Prom 68: Monday 5th September at 7.30 p.m. (Braunfels, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky)

[Ferretfancy]

BudgieJane

If it's any consolation, I checked with the lady on the platform who was collecting up the music at the end, and she said it was Kabalevsky as well! I should have recognised it as Khachaturian if only for its vulgarity!

[bluestateprommer]

People might be interested (or amused) to read some of the "hometown" coverage that the Pittsburgh SO's Proms appearances are getting in the Pittsburgh papers, with some very appreciative words for The Proms (well, duh):

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11249/1172498-388-0.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11250/1172606-388-0.stm

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/music/s_755363.html

BTW, the Pittsburgh SO's new principal flute, Lorna McGhee, is from Largs, Scotland:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/music/s_754758.html

Pittsburgh paper reviews of the other concert will be in the other thread.

[bluestateprommer]

link to Pittsburgh SO blog post, for anyone who wants to leave messages

Apologies for the gaucheness of following up on my own post, but if people want to express their appreciation (or otherwise) for the Pittsburgh Symphony's recent visit to the Proms, you can comment at this blog entry, as well as the PMC entry that I had put in the other thread (where some have already posted replies to that video):

http://blogs.pittsburghsymphony.org/2011/09/press-from-the-proms-9-5-11/

Commenting rather late here, I have to admit that the pick of the 3 was the Braunfels, if only for sheer novelty value. Admittedly without the benefit of having heard the whole work on CD, the "edited version" worked well as a concert overture. I'm not sure if the whole thing was done in Pittsburgh earlier in the season, as that was on a Pittsburgh Heinz Hall concert with Beethoven 4 (Emanuel Ax) and Brahms 4. Maybe an edited version was done there too. The Beethoven was OK, where I didn't react as adversely as others have here.

With the Tchaikovsky, I felt a little jarred by the pushing and pulling about of Honeck's interpretation, which I found distracting, especially so given that my reading of Honeck is that he's kind of a "straight arrow" guy as an interpreter. However, I may have been subconsciously biased by the fact that I've been listening lately to Bernard Haitink's recorded Tchaikovsky cycle with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the sound and interpretation there may well have influenced my perception of the Honeck interpretation.

Speaking of the encores, and particularly the Khachaturian "Galop", a PSO musician, Stephanie Tretick, had this article with a comment about the Khachaturian "Galop" as an encore elsewhere:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11253/1173509-388-0.stm

"There was rhythmic applause from the audience here, especially for the performance of the Tchaikovsky symphony, eliciting two encores: Bizet's Intermezzo from "Carmen" and Khachaturian's "Galop."

The latter's clarinet cadenza has been a vehicle for inside jokes with each of our audiences. The musical quotes woven for Paris listeners included the evocative "La vie en rose," especially associated with the French vocalist Edith Piaf, and then a snippet from Gershwin's American in Paris. There was much laughter and a great deal more applause from a smiling audience.'

[bluestateprommer]

This is probably the worst place to leave a new post, but if anyone actually does stop by here, you might like this Philadelphia Inquirer article on the music director of the major orchestra on the other side of Pennsylvania. If it helps, David Patrick Stearns starts his article off at last year's Proms :) .

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120724_Pittsburgh_orchestra_s_Manfred_Honeck_is_detailed_but_subjective.html