Prom 41: W. A. Mozart, Ensemble Resonanz, C.-J. Kang / Ridout / Minasi

[bluestateprommer]

Tuesday 20 August 2024
19:30
Royal Albert Hall

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
(a) The Marriage of Figaro – Overture
(b) Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K. 364
[Encore: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Duo for violin & viola in G major, K. 423 - II. Adagio]

Interval

(c) Don Giovanni – Overture
(d) Symphony No. 41 in C major, ‘Jupiter’, K. 551
[Encore: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 35 in D Major ('Haffner'), K. 385 - IV. Presto]

Clara-Jumi Kang, violin
Timothy Ridout, viola

Ensemble Resonanz (Proms debut ensemble)
Riccardo Minasi, conductor (Proms debut artist)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/en5wxj

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-24/prom-41/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021y0y

[Mandryka]

This looks like one of the more interesting proms of the season. Ensemble Resonanz rock!

[AuntDaisy]

Thanks, I might have missed this one & Mandryka's right it does look good.

[Pulcinella]

At only 4 + 32 + 7 + 31 minutes given for the timings, they'd have to do more than just rock to encourage me to be there (even if that were an option).
Surely this is very poor value for a regular evening concert?
But I'll likely listen, even though the SC isn't a particular favourite.

[Darkbloom]

At only 4 + 32 + 7 + 31 minutes given for the timings, they'd have to do more than just rock to encourage me to be there (even if that were an option).
Surely this is very poor value for a regular evening concert?
But I'll likely listen, even though the SC isn't a particular favourite.

It's probably no shorter than when they play Mahler 9 on its own, or indeed a few other Mahler symphonies. But I agree it feels pretty light, similar to Currentzis doing (I think?) Beethoven 5 and 2 a couple of years ago. No doubt an encore or two will get thrown in, but that's not why you go to a concert.

[edashtav]

I agree that the concert is too short to be good value for money. Were I fit enough to travel, the costs of a single concert, travel and meal in London are c.£130.

Ensemble Resonanz are a cutting edge group, having things to say about new and old music in the unusual context of their 'period' instruments. So... I require something new and something old, and I would prefer fewer WAM hackneyed classics than scheduled in tonight's programme

Here s a few lines about their recent recording of Mozart's final symphony:

"Even after numerous re-visits to this set [#39,#40 and #41] over a period of many days I still come away feeling more browbeaten than stimulated and inspired, a feeling emphasised by the bruising final Molto allegro of No. 41. This might be a side-effect of a detailed recording balance that allows the brass and timpani to be perhaps a little more up-front than is altogether healthy. Even with those exquisite moments of counterpoint played to perfection I come away with my brain tenderised by too many hammer-blows rather than my horizons expanded and my soul energised. Dominey Clements"

I hope the ample acoustics of the RAH soften the hammer blows this evening.

.

[oddoneout]

Thanks, I might have missed this one & Mandryka's right it does look good.

Oh the irony! This was heavily plugged during the morning schedules, and two items from their recordings played, and yet I still had forgotten that tonight was them playing WAM...

[edashtav]

When a crack foreign Ensemble is invited to the Proms I expect a programme that displays the width and imagination of its repertoire. Today's one Classical composer, short, programme caused me distress. Where were the expected new works given a subtle twist through being played on 'period' instruments?

The Overture:The Marriage of Figaro". Blazing brass and well-struck timpani to the fore. Accents given great weight. Exaggerated dynamics. Dust was shaken off
, old scores settled, and the audience stirred. I would not want to live with the performance but... once in a while... why not?

Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola is a string of accompanied operatic duets for the two proponents.
It was lost and neglected and its first british performance was delayed over 75 years until 1856.

It's a delightful work which treats the soloists as equals. The soloists in this performance were more traditional and romantic in outlook compared with the energetic, self-assertive Resonanz Ensemble. Most of the rubati came from the soloists whist the ensemble majored on emphasis and insistence. All very interesting. My back straightened and I sat up:the orchestra had replaced NO SMOKING notices with NO SLOUCHING!

