Prom 17 (26.7.12): Beethoven & Boulez

[pursuivant]

Yes I knew Barenboim started early as conductor - does it really matter that it was much sooner that I thought? I only wanted to defend him from the bad press he got earlier in what I consider to be a very distinguished career and thought this was an oppoortunity to do so.

[heliocentric]

Your post was a soup of inaccuracies and unwarranted assumptions concocted to "support" your opinion of Boulez's music - what did you expect as a response?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I only wanted to defend him from the bad press he got earlier in what I consider to be a very distinguished career and thought this was an oppoortunity to do so.

Really?

If you will forgive the impertinence, may I suggest that you might better have achieved this sole aim had you

1) not headed, concluded and made considerable reference to a long-defunct cartoon strip in the Daily Mail. (Or, at least made the relevance to Barenboim's "very distinguished career" more obvious.)
2) not made cheap remarks about a composer that this "very distinguished" Musician greatly reveres.
2) commented on the performances and how you felt they typified Barenboim's "very distinguished career".

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

One thing is certain. These Beethoven/Boulez concerts have generated a huge amount of interest on this forum. That can only be a good thing.

[Osborn]

I took to Le Marteau the first time I heard it - but I really, really can't make head nor tail of L'artisanat/Bourreaux/Bel Edifice. Is it just me?

[JohnSkelton]

Indeed. Speaking of recordings, one I'd recommend that seems very little known is a CD on the CordAria label with Peter Rundel conducting Das Neue Ensemble (a group from Hannover), which I think has the intensity and the exactitude. It's very well worth seeking out (and also contains Improvisations sur Mallarmé I and II and Dérive I).

Downloaded (once I managed to get past the various 'security' checks at iTunes, which I've never used before). Thanks, it's a wonderful performance!

[heliocentric]

Thanks, it's a wonderful performance!

Glad you liked it.

I don't know if you're aware of the Wolf Fifth blog - it's dedicated to "rare vinyl records from the golden age of avantgarde and experimental music" and contains three recordings of the Marteau - Boulez conducting in 1964 and 1974 (my favourite one until Rundel came along), and Robert Craft in 1961.

[Serial_Apologist]

Did anyone hear last night's Prom, or attend?

I hope the audience enjoyed the Boulez as much as I, having been afforded the luxury of the two Beethoven symphonies. Notwithstanding the ostensible inspiration, the Boulez was, I thought, one of his wittiest and most accessible works, with even a few hommages to Messiaen's harmonic methods in the parallelling of the solo violin part near the start. I did think Beethoven 8 was taken a little too slowly, however.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Beethoven 8 & 7 repeated this afternoon, S_A?

Not in the Hall but heard both broadcasts. Yes, all the symphonies were much slower than I believe LvB intended, but I thought Barenboim pulled them off to his own standards - I particularly liked the Seventh as a "Symphony in One Movement". And, like last year's Missa Solemnis (conducted by Davis), I felt it was like watching a slow-motion lightning flash: fascinating to watch the details unfurling themselves. I still prefer "blink-and-you-miss-it" Beethoven, where Music becomes a force of Nature.

I enjoyed all the Boulez pieces - the Dialogue de l'ombre doubles a wonderfully beguiling mixture of Beckett (Not I) and Lava Lamp: those beautifully gloopy clarinet sounds - and the joie de vivre of Anthemes, in particular. Gloriously enthusiastic performances by this new generation of Musicians: the ensemble pieces were dispatched with a finesse that would've made the London Sinfonietta weep!

I think Boulez can happily rest assured that his place in the repertoire is now secure - not just in Historical significance, but in the affections and enthusiasm of audiences and performers alike.

As Berio puts it in his Sinfonia: "Thank you, Mr Boulez!" And thank you, Mr Barenboim, too!

[Serial_Apologist]

The Beethoven 8 & 7 repeated this afternoon, S_A?

That's right, ferney.

[JohnSkelton]

I don't know if you're aware of the Wolf Fifth blog - it's dedicated to "rare vinyl records from the golden age of avantgarde and experimental music" and contains three recordings of the Marteau - Boulez conducting in 1964 and 1974 (my favourite one until Rundel came along), and Robert Craft in 1961.

I am aware of it but I'd lost touch with the site when I lost some bookmarks (same with the High Ponytail) - thanks for the reminder!