Prom 5 (17.7.12): Strauss, Saariaho & Sibelius

[Petrushka]

Oh Lor, poor thing. I heard something about her having to remove her jacket half way through, with the conductor hanging it on the podium rail... do you think she had a touch of the vapours under the wretched telly lights?

Because of course it will all be visible in widescreen close-up on Thursday evening http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ky1kh

Doubly mortifying for her, EA

You could well be right about the TV lights. Remember Thomas Allen in that famous 1974 Carmina Burana? Sounded to me as if she'd run out of breath or forgotten the words.

[Barbirollians]

I only heard Im Abendrot - the tempo seemed very slow to me .

[pilamenon]

Inevitable, I suppose, that people will focus on a couple of difficulties the (otherwise excellent) soloist had, but I thought this was overall a very satisfying concert - four varied, meaty items of roughly equal length. I was most taken with the Magic Lantern piece by Kaija Saariaho. BBC Philharmonic concerts usually deliver the goods, in my view, and this was no exception.

[Roehre]

Inevitable, I suppose, that people will focus on a couple of difficulties the (otherwise excellent) soloist had, but I thought this was overall a very satisfying concert - four varied, meaty items of roughly equal length. I was most taken with the Magic Lantern piece by Kaija Saariaho. BBC Philharmonic concerts usually deliver the goods, in my view, and this was no exception.

Haven't listened to the Sibelius 7, but the Zarathustra was nicely schmaltzy -though the orchestra (especially the strings) took its time to get perfectly in form- I loved the 4LS, even though soloist and orchestra were not together in the 1st song, and the soloist audibly not well (the long sustained notes in Im Abendrot are murderous), but this voice is really heaven in this repertoire.
But for me also it was Saariaho's magic lantern which was the most important piece.
What a difference with last night's Adams. Saariaho : Adams = proper 4 course meal : one whipped cream pavlova.

[jayne lee wilson]

I listened to the Saariaho with as innocent an ear as possible, avoiding all notes. Whilst admiring the textural beauties and the range of mood thus evoked, the overall impression was one of drift and relative inconsequence, despite the repeated brass outbursts...

I always have a problem with a piece where texts are employed, audibly but incomprehensibly. Are the texts supposed to be understood verbally or not? If whispering voices are used more as an instrument, what are the texts doing? The text used, from Bergman's autobiog, is included in the Composer's note on the Chester Novello website, but it added little to my perceptions. Saariaho's note seems to confirm my impression of the piece rather than enlighten it...

I'll try to carve out time for another listen.

The Sibelius 7th, given a powerful and intense presentation, seemed on this occasion to be more episodic than it should - I didn't feel that organic growth and inevitability in the tempo changes that usually marks out a great performance. The sonority, too, seemed less than idiomatic, a little hard, overbearing and edgy in places. Was Mena trying too hard to fill the space around him? He always prepares his orchestra well, but - not for the first time with this partnership - I felt a lack of intimacy (especially in those delicate pages just after the opening) freshness and fluency in the reading.

[Hornspieler]

Tuesday 17 July at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra (32 mins)
R. Strauss: Four Last Songs (22 mins)
Kaija Saariaho: Laterna magica (22 mins) - UK Premiere
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C major (23 mins)

Anne Schwanewilms soprano
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena conductor

My favourite BBC orchestra playing Strauss under their new conductor. What could be better than that?

Also Sprach Zarathustra has always been my preferred tone poem and I thought the orchestra did well.
Special mention for the timpanist and congratulations to the Principal Trumpet. That first octave leap is a real 'buttock-clencher' and the top octave was not only hit cleanly but was bang in tune. (How often do we hear it just a trifle flat?)

I have heard many performances of the 4LS and I have to say that, disregarding Anne Schwanewilms' apparent difficulties, (which I was not particularly aware of), this was the most beautiful soprano voice that I have ever heard. Pure liquid gold!

Before the applause started, I switched off and just sat quietly contemplating the wonder of a man who could write his own farewell to the world so effectively. Couldn't face the rest of the concert (or any other kind of music) after that experience, whatever they might have been playing, so I will catch it some time today on iPlayer.

HS

[Nick Armstrong]

My favourite BBC orchestra playing Strauss under their new conductor. What could be better than that?

Also Sprach Zarathustra has always been my preferred tone poem and I thought the orchestra did well.
Special mention for the timpanist and congratulations to the Principal Trumpet. That first octave leap is a real 'buttock-clencher' and the top octave was not only hit cleanly but was bang in tune. (How often do we hear it just a trifle flat?)

I have heard many performances of the 4LS and I have to say that, disregarding Anne Schwanewilms' apparent difficulties, (which I was not particularly aware of), this was the most beautiful soprano voice that I have ever heard. Pure liquid gold!

Before the applause started, I switched off and just sat quietly contemplating the wonder of a man who could write his own farewell to the world so effectively. Couldn't face the rest of the concert (or any other kind of music) after that experience, whatever they might have been playing, so I will catch it some time today on iPlayer.

HS

I recorded the 4LS and listened last thing last night, and really thought the orchestra did well, and AS's momentary 'bump' was just one of those things - didn't detract too badly from what was overall a very good performance. I liked Mena's way with 'Im Abendrot' particularly. Looking forward to hearing and seeing it tomorrow. Hope they don't cut the songs.

