Prom 30: Saturday 6th August ay 6.30 p.m. (NYO)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The National Orchestra of Great Britain is joined by an equally youthful soloist - Benjamin Grosvenor, who turned 19 in July: he plays the Piano Concerto by another young prodigy, Benjamin Britten. Russian-born conductor Vladimir Jurowski conducts the NYOGB in music from one of the greatest and best-loved of all Russian ballets: Sergey Prokofiev's take on Shakespeare's teenage lovers Romeo and Juliet. And the concert starts bang up to date, with a piece by Prokofiev's grandson, Gabriel Prokofiev - a concerto created for the astonishing turntables virtuoso DJ Switch. If you're over the age of 18 you can't join the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. But their playing is stunning, and their annual appearance at the BBC Proms is always a highlight of the season.

Gabriel Prokofiev: Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra
Britten: Piano Concerto
Sergey Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet - selection

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
DJ Switch (turntables)
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)

Presented by Petroc Trelawny

[Tevot]

NYO concerts are great fun - and this one looks as it will be no exception.

I hope DJ Switch doesn't prove to be a turn off. Perhaps Benjamin Grosvenor can warm up and do some rapping?

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[PhilipT]

NYO concerts are great fun ..

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

[3rd Viennese School]

The CD cover for Gabriel Prokofiev is a gas tower.
Reminds me of the cassette covers I used to make!

3VS

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

This is a worse problem with regional youth orchestras, where the parents think it's perfectly OK to video the entire concert. They know nothing of respect, copyright, etc., only the the importance of "my little Freddie".

[PhilipT]

This is a worse problem with regional youth orchestras ...

That hasn't been my experience. The best non-Prom concert I've been to this year was the Hampshire County YO Mahler 2 that opened the Winchester Festival. Apart from one case of a malfunctioning hearing-aid (don't you just hate those things?) the audience were well-behaved. Perhaps having Winchester Cathedral as a venue helped. Also, one minor point - the ladies of the HCYO were far better dressed than I've ever seen those of the NYO.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm pleased to hear that. Hampshire's reputation is particularly good.

[makropulos]

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

Well, they certainly knew "how to behave" tonight - no interruptions of the Prokofiev or between movements of the Britten.

Aside from the Gabriel Prokofiev piece, about which others will no doubt views, I loved this concert. I thought Grosvenor and the orchestra did a terrific job in the Britten, and the (Sergei) Prokofiev was - to my ears - really thrilling. Yes, there were occasional lapses in some of the most exposed violin writing, but those soon passed and most of the playing was not only technically impressive but supremely alert. Much more importantly - what a simply electrifying performance of R&J this was! Jurowski made no allowances for his youthful players, had a superb grasp of every aspect of the piece, and the results from the NYO were not only pretty exciting but incredibly expressive and tender too. I really enjoyed this evening a lot.

[gedsmk]

I didn't care for the new piece. seemed a lot of noise to me, and the attempt by Jurowski to be "havin a natter with the lads" beforehand didn't help, nor did the obviously staged fake applause and the sssh from the maestro in between the first and second movements. This was my first experience of Grosvenor live - he's wonderful.
R and J was well played, with some fab solos by the solo trumpet and a rich string tone at times that put the Bolivars in the shade. Moving to see so many of the players in tears at the end.

[makropulos]

I didn't care for the new piece. seemed a lot of noise to me, and the attempt by Jurowski to be "havin a natter with the lads" beforehand didn't help, nor did the obviously staged fake applause and the sssh from the maestro in between the first and second movements. This was my first experience of Grosvenor live - he's wonderful.
R and J was well played, with some fab solos by the solo trumpet and a rich string tone at times that put the Bolivars in the shade. Moving to see so many of the players in tears at the end.

You were actually in the hall then? The nattering (or whatever was going on) at the start wasn't quite clear on the radio - but the thing did get off to a rather odd beginning as a result. Perhaps it's a turntablisits etiquette thing... to be honest I didn't care for the new piece either. Glad Grosvenor came across as well in the hall as he did on the radio. And the players weren't the only ones in tears at the end of R&J - it really got to me tonight.

[Ferretfancy]

Oh dear ! I'm often a bit resistant to some of the more bizarre new works, but the Concerto for Turntables was enjoyable in the hall. Very well performed I thought with only a couple of missed scratches ! Seriously, it was a well constructed piece, and the composer knows how to write an orchestral contribution to match the skill of the DJ.Probably the reproduction of the pre-recorded components against the orchestra worked better live than it did at home. Incidentally the "natter with the lads" was part of the setting up process before the performance, and the applause was not faked.
Benjamin Grosvenor was astonishing in the Britten, which I think is a piece not quite on a par with his violin concerto, but it would be hard to imagine it better played than tonight.
Apparently Jurowski had a hand in selecting the Romeo and Juliet sequence from the complete ballet, and it seemed to emphasise the dramatic action in the narrative, making a change from the familiar suites. The NYO played with great concentration, and it was a rewarding second half of the Prom.

[Roslynmuse]

Benjamin Grosvenor was astonishing in the Britten, which I think is a piece not quite on a par with his violin concerto, but it would be hard to imagine it better played than tonight.

Thank you for reminding me of the Britten Violin Concerto - a wonderful, extraordinary and all-too-rarely performed piece. I was listening to the Dutilleux Cello Concerto earlier and there was a piece that I couldn't quite place that kept nagging at me as a precurser (in a 'what does this texture remind me of' sort of way, nothing deeper) and that was it. Listen to the very opening of the Britten and the 1st mt of the Dutilleux.

Sorry, this is off-topic, but I was so pleased to have solved what was bugging me!

[Ferretfancy]

Just for those of us who were in the hall and therefore didn't hear the announcements, Benjamin Grosvenor's encore was The Boogie Woogie Etude by Morton Gould, a favourite encore of Shura Cherkassky.

[Chris Newman]

I was in the hall and second everything that Ferretfancy says. The Gabriel Prokofeiv was a virtuoso piece with a very light heart: absolutely suitable for good youth orchestras and very enjoyable live. I would love to hear the Hampshire or Wiltshire Youth Orchestras do it. My only concern was that the DJ's equipment was actually rather quiet: I expect radio and (future) TV listeners got a better deal than those of us in the arena.

Benjamin Grosvenor gave a scintillating performance of the BB Piano Concerto, one of the composer's most delightful and fresh creations. AND what was that incredible encore? I have heard it before but cannot put a name to it. (Thanks FF, you beat me to it while I was typing).

The NYO were stunning in the Romeo and Juliet. Jurowski's "Suite" was one of the biggest I have heard. There were one or two clunky links caused by missing movements towards the end but it was most impressive and the mutual love between conductor and musicians was very clear.

[Stunsworth]

Just for those of us who were in the hall and therefore didn't hear the announcements, Benjamin Grosvenor's encore was The Boogie Woogie Etude by Morton Gould, a favourite encore of Shura Cherkassky.

The broadcast mentioned that you can listen to it on YouTube. You can find it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be5gqnPcB20

What a tatent Grosvenor is.