB is someone who is admired rather than loved.

[bluestateprommer]

Some more reviews, of the more "modified rapture" spirit, namely 4 stars out of 5:

(1) Richard Fairman, Financial Times (I somehow lucked out with reading it):

https://www.ft.com/content/67451a7a-9102-4feb-b969-4dbf4899f12f

(2) Alexander Cohen, Broadway World:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Review-BBC-PROMS-PROM-31-ANNE-SOPHIE-MUTTER-PLAYS-BRAHMS-Royal-Albert-Hall-20240813

(3) Ivan Hewett, Telegraph (via a back door route):

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/a-frail-daniel-barenboim-leads-a-miraculous-evening-plus-the-best-of-august-s-classical-concerts/ar-AA1ocZoa

[richardfinegold]

I knew someone who was being treated for rheumatoid arthritis. It turned out that it was actually vasculitis, which had destroyed one kidney and all but finished the other one.

RA can be accompanied by Vasculitis. They are both autoimmune in origin

[smittims]

According to the Radio Times, this Prom will be televised on BBC4, but I've yet to see a date. Does anyone know? I wondered if BBC4 were waiting to see who'd actually conducted before deciding to show it.

[LHC]

According to the Radio Times, this Prom will be televised on BBC4, but I've yet to see a date. Does anyone know? I wondered if BBC4 were waiting to see who'd actually conducted before deciding to show it.

The BBC Proms website lists those proms which are going to be televised. The individual proms have a small listing as "Part of Proms on TV" and there is also a separate page showing all the proms to be shown on TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5T1rsCSPVjQrjPP7LsDPrJN/proms-2024-on-bbc-tv

This Prom isn't listed as being on TV on either page, so either the Proms website is wrong or the Radio Times is. I suspect the Proms' own website is more likely to be correct than the Radio Times, so I don't think this will be on TV any time soon.

[Petrushka]

The BBC Proms website lists those proms which are going to be televised. The individual proms have a small listing as "Part of Proms on TV" and there is also a separate page showing all the proms to be shown on TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5T1rsCSPVjQrjPP7LsDPrJN/proms-2024-on-bbc-tv

This Prom isn't listed as being on TV on either page, so either the Proms website is wrong or the Radio Times is. I suspect the Proms' own website is more likely to be correct than the Radio Times, so I don't think this will be on TV any time soon.

Suspect you are correct, but can anyone who was present in the hall confirm whether or not cameras were there?

[Rcartes]

We didn't think there were any cameras present; for the War Requiem, on the other hand, they were clearly there. I'd guess the mention of television it was wrong.