Prom 51: Monday 22nd August 2011 at 7.30 p.m. (Wagner, Liszt, Volans, Brahms)

[Quarky]

And as for queuing, I've found my summer afternoons this year to be very enjoyable and productive: I've devoured an enormous amount of classic poetry and literature from Hobbes to Charles Lamb to Rimbaud, and filled an entire notebook with my own writing.

I'm quite envious of your mental attitude. The Proms for me are good fun, but only on the basis of having a season ticket which allows me to walk in 15 minutes before the performance. Any longer wait would produce serious mental distress.

[Chris Newman]

I thought the Liszt was excellent (then again, I would). I missed the Wagner and the Brahms but intend to listen again (assuming it's working ok now) before it vanishes into the ether forever...

The Liszt was much more interesting than I expected. I am not, as I am sure you are all aware, a fan of the tone poems, Piano Concerti and Faust Symphony. There is much piano music by Liszt that I adore and much that I loathe. I was converted in a big way this season to the Dante Symphony....LOVE IT. Then this fascinating piece came along last night. As deep and dark as and looking forward to Sibelius at each end with sounds like early Verdi in the middle.

[Quarky]

Early on he was somewhat influenced by Stockhausen but later, to replenish himself, he engaged with African music, especially rhythmically, simplifying his harmonic idiom in some parallels with Steve Reich.

Yes S_A. To simplify matters, may be we could say - Kevin Volan is a bit Jazzy? I could even imagine Stan Kenton getting involved with this piano concerto at times. But a lot more than just Jazzy. A great deal of invention and working out of musical ideas.

[BudgieJane]

I'm quite envious of your mental attitude. The Proms for me are good fun, but only on the basis of having a season ticket which allows me to walk in 15 minutes before the performance. Any longer wait would produce serious mental distress.

Watch out that you don't get caught out by the 20-minute rule

There's a whole bunch of us season-ticket holders who have become friends through queuing all afternoon through all weathers. We enjoy these afternoons (yes, even in the pouring rain and howling gales) by chatting, playing cards and drinking wine. The whole idea is the avoidance of stress and its accompanying mental distress. Any time you decide to queue, introduce yourself to us and enjoy a totally new promming experience.

[Ferretfancy]

Jane Sullivan,

I'm usually a bit further down the queue, as I don't want to be too close, but i usually greet you lot! I confess slyly that I sometimes wonder as I stroll past, whether any of you are completely sober and suitably appreciative by 7.30 ! Critical powers in jeopardy?
Bws. to all,
Ferret

[3rd Viennese School]

Just heard the repeat of the Kevin Volans here in my very own office. Did I get any peace from colleagues during this time? Did I bxxxxxxx.

3VS

[Lateralthinking1]

An interesting interview with Kevin Volans on The Weekend Strand programme. I rather wish that I had taken notice of that part of this Prom now. The programme was broadcast on the World Service earlier this morning. If anyone wants to listen to it, it can be found on the I-Player here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...nd_27_08_2011/

[bluestateprommer]

Kind of interesting that no one else seems to have caught on to this tidbit from David Nice's review of this Prom from The Arts Desk (emphasis mine):

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4388:bbc-proms-douglas-bbc-symphony-orchestra-dausgaard&Itemid=27

".....I hadn't heard that the BBCSO's chief conductor Jiří Bělohlávek was taking a month off to recover from a virus. So it was a bracing last-minute shock to find the man stepping up to the podium to conduct Wagner's Meistersinger Prelude not the orchestra's wise Hans Sachs but a Walther von Stolzing in conducting terms, tipped unexpectedly by one source outside the BBC as Bělohlávek's successor. Lean and hungry Dane Thomas Dausgaard masterminded the most brilliantly co-ordinated Prom I heard last year, and he excelled again last night."

Of course, maybe the reason why is because at the end of the review, Nice hedges his bets:

"Whether or not he does indeed become the BBCSO's new chief conductor - one player I bumped into afterwards, contradicting my outside source, thought it unlikely - they could do worse than work with him at least a couple of times every season."

I was mainly interested in the Volans work, since I tend to go for the "novelties" in any given program as first interest. I really wanted to like the Volans concerto, after enjoying listening to several of his string quartets on CD. In the event, my reaction was "meh" to the concerto. The faster parts worked better for me, while the slower bits didn't seem to develop much. Good job from Barry Douglas, the BBC SO and TD, however. (Also, thx to lateralthinking1 for the outside program link; unfortunately for me, I missed the Composer Portrait, completely blanking out that I meant to give it a listen. Oh well, bad on me.)

The Wagner was OK, brisker here and there than what I'm used to. However, I was rather surprised to find how much I enjoyed Dausgaard's interpretation of Brahms 1, especially as I fall more into the "like" category on the "Aimez-vous Brahms?" scale. Unlike others here, I didn't think that it dragged at all, and his including the first movement exposition repeat was a nice surprise. There was a blend of mild "HIPster" elements, like the relatively brisk opening which wasn't overly heavy, but also the traditional slowing down of the big theme in the finale. No complaints about quality playing there.