Prom 1 (13.7.12): First Night of the Proms

[Pabmusic]

[1] I'm wondering how 3 beats can be "scrupulously notated" ??

"Heath was right" hummmmmmm

[2] I'm not an orchestral musician but friends who are haven't been as enthusiastic

[1] These were not my words, of course, but let me guess - perhaps a minim rest and a crotchet rest (in Boosey's confusing old house style of backward quaver rests).

[2] Despite the lack of enthusiasm of your friends, I suspect one could find a few conductors who share my view. True, many might not. But Norrington did on Saturday, as did Boult in the clip I posted, and I know from personal experience that del Mar did. It's a conducting point, and there will be different opinions among conductors, but Elgar gave a very good clue as to his intentions by writing the rests.

Cockaigne isn't the only piece that opens with silent beats. Berlioz's King Lear and Sullivan's Overture di Ballo do similar things (there's a Schumann overture, too - Manfred perhaps?).

[bluestateprommer]

Late to the party, as usual. In brief:

1. Turnage: sort of typical Turnage note-spinning, at least for me, but at least it was just 3 minutes. When the future BBC Music Magazine CD arrives with the M-AT work, though, I'll give it another listen.

2. Elgar: I'm far from a Norrington groupie (his brazenly wrong misstatement on Mahler 9 and the Johann Strauss II quote last season still sticks in the memory), but unlike most here, I sort of enjoyed the more mellow (some would say slack or lazy) interpretation here. Even on iPlayer, I got the sense that he trimmed the orchestra's sails regarding vibrato, though not to the point of a total ban. I accepted his interpretation for what it was, but it helps that the work is fun to hear.

3. Delius: by far the highlight of the evening. I sensed a bit of strain in Terfel's voice, though I'm not sure whether it was genuine strain or an affection of interpretation of the words. In any sense, he was deeply engrossed in bringing the narrative to life, with SME, the BBC SO and Symphony Chorus with him all the way.

4. Tippett: not Martyn Brabbins' finest 15 minutes on the RAH stage, although that may reflect that I'm used to the punchier start of Colin Davis' classic recording. However, he did seem to pick up once past the opening movement.

5. Elgar: I'd never actually heard the Coronation Ode in any form before. Now I can sort of understand why. Everyone there gave it their best, but it is pretty sub-par, although I'd lay the blame at the text, as I think a better text would have inspired Elgar much more. But we can't go back.

So perhaps not a completely successful experiment, but as anyone who works in a science lab can tell you, not all experiments work completely successfully. And you can always learn something from even a "meh" experiment :) .