Prom 48 (18.8.12): Weber, Mahler & Tchaikovsky

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Saturday 18 August at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Weber: Der Freischütz – overture (10 mins)
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (17 mins)
Tchaikovsky: Manfred (57 mins)

Alice Coote mezzo-soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski conductor

After the overture to the first important German Romantic opera, Weber's take on the folk legend of a marksman's contract with the devil, featured artist Alice Coote returns to tackle Mahler's folk-influenced song-cycle, inspired by the conclusion of an unhappy love affair. Tchaikovsky's Manfred, a full-length fusion of tone-poem and symphonic form, makes passionate use of Byron's dramatic poem with supernatural elements which held so many 19th-century artists in thrall. This powerfully driven masterpiece is a favourite of tonight's conductor.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What a wonderful work Manfred is, in the manner of Rimski's Sheherazade.

[ahinton]

What a wonderful work Manfred is, in the manner of Rimski's Sheherazade.

Isn't it just! One of his most ambitious and successful - the teeming ideas and their subtle and pointed use almost vying with one another in the most extraordinary symphonic tale, replete (as usual) with wondrous melodic invention and some of the subtlest orchestration that even this astonishing composer could muster - until the pause and the fat organ chord and the Dies Iræ and the abrupt ending and the sheerly dismaying way in which this otherwise glorious work just goes phut. Sorry.

[AjAjAjH]

The only time that I heard it performed live, the conductor (Temernikov I think) stopped at the place where the organ comes in.

It was very effective.

I love it. Second only to No.5. IMHO

[Ferretfancy]

A splendid performance tonight in the RAH, I thought, perhaps some of the dramatic pauses were a little too long, but no matter, the LPO played superbly.

I last heard Manfred with the same performers in the RFH with their temporary and very inadequate organ, it's a work that really calls for the RAH.

Although I'm ambivalent about Mahler generally you would need a heart of stone not to enjoy Alice Coote's singing in the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

[Alison]

Superbly idiomatic stuff from Jurowski with the London Philharmonic playing at their very considerable best. The Tchaikovsky had everything RPO/Dutoit didn't on Tuesday: a sense of the motivation behind the notes, a brilliantly focused orchestral palette, delight in detail (quite wonderful cymbals) and all within a wonderfully constructed overview. What a moment of drama the 'fat' organ chord was - and no semi skimmed version of it here either! Yes FF, a work almost made for the RAH. Altogether a top notch evening with my favourite overture and some Mahler for good measure.

[amac4165]

A splendid performance tonight in the RAH, I thought, perhaps some of the dramatic pauses were a little too long, but no matter, the LPO played superbly.

good news - happy clappers stayed at home
bad news - coughers, sneezers, whezzers and splutterers turned up - and someone forgot to turn off their grandfather clock which chimed during the 3rd mov

It was a bit "ponderous" at times -as was the Frieshutz ; other than that a very good evening in Hall

amac

[edashtav]

Vlad, the Impaler, Nailed it

Superbly idiomatic stuff from Jurowski with the London Philharmonic playing at their very considerable best. The Tchaikovsky had everything RPO/Dutoit didn't on Tuesday: a sense of the motivation behind the notes, a brilliantly focused orchestral palette, delight in detail (quite wonderful cymbals) and all within a wonderfully constructed overview. What a moment of drama the 'fat' organ chord was - and no semi skimmed version of it here either! Yes FF, a work almost made for the RAH. Altogether a top notch evening with my favourite overture and some Mahler for good measure.

I thoroughly agree with you, Alison. This was a brilliant evening of high quality music-making - my second in three days as I'd attended the RVW triple decker last Thursday. The LPO was in fine form, finding the right "sound" in each well-orchestrated world: Weber, Mahler and Tchaikovsky. I reckon that I hadn't experienced Der Freischutz in the flesh for over 40 years and I was delighted that the LPO burnished it so brightly and lovingly.

I'd heard the Mahler a few years ago at the RAH in a marvellous performance with Christian Gerhaher as the excellent singer. Would Alice Coote's interpretation be eclipsed by those memories? No she was not, she told the stories vividly with a fine rich, chest register and some delightful high soft notes. The careful pointing of the accompaniment by Jurowski had me chortling like a delighted baby.