Our late,lamented hornspieler would not have tolerated some split horn notes.

I'd happily buy a CD of the soloists but without the fine but disruptive Resonanz Ensemble which my doctor has labelled "one performance per decade: to be listened to after a stiff drink "
"Aimez-vous Mozart?"
"Non!"
" Essayez l'Ensemble Resonanz."

Encore: Mozart String Duo#1(2nd movement.) in G K423

Much demanded both by the RAH audience and the short programme timing. Played with subtle grace.

[bluestateprommer]

At only 4 + 32 + 7 + 31 minutes given for the timings, they'd have to do more than just rock to encourage me to be there (even if that were an option).
Surely this is very poor value for a regular evening concert?
But I'll likely listen, even though the SC isn't a particular favourite.

Well, at least in the first half, plenty of time was left for an encore, which C-JK and TR delivered from K. 423. For Mozart 41, I rather suspect that the 31' time from the RAH page is a bit of a "misunderestimation", because the Ensemble Resonanz recording of Mozart 41 on harmonia mundi clocks in at around 39:38:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8732425--mozart-symphonies-nos-39-40-41-jupiter

I vaguely remember hearing this set a while back, and equally vaguely remember that RM took pretty much all the repeats in Mozart 41. The phrase hesitation near the end of the Overture to Le nozze di Figaro made me remember similar phrase hesitations ("Luftpausen"?) in RM's readings of the final trilogy on that hm set. FWIW, IMHO, RM and the ER didn't particularly go speed-demon in the overture, but took their time.

All this aside, with a few ensemble bobbles aside, a pretty good first half. And at the risk of falling flat in my predictive abilities, don't panic just yet about the duration of the 2nd half ;) . If I turn out to be wrong later, so be it, and I'll own up to it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Bizarre interpretation of Don Giovanni Overture - a kind of “Aren’t we clever to play the slow introduction as fast as possible?”. Ditto with the slow movement of K551. Sometimes a new interpretation of a well known work can be refreshing, but to me this was just annoying. Though maybe I was just in a bad mood after hearing Tom Service talking over the music yet again during the interval.

[pastoralguy]

Ouch! Yes, I heard the many trailers but didn’t realise that Clara Jumi-Kang was one of the soloists in the wonderful Sinfonia Concertante. (One of my all time favourite pieces). I’ve been a fan of hers for many years and went to a recital of hers last year at the Edinburgh Festival. Absolutely astonishing playing! AND I MISSED IT LIVE!!

Obviously, I’ll listen on BBC Sounds but I’m kicking myself hard!

[Ein Heldenleben]

This conductor’s speech is self-indulgent ,tedious , and largely inaudible…

[edashtav]

This conductor’s speech is self-indulgent ,tedious , and largely inaudible…

Indeed... I suspect it was dedicated to AuntDaisy!

[edashtav]

The second half was less wilful and more musical. One thwack from the timpani took me back to a scene in a Pub. I was 'the Ouse for wear' and was supported by the bar
My dreams were interrupted rudely by an almighty rugby player's thump on my back.
expletive deleted.
" Good God,I Haven,'t seen you..."
"SINCE I strung my dirty pants on the Head's flagpole, Sir."

Zzzzzzxxxxx

There were good moments tonight
but so much perverse exaggeration.

I felt that I was listening to a live GCSE 'Young Person's Guide to WAM's Greatest Symphony.'

VERY WEARING!

"DOESN'T SUIT YOU, SIR! " declared the boy who got expelled for his lark + etc.

Where was my beloved new music?

Encore : Finale to a rowdy rustic Wedding Symphony née Haffner.

[oddoneout]

The audience evidently had a good time, but whatever excited them about the Jupiter didn't travel to this listener's living room. I found myself wincing on more than one occasion.
I've fished out and put on a charity shop CD of Giulini and the New Philharmonia Orchestra(K550 and K551) I got recently. It's an ancient recording, and I'm sure is all wrong, but more to my taste.