Prom 56: Bruckner, BBC Singers / Berlin Philharmonic, O. Park / K. Petrenko

[Retune]

Absolutely a season highlight for me, riveting from start to finish, and not even a concert I was originally planning to go to. I was up in the Gallery, to which the sound on this occasion carried very well and where the orchestral balance seemed absolutely fine. I did wonder if it would have been a bit overwhelming if I'd been back in the Choir like the day before. The BBC Singers did a beautiful job and their selection was a perfect prelude to the symphony. Petrenko's rapport with the orchestra was wonderful to see and hear, and there was something just right about how the symphony unfolded, moving and intricately exciting.

[Prommer]

On the coughing subject, and annoying it is, but who on earth is bothering to test for Covid anymore? Mad!

[Ein Heldenleben]

On the coughing subject, and annoying it is, but who on earth is bothering to test for Covid anymore? Mad!

Well anyone likely to come into contact with a particularly vulnerable individual for a start eg the very elderly . Immuno -compromised , asthmatics .The number of working days lost to this highly infectious disease is truly astonishing. Not to mention the number
of people who have suffered long term health consequences like racing pulse and breathlessness
.
all this “it’s no worse than a cold “ is utter nonsense

[Ein Heldenleben]

Back on piste - heard the first two movements of the Bruckner tonight . Can’t get over the weight , depth and sonority of the strings - absolutely remarkable.

[bluestateprommer]

I wish they wouldn't do that, it's not their job.

Normally, as a presenter, Martin Handley is quite restrained with respect to any sort of extraneous over-gushy post-performance commentary, quite unlike his colleagues GM, KM, and TS. Perhaps I'm being a tad Pollyanna-ish here (for once), in thinking that his comment about the quality of this performance struck me as a genuinely spontaneous utterance, rather than any sort of standard laying it on with a trowel that other presenters tend to do. He did also quip the night before, after Ma vlast:

"What to say after that?"

In both instances, MH was very concise.

I didn't detect the mass coughing that those in the RAH observed, who obviously had the advantage overall, all things considered, of being in "the room where it happens", so to speak. At the very least, though, as others have mentioned, no applause between the movements. It's perhaps something subliminal about the prestige of the Berlin Philharmonic that a very packed house accords them, and the music, the respect of waiting until the very end to applaud, both for the orchestra and for the BBC Singers in the choral selections.

While there was probably an element of 'snob prestige' in people trying to buy tickets as quickly as possible for the Berlin Philharmonic Proms, it is worth noting that the Schumann / Smetana Prom sold out initially much faster than the Bruckner Prom. Tickets remained open for the latter for much longer, which is no surprise, given that, in the USA at least, Bruckner is a very hard sell. Eventually, to be sure, the "Seats Not Available" box did show up for this concert on the RAH's site. I'm not a Bruckner fan at all, but lucky patrons who were there and got a concert of this quality.

I was a bit surprised also to hear Sarah Willis mentioned that Bruckner 5 was KP's first go at conducting Bruckner. On reflection, though, it's perhaps not a surprise, since KP has focused so much of his earlier conducting career in the opera house, with symphonic concerts seemingly more on the side. So KP brings that opera house experience as his coverage of the orchestral repertoire expands.

BTW, for anyone with a Digital Concert Hall subscription who wants to "compare and contrast", like with the other DCH offering and the other Prom with Ma vlast:

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/55624

[Darkbloom]

Normally, as a presenter, Martin Handley is quite restrained with respect to any sort of extraneous over-gushy post-performance commentary, quite unlike his colleagues GM, KM, and TS. Perhaps I'm being a tad Pollyanna-ish here (for once), in thinking that his comment about the quality of this performance struck me as a genuinely spontaneous utterance, rather than any sort of standard laying it on with a trowel that other presenters tend to do. He did also quip the night before, after Ma vlast:

In both instances, MH was very concise.

