Prom 59: Lili Boulanger / Fauré / Ravel, BBC SO / BBC SC, Schultz/Kilsby/Mole/Denève

[bluestateprommer]

Wednesday 4 September 2024
18:30
Royal Albert Hall

Lili Boulanger: Pie Jesu (first performance at The Proms)
Fauré: Requiem

Interval

Fauré: Pélleas et Mélisande – Suite
Lili Boulanger: Vieille prière bouddhique (first performance at The Proms)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé – Suite No. 2

Golda Schultz, soprano
Laurence Kilsby, tenor
Jacques Imbrailo, baritone

BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Stéphane Denève, conductor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e2fcd4

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-24/prom-59/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022c66

[edashtav]

What a strange programme: Lili Boilanger and Faurê at their most restrained and understated and Ravel at his most unbuttoned and public. I suppose there was 'antique' or other-worldly link running through the Concert.

I enjoyed Fauré' Requiem for its clarity and reverence. Of the three soloists I preferred the two male artists: Laurence Kilsby (tenor) and Jacques Imbrailo (baritone) because of their simplicity and sincerity whereas Golda Schultz (soprano) had a slowly beating vibrato which I found irritating and more suited to an operatic role.

The second Lili Boulanger piece was fascinating for its exotic Buddhist script and unique accompaniment of harps and sarrusaphone . Occasional touches of Holst in Rig Veda country. What a shame that a contrabassoon replaced the latter!

Fauré's Pelless and Melisande was a welcome visitor as it evoked a distant, veiled world - its tunefulness brought memories of Rutland Boughton's The Immortal Hour. In both worlds there is much desire but little or no carnal love

Daphnis and Chlöe II is a frequent visitor to the Proms: a hardy perennial rather than a bi-annual. I'd gladly give it a miss for a few years. Tonight's performance was subdued compared with the techmical.brilliance of The Orchestre de Paris in Stravinsky last evening. The wooden flute was stunning: Daniel Pailthorpe. Incidentally, there was more carnal delight in the finale of the Ravel than during the rest of the programme combined. I liked Eric Sam's comments during the interval especially when reporting that Maurice Ravel was asked: " How did you manage to portray the rising of the Sun so well when you never get up before 10..30am?
" I used my imagination!"

A final note of praise for Stéphane Denève who conducted with lyrical beauty and great musicality.

[beckus]

In the hall for this Prom and I'm afraid I found the Fauré disappointing. Pie Jesu sung with a heavy vibrato was certainly disconcerting, but I have to wonder if Denève is really in their element as a choral conductor? Certainly to my ears his marshalling of the Symphony Chorus caused momentary losses of synchronisation between the two halves spread either side of the organ. This was most noticeable during the Offertoire - certainly an uncomfortable moment. The Chorus Sops sounded a bit strained at times and there were one or two in the ranks which wanted to pull the tempo along faster than the conductor wanted. I thought the tenor/bass section sounded wonderful, however.

Congrats to RIchard Pearce for very tasteful use of the RAH organ which from my position at the rear of the hall was nicely balanced with the overall ensemble.

I cannot help but compare this to another concert performance I heard in Munich last October. Andrew Manze exerted absolute control and flexibility over the chorus there much to the work's advantage. I felt such natural affinity with the singers was lacking last night.

[alywin]

I enjoyed Fauré' Requiem for its clarity and reverence. Of the three soloists I preferred the two male artists: Laurence Kilsby (tenor) and Jacques Imbrailo (baritone) because of their simplicity and sincerity whereas Golda Schultz (soprano) had a slowly beating vibrato which I found irritating and more suited to an operatic role.

I quite agree: I hated the vibrato. The Requiem needs a purer sound, to my mind. I was in the Gallery, and I'm afraid I found the sound rather muddy up until about the Pie Jesu. I remember that the last time I heard it in concert it was with much smaller choral numbers, and much clearer.

I enjoyed the second half of the concert a lot more.

[smittims]

I rather liked the 'old bhuddist prayer' but I don't think I'd want to hear it again. LIke everything else I've heard by Lili Boulanger it didn't make me feel that the words 'genius' and 'great composer' that I've seen are at all justified.

[edashtav]

I rather liked the 'old bhuddist prayer' but I don't think I'd want to hear it again. LIke everything else I've heard by Lili Boulanger it didn't make me feel that the words 'genius' and 'great composer' that I've seen are at all justified.

In an inclusive world where 'we' are widely described as 'elitists', the meaning of genius and great have been debased.

One Boarder has suggested that the Beeb imposes quotas. POSSIBLY, one test that's applied is : do the Proms have a sufficiency of women composers?

it seems to me in the absence of works by Berg and Webern in this year's programmes, there is no inhibition over the omission of two twentieth century geniuses.

How far have we come since the Beeb before Glock when composers would submit scores to the BBC and a panel of score readers would rate each as 'suitable' or 'unsuitable' for broadcasting?

[Ein Heldenleben]

In an inclusive world where 'we' are widely described as 'elitists', the meaning of genius and great have been debased.

One Boarder has suggested that the Beeb imposes quotas. POSSIBLY, one test that's applied is : do the Proms have a sufficiency of women composers?

it seems to me in the absence of works by Berg and Webern in this year's programmes, there is no inhibition over the omission of two twentieth century geniuses.

How far have we come since the Beeb before Glock when composers would submit scores to the BBC and a panel of score readers would rate each as 'suitable' or 'unsuitable' for broadcasting?

I think it’s a matter of fact that there are R3 quotas or to use the BBC phrase “targets “ for the proportion of female composers played and the proportion of compositions from ethnic minorities.

[smittims]

Well, someone must have done that with the Young Composers' competition to select 6 out of 380 entries to be played at the Nottingham Prom (q.v.). I don't know who did the judging or what their criteria were, but I wouldn't want Gavin HIggins or Helen Grime deciding if my music was worth broadcasting!

I've said before , and been censored for doing so, that the BBC are less interested in quality than in 'inclusiveness' and political correctness, and the result is Florence Price and Lili Boulanger on Radio 3 instead of Havergal Brian and Alan Rawsthorne. I my view only the BBC's demand for more women composers atthe Porms can explain the poor pieces by of Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Anna Clyne 'Nuff said.

.

[edashtav]

I think it’s a matter of fact that there are R3 quotas or to use the BBC phrase “targets “ for the proportion of female composers played and the proportion of compositions from ethnic minorities.

Thank you for that absolute confirmation, EH.