The Tchaikovsky is a tour de force but Jurowski, my favourite amongst the rising stars , is too knowing a musician to let rip. He stands still and delivers through economy of movement held in check by, maybe, a greater knowledge of form than Tchaikosvky exhibited. Excellent speeds and fine, rhythmic playing, with the woodwind outstanding, made this a superb performance. Though I rocked along with Alison at the fat organ, I was a little worried. Surely, Tchaikosky stipulated that a harmonium should be used? Doesn't the texture, full of doom as a Man travels to Hell & beyond opens to reveal a distant vision of the humble faithful, safe in their rural church, listening to their modest instrument? Using the full might of the RAH instrument changes the story to that of a man on Judgement Day - somewhat akin to that great chord in Elgar's Gerontius. Small point, and, anyway, the "fat one" made for a greater ending. Jurowski - you nailed it, Man !

[BBMmk2]

Well this is another [prom I will have to catch up on iplayer. Be great to hear this live!

[Ferretfancy]

Microphones sometimes pick up coughing which doesn't intrude so much in the hall. Considering the humidity last night, I thought the audience was very attentive. Jurowski was soaked with sweat at the end, and the orchestra looked relieved when they were finally allowed to leave after giving us such fine playing.

[Petrushka]

Night of a Thousand Coughs

I was in the hall for this and agree with Alison and edashtav that this was a high class concert.

Alison, don't know if you were there but the cymbal player went at it with great gusto.

Ajajajh, I was also at that Temirkanov performance and found the truncated version a total travesty.

However, this fine Prom was all but ruined by the dreaded coughers. Yes, it was a very hot night but by no means the hottest I've known and the rest of the audience managed without problem. I've been going to the Proms since 1978 and have never coughed once during the music even when I was ill with a dreadful cold. There is really no excuse for the increasing inconsiderate behaviour.

Proms audiences used to be famed for the silent attention given to the music but this can no longer be true. The note in the programme requesting patrons to desist from coughing is clearly insufficient and the Albert Hall management must give some thought to making a more specific request, perhaps from the PA system or even from the stage. Those of us who make long and expensive trips to get there find the continual 'noises off' increasingly dismaying.

[Estelle]

Petrushka,
In my listening from home this season, nothing tops that strange shouted exclamation from the depths of the hall during an exquisitely soft passage in Mozart's Flute Concerto played by Sir James Galway during Prom 28 (4 August). it was shocking. Galway, the consummate professional, didn't miss a beat.

[Alison]

Oh poor Pet, the coughing was unusually noticeable on the radio and spoilt my enjoyment too. I hardly feel like listening to my recording on that account. In Jurowski we surely have a LPO chief conductor worthy to follow in the great tradition of Solti, Tennstedt and Haitink and my lasting memory of the concert will be the quite outstanding musicianship of conductor and orchestra alike. It's kind of disappointing to see so few responses here to this concert which should have stretched our repertoire of superlatives like few other Proms this year.

[Petrushka]

I don't think we are seeing the usual flood of 'lurkers turned posters' this season as previously.

[Simon B]

Ordinarily I would have wanted to attend this, but with an exceptional supply of appealing fare this season (I had trouble narrowing it down to just 18 - a fairly ridiculous tally for someone not based near London) and having been to the recent RFH Manfred with the same forces, I passed.

From the broadcast it sounded a similarly classy performance - with one major advantage in the shape of the RAH organ rather than the feebly weedy excuse for an instrument currently available in the RFH. I've read elsewhere that Tchaikovsky actually intended a harmonium. Anything is better than the tradition of lopping off the original "flawed" ending altogether, but I'm glad that the recent trend has been of historically disinformed performance practice via giving it some welly on a proper organ. Perhaps it isn't what Tchaikovsky intended but it seems to me to work very well to make the coda sound convincing rather than an ungainly afterthought.

The cymbal player was probably the always-superb Andrew Barclay as in the earlier RFH performance, it sounds like his trademark thoughtfully differentiated and hard-edged attack. The thing I've been missing in the Proms I've attended so far is the sort of brilliance and dynamic playing the LPO provided last night - so often it's the top London orchestras that bring this like no others. I'm hoping the LSO will oblige in Cinderella on Weds - a perfect candidate for their bright, gleaming-edged "powerhouse" sound and peerless percussion section - if Gergiev is in the mood rather than on autopilot that is...

As for the coughing last night - it sounds ridiculous at times on the broadcast. Contrast that with the RVW Prom 2 days before. Snobby it may sound, but I suspect Saturday night audience syndrome. Tchaikovsky on the program, "just" the LPO doing standard-ish fare so tickets not snapped up largely by the most determined. Either that or ENT doctors in London should suddenly be doing a roaring trade...