[Ferretfancy]

Saariaho was interviewed by Tom Service at the pr-Prom talk at the RCM, and it was hard work for him, as she was rather unforthcoming in her replies. How do you ask a composer about their imaginative sources? There were some excellent young musicians on the platform who gave us to chamber works, one for violin and piano, the other for cello, piano and percussion, I found the latter piece fascinating in its use of the single percussionist's skill. At the Prom I was rather less impressed with Lanterna Magica, with it's dense blocks of sounds and lack of a recognisable structure. Pieces like this might as well never stop, since there is no structure to lead to a resolution.

I thought that the performance of the songs was very erratic. It wasn't just the vocal fluff but the erratic phrasing and lack of that Straussian lyrical flow. I don't think Mena did her much service, he gets good playing from the orchestra, but often fails to create real tension. All in all, an only moderate Prom.

[ucanseetheend]

Once again the TV coverage is "all over the place" I saw that Prom 5 was on TV by checking the Proms website. It didn't show it was on TV two days later, I was hoping to see it on the iplayer and of course it's not there. How many more Tv concerts are going to be shown days or weeks after the event?
It doesnt make sense to not show( I know double negative) it live on BBC4 but to show it at the same time (7.30) as the live performance 2 days later . BBC4 doesnt exactly have more important items to show during the concert, only recorded programmes

[Maclintick]

I recorded the 4LS and listened last thing last night, and really thought the orchestra did well, and AS's momentary 'bump' was just one of those things - didn't detract too badly from what was overall a very good performance. I liked Mena's way with 'Im Abendrot' particularly. Looking forward to hearing and seeing it tomorrow. Hope they don't cut the songs.

Tricky one, Caliban. Presumably the Beeb will want the 4LS to go out as they've a slot to fill, but I have little doubt that poor Anne Schwanewilms would prefer them to be cut ! I felt really sorry for her last night, as she was obviously under par.

[edashtav]

I was present in the front row of the Circle in the RAH exactly opposite to Anne Schwanewilms and experienced great difficulty in hearing her throughout. She didn't project, seemed distracted between songs and definitely wasn't "singing to the Gods". Given that she sported a shawl on a humid, hot night, and later took it off, and her unusual vocal insecurities, I agree with the conjectures that she wasn't fit. A great shame as I'd expected the 4 Last Songs to be the high point of the evening.

I felt that Mena and the BBC PO , so well supported by the refurbished RAH organ, did everything they could for A.S.Z.. The playing was always controlled, and idiomatic. Mena has a gift for giving music a lift through dancing rhythms and connecting phrases into sentences and thence building paragraphs. Not a successful work but a performance of great merit. I'm afraid the crude lighting effects did nothing for this listener.

I was really looking forward to Laterna Magica by Saariaho and I was not disappointed. The piece had a clear structure, memorable ideas and KS displayed an ear to die for. Again, the BBC PO excelled themselves and Mena looked relaxed - he knew and understood the score. I wish I could compliment the pre_Prom talk at the RCM, but Tom Service was off-key. His questions to KS were poor and some of his asides were rather silly. Tom Service is usually very good at interviewing contemporary composers. For whatever reason, his meeting with KS was a damp squib.

What to make of Mena's Sibelius? Some lovely playing, and the pointing of the lines in the scherzando section was marvellous. The whole thing was gloriously musical, with Mena knowing what he wanted and he had a great ability to communicate his vision to his orchestra. However, it was a Latin lover's view of Sibelius: Sibelius-lite, served hot. When the ending arrived, its grim lack of confidence sounded bolted on - a bolt from the blue, if you like. I like my Sibelius hard and deep-frozen. I wanted Paavo Berglund, I got a Spanish Fantasy. Nevertheless, whilst it failed to satisfy me, on its own terms the performance was a terrific one.

To sum up : an orchestra in fine fettle & form & guided by a young conductor of real promise.

[Nick Armstrong]

What a great, illuminating review, edashtav! A big welcome and keep them coming - more thoughtful 'eyewitness' accounts like that will grace this Forum! The orchestra really caught my ear in the parts of the concert I managed to hear on the radio. Looking forward to seeing how it comes across on t'telly tomorrow.

Good to have you aboard!

[Osborn]

No great enthusiasm from The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/18/prom-5-bbc-philharmonic-mena-review

[umslopogaas]

Re. the programming of new and frequently 'difficult' works, I've always thought it goes like this. Dont put the latest bit of dodecacophony on first, or it will upset the audience so much that they wont clap the Tchaikovsky that follows. Dont put it on last, or everyone will simply leave early and the orchestra will play to an empty house. So, you trap it between two outer layers of sugar and the audience will endure it because they want the second helping of sugar. After the Rossini overture and before the interval is best, then everyone can go and have a drink to recover and tell their friends how awful it was.

[Hornspieler]

Re. the programming of new and frequently 'difficult' works, I've always thought it goes like this. Dont put the latest bit of dodecacophony on first, or it will upset the audience so much that they wont clap the Tchaikovsky that follows. Dont put it on last, or everyone will simply leave early and the orchestra will play to an empty house. So, you trap it between two outer layers of sugar and the audience will endure it because they want the second helping of sugar. After the Rossini overture and before the interval is best, then everyone can go and have a drink to recover and tell their friends how awful it was.