The visit of "foreign" orchestras to the Proms always seems to be eagerly anticipated. Is this simply because one rarely gets the opportunity to hear them live and so jumps at the opportunity? do they have some mysterious fame that goes before them, gained from CDs or from their historic fame under previous conductors? are they always going to be per se "better" than home-grown orchestras, and if so why? do home-grown orchestras have as much individuality as foreign orchestras? do we have the equivalent of the "Philadelphia sound". the "Leningrad sound" etc.etc.? would you go to hear for example the Philadelphia whatever they were playing, even a work you weren't particularly keen on?
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Last edited by mercia; 09-09-11, 05:57. -
The difference between world orchestras is often much less different from one another than it might appear. Often, the reputation comes from recordings, and these are influenced by the concert hall or studio. When I first heard the VPO live, I was surprised at how ordinary they sounded, good thought they were. True, there were wide bore oboes and single horns, but what I had perceived as the Vienna sound was in fact the Sofiensaal sound. Karajan's BPO sound took a dip when DG changed recording locations. As for the Leningrad sound - yes, it is distinctive, but for many years, this was very much strangled recording quality and wobbly horns, along with a huge admiration for the fact that they could still make a performance worth listening to.
British orchestras are every bit as good as their overseas counterparts, but in response to the question, I would take the opportunity to go to hear any orchestra I hadn't heard before. You never know...
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Absolutely! Orchestras like the RLPO and the CBSO have quite different and characteristic sounds :)Originally posted by mercia View PostComment
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