He's not going to criticise a performance ('well, that was a bit rubbish, wasn't it?'), which makes his positive post-concert reflections a bit inauthentic. Actually, 'inauthentic' isn't quite fair, because I'm sure he's genuinely giving his honest opinion (unlike, I suspect, some other presenters), but it does set a bad precedent. If he isn't raving about the next performance, does that mean he didn't like it? We shouldn't have to think about things like that, which is why I prefer the neutral style of presentation.

[Pulcinella]

Another five-star Times review (Neil Fisher this time):

https://www.thetimes.com/article/8fe0855c-52fb-42e3-ba00-32c7fb2bae2d?shareToken=fd1c465648afbf443427b48a547a6e58

[oddoneout]

Another who liked it

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/sep/02/proms-55-and-56-berlin-philharmonic-petrenko-review-royal-albert-hall-london

[richardfinegold]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;n1317007]

I had it in June and again in July and, believe me, if you have it you don't want to get out of bed never mind go to a Prom!

Right, but at first many people think it’s allergies or a slight cold, and if you’ve been anticipating a concert you might not want to admit to yourself that the early symptoms are Covid. It’s very prevalent and I suspect it caused some of the coughing.
Very discouraging to hear that you had it two months in a row. My wife and I had it last month and we leave for our long awaited France trip in 3 days. We will be masking on the plane

[Pulcinella]

October's BBC MM has just arrived, and its cover CD is a 2011 Proms performance of Bruckner 5, with the BBCSSO under Ilan Volkov.

I wonder how it will compare.

[Prommer]

[QUOTE=richardfinegold;n1317073]

Right, but at first many people think it’s allergies or a slight cold, and if you’ve been anticipating a concert you might not want to admit to yourself that the early symptoms are Covid. It’s very prevalent and I suspect it caused some of the coughing.
Very discouraging to hear that you had it two months in a row. My wife and I had it last month and we leave for our long awaited France trip in 3 days. We will be masking on the plane

Of course this is up to you, but no one really did this before... apart from the Japanese etc... even those more vulnerable. Is this progress?

[Retune]

Of course this is up to you, but no one really did this before... apart from the Japanese etc... even those more vulnerable. Is this progress?

Well, we didn't have Covid before. And although most of us now have immunity from vaccination and previous infections, substantially reducing the risks, it can still be a nasty and sometimes fatal illness, and there's a lot more of it about right now than (say) influenza. It makes perfect sense to take a cheap and readily available test before sharing a densely packed hall with 6000 other people, many of them in the older and more vulnerable age group. And in general, it makes sense to use a mask in indoor public spaces to protect others from whatever else might be causing your cough even if you test negative, and to stay at home if you feel really ill. If you're healthy and taking a trip at a time of high Covid prevalence, wearing a mask on the plane might be the difference between a nice holiday and a miserable few days feeling sorry for yourself in your hotel room.

Also, silence those bloody devices as requested when they play that ringing phone sound over the PA! I heard at least two notification chimes during the BBC Singers' performance.

[mathias broucek]

Maybe it's because my wife used to be a pro musician, but I always put my phone OFF during a concert.

[Petrushka]

Maybe it's because my wife used to be a pro musician, but I always put my phone OFF during a concert.

The mobile phone announcement is now done by a recorded Georgia Mann, previously by Katie Dereham. Neither of them is adequate being nowhere near forceful enough. The latest GM version even has her waffling on about BBC Sounds thus burying the phone announcement. In any case, everybody's heard it before and the buzz of conversation continues undiminished.

It really needs an announcement from the stage or, failing that, an announcement from the Prommers in the Arena to whose announcement of the money raised for musical charities shuts everybody up.

Ideally, the announcement also needs to be made before the second half commences, whoever makes it.

Is anybody in the Proms/RAH team alert to what actually needs to be done?

I'm not sure if phone blocking is legally allowed for safety reasons though the Barbican appear to do it. However, the Barbican might be a deep enough bunker to not get a signal anyway. Lucky them.

[mathias broucek]

I had the same idea about "Arena to audience, switch your phone off". Alternatively, Ray Winstone or Brian Cox (in Succession mode) could perhaps do it...