Prom 51 (21.8.12): Glinka, Howard & Shostakovich

[LeMartinPecheur]

We're planning to go and stand for No 10 on Thursday.

Nice one Gurnemanz. May your bid for the highest state office prosper (though don't you think that the royal 'we' is creeping in a bit early??).

Must admit that the calling of a General Election has somehow passed me by however...

PS Admission of idiocy I know but that really was how I read your mention of 'No 10' for a split second

[Simon B]

Last thing I'd want to do is (as I fear some occasionally do in messageboard reactions to concerts) try to retrospectively deflate anyone's enjoyment (which isn't really the right word for this piece), particularly JLW - whose reaction to the RLPO Leningrad earlier this year was exactly like mine but much better expressed!

However, honesty compels me to say that while there was much to enjoy in the playing, Nelsons' interpretation did little for me. I felt absolutely no cumulative tension whatsoever, it was far too pretty. From where I was sat he was smiling and revelling in the lovely sounds the CBSO (consistently tremendous orchestra these days) were making. Petrenko, on the other hand, looked ashen, grey, drained. In either case, so much posturing by stick wavers perhaps (Ariosto would probably agree on that at least!) but that works as a metaphor for what I missed tonight.

It'd be out of character for me not to add something like this - so, plaudits to Cliff Pick for battering the CBSO bass drum into the middle of next week - and Adrian Spillett (former BBC YMOTY) wasn't bad on snare drum either!

[Flosshilde]

But was it any good?

[amac4165]

L

However, honesty compels me to say that while there was much to enjoy in the playing, Nelsons' interpretation did little for me. I felt absolutely no cumulative tension whatsoever, it was far too pretty. From where I was sat he was smiling and revelling in the lovely sounds the CBSO (consistently tremendous orchestra these days) were making.

Yes it certainly was not the stark and dark piece it can be be in the hands of some conductors - I real only noticed it at the end when the ending did not seem quite as bright.

None the less compelling and for me - symphonic highlight of the Season .... thus far

amac

ps don't remember what happened in the first half - nor particularly care

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm very surprised by the comments about a lack of tension - this was a fast and cogent reading, very distinctly shaped and genuinely "directed", far beyond literal accuracy. The massive climaxes - 1st movement "requiem", 3rd movement rampaging after the tender flute/cello theme, then the final onslaught heralded by those glinting, malevolent firebird fanfares - were unerringly placed and those in (iii) and (iv) were some of the loudest sounds I've heard on the HD stream. (Never forget all these comments are "as broadcast" on AAC 320).

More specifically regarding SQ - the first movement's climax was a little dry and shut in, but the dynamic peaks in (iii) and (iv) opened out splendidly. The bright cutting edge of the string cantilenas in (iii) was aptly lacerating! It was a warm sound for DSCH though I would never have called it Straussian - it was dynamically too extreme for that (those sudden surges in (ii)!) - and recordings as differentiated as Kondrashin or Maxim Shostakovich (in Prague) are also very full, rich and weighty - No.7 is a technicolor statement, a work of Socialist Realism which yet admits the truth of death, horror and defiance; this needs a fair amount of sheer orchestral heft. I'm surprised that anyone would consider it "stark and dark" (in whichever conductors' hands) - which terms are more apt to 4, 9 or 15.

The finale, whose thematic material can seem ordinary, was brilliantly done - the allegro fast and tight, really drilled home before the central episode falls quiet and the tension builds.

The balance was immaculate, revealing the distinct character of the CBSO and the wide-ranging colours and textures that Nelsons brought out, from delicate to brutal.

Perhaps listeners at home got the best of it - but we await further reports...

[kernelbogey]

It's the banality, wit, terror and tragedy all rolled into one that make this symphony so unique.....

I just don't get the symphonies of Shostakovich, so didn't listen last night. I've dipped elsewhere in his music, but I have the sense that I should need to study the context, background etc of his life and work to understand them, and somehow resent all that - feeling that the music should speak directly. But I'm always put off by the 'banality' and bombast. Probably my loss, I imagine.

[Mahlerei]

Nelsons has done some fine Shostakovich. His Berlin DSCH8 - available in the DCH Archive - and his RCO performance at last year's Lucerne Festival - on DVD/Blu-ray - are exceptional performances, full of drama and insight.

Which is why I look forward to hearing this 'Leningrad' on iPlayer.

[salymap]

Nelsons has done some fine Shostakovich. His Berlin DSCH8 - available in the DCH Archive - and his RCO performance at last year's Lucerne Festival - on DVD/Blu-ray - are exceptional performances, full of drama and insight.

Which is why I look forward to hearing this 'Leningrad' on iPlayer.

And I hope to catch up with it later

[cloughie]

Glinka:Ruslan and Lyudmila – overture (5 mins)

Why do they keep changing the spelling as they do with Mussourgsky?

[salymap]

Why do they keep changing the spelling as they do with Mussourgsky?

Lots of names have changed over the years. When I did magazine adverts Tchaik was Tschaikowski and gradually became more user-friendly I assume. The same with others, usually the Russians.

[Mahlerei]

Sal

And remember when Beijing was Peking, and Mumbai was Bombay? I remember a poster on the old MB who got very worked up about this, saying it was all part of a Sinister Plot.

[salymap]

Sal

And remember when Beijing was Peking, and Mumbai was Bombay? I remember a poster on the old MB who got very worked up about this, saying it was all part of a Sinister Plot.

Mahlerei, the Sinister Plot is that I used to live in Kent. Now I must call it 'Greater London'.

Bestio

[kernelbogey]

Originally Posted by Eine Alpensinfonie
Glinka:Ruslan and Lyudmila – overture (5 mins)

Why do they keep changing the spelling as they do with Mussourgsky?

It's to keep up with the accuracy of Ms Derham's pronunciation

[Mahlerei]

It's to keep up with the accuracy of Ms Derham's pronunciation

Funny you should say that, because I could have sworn she referred to the Sao Paulo band as San Paulo...

[gurnemanz]

Lots of names have changed over the years. When I did magazine adverts Tchaik was Tschaikowski and gradually became more user-friendly I assume. The same with others, usually the Russians.

For me, "Tschaikowski" would be the German spelling, (cf Schostakowitsch)