Prom 70: Grażyna Bacewicz / Tchaikovsky / Prokofiev, BBC NOW, Radulović / Martín

[bluestateprommer]

Thursday 12 September 2024
18:30
Royal Albert Hall

Grażyna Bacewicz: Overture
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35
[Encore: Traditional Serbian dance - 'Pašona kolo']

Interval

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, op. 64 (selections)

Nemanja Radulović, violin
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jaime Martín, conductor

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/egr5q9

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-24/prom-70/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022k6z

[edashtav]

Almost caught out by the early start.

Nemanja Radulović (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jaime Martín (conductor)

I know and like Grazyna Bacewicz's music: linear, compact, Bartok with a Polish heart. I have some CDs of Bacewicz and a very battered full score of one of her piano concertos. Her overture is an efficient starter that explodes like champagne being roughly uncorked. BBC NOW under conductor Jaime Martin poured out her wine which cheered us all as we knocked in back in one. :irony3:

[edashtav]

Nemanja Radulović (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jaime Martín (conductor)

Nemanja's violin was very much searchlighted by the BBC engineers. His secure technique withstood this attention. I felt the first violins in the orchestra gained a boost,too from the soloist's mic. The woodwind were a tad recessed. The first movement and its cadenza were efficiently despatched by Nemanja and Co. with one notable, tender moment at the return of the first flute after the cadenza. That relaxed Nemanja who finished the coda in fine and individual style: CUE enthusiastic applause.

The slow movement had all the relaxed charm of a couple cudfling and kissing on a Spanish beach on a sultry Summer evening. The duets between soloist and woodwind were very affectionate. AND THEN:
The Arrival.of the Russian Dancers destroys the calm. A duet between oboe and clarinet reminded the violinist of his days of passion.
The interpretation"s intensity and individually grew as it progressed from run of the mill to memorable. An old warhorse had been hosed down and well-groomed.

I was pleased that I had tuned in.

Encore: "Pašona kolo" Serbian Round Dance arranged by an accordian player for violinist, strings and heels.(title thanks to bsp)

[edashtav]

Interval talk
Martin Handley’s guest for the interval is Sophie Duncan, a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and author of a book called Searching for Juliet: The Lives and Deaths of Shakespeare’s First Tragic Heroine
A useful conversation that helped me to gain a more rounded idea of Juliet.

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, op. 64 (selections)

Nemanja Radulović, violin
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jaime Martín, conductor
I've seen Prokofiev's ballet in the grand surrounding of the Roman Amphitheatre at Verona, having bought a mono Supraphon LP of various movements conducted I think by Ancerl when I was Uni in 1968. His exciting interpretations were marred by a recorded sound that was strident.

Tonight's performance was well'paced and idiomatic. It was a decent introduction to the transparent score that is very melodic with plenty of dancing rhythms. The crowd in the RAH seemed young and left the hall in a happy mood. Job done!

[edashtav]

I thought Forumistas might be interested in a review of the BBC Concert in February, 1937, when the composer conducted the first performance in Britain ,excepting Belfast, of a suite from his Shakespeare Ballet that had been successfully staged in Moscow the previous year. The reviewer I suspect was Edwin Evans:

"THE NEW PROKOFIEV
BBC Concert Wednesday— Half of this evening’s BBC symphony concert was a Prokofiev programme conducted by the composer. Two periods of his output were represented. The popular Classique [a.k.a Classical Symphony] was written twenty-one years ago The other works performed were of recent date. Meanwhile, he is said to be striving after simplicity and melodiousness and has achieved a certain measure of both but in so doing sacrificed a great deal pungency and— let us be frank— the somewhat impertinent charm of his earlier days.

The ballet Romeo and Juliet, the second suite from which followed may be simple and may be melodious in a rather obvious way but it is frankly dull and no eccentricities of orchestration are going to retrieve it from dullness.

The second violin concerto of which Robert Soetens played the solo admirably is rather more interesting but still less than many of the composer’s earlier works The best of them are lyrical and the frequency the Classique is played place it above the ballet. But, on the whole, Prokofiev proved disappointing.

A performance the “ Eroica” under Sir Adrian Boult concluded the concert E E "

[gedsmk]

Again, like the Tchaikowsky 6 the other night, really lovely balancing and sound engineering. The entire season has been a joy to listen to on my high-end system. They seem to be able to capture the "space" of the RAH really well. I did wonder if they might experiment this year with surround sound broadcasts (which really were incredible) but apparently not.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I thought Forumistas might be interested in a review of the BBC Concert in February, 1937, when the composer conducted the first performance in Britain ,excepting Belfast, of a suite from his Shakespeare Ballet that had been successfully staged in Moscow the previous year. The reviewer I suspect was Edwin Evans:

"THE NEW PROKOFIEV
BBC Concert Wednesday— Half of this evening’s BBC symphony concert was a Prokofiev programme conducted by the composer. Two periods of his output were represented. The popular Classique [a.k.a Classical Symphony] was written twenty-one years ago The other works performed were of recent date. Meanwhile, he is said to be striving after simplicity and melodiousness and has achieved a certain measure of both but in so doing sacrificed a great deal pungency and— let us be frank— the somewhat impertinent charm of his earlier days.

The ballet Romeo and Juliet, the second suite from which followed may be simple and may be melodious in a rather obvious way but it is frankly dull and no eccentricities of orchestration are going to retrieve it from dullness.

The second violin concerto of which Robert Soetens played the solo admirably is rather more interesting but still less than many of the composer’s earlier works The best of them are lyrical and the frequency the Classique is played place it above the ballet. But, on the whole, Prokofiev proved disappointing.

A performance the “ Eroica” under Sir Adrian Boult concluded the concert E E "

That’s odd because I think Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet is amongst the very greatest in the genre - up there with Swan Lake. It works better with dancers though.I’d love to know precisely what he objected to..

[jonfan]

Again, like the Tchaikowsky 6 the other night, really lovely balancing and sound engineering. The entire season has been a joy to listen to on my high-end system. They seem to be able to capture the "space" of the RAH really well. I did wonder if they might experiment this year with surround sound broadcasts (which really were incredible) but apparently not.

Totally agree. The listening has been a real joy and justifies to my ears spending on a high quality end system when the source is so good. The RAH space emphasises the distinctiveness of each performing group when the engineering is of high quality.

to the unnamed sound managers!