Prom 63 (30.8.12): Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thursday 30 August at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Ligeti: Atmosphères (8 mins)
Wagner: Lohengrin – Prelude (Act I) (7 mins)
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor (33 mins)
Debussy: Jeux (18 mins)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe – Suite No. 2 (17 mins)

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor

The Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle return to the Proms for the first of two concerts with an evening of wide-ranging sonic adventure.

In the first half they present three different approaches to the experience of calm, firstly in Ligeti's slowly shifting sound-clouds, then with Wagner's sustained stillness through to Sibelius's most formidable and bleak evocation of a frozen landscape. The French second half is, in contrast, all about movement and dance. Tennis is not the only game played in Debussy's flirtatious ballet Jeux, while Ravel's suite, drawn from his famous ballet begins with a sunrise and ends in an orgy.

[Simon B]

Even from a seat almost in the orchestra (which worked surprisingly well),... what a sound. How do they do it? The double basses - astonishing. Er, what a sound.

The whole concert really - what a sound.

The Debussy was the high point for me. Um, the sound!

Rattle could have ratcheted up the tension at the end of Daphnis mind. But, well, what a sound.

Spot the theme.

[edashtav]

Thursday 30 August at 7.30 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Ligeti: Atmosphères (8 mins)
Wagner: Lohengrin – Prelude (Act I) (7 mins)
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor (33 mins)
Debussy: Jeux (18 mins)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe – Suite No. 2 (17 mins)

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor

The Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle return to the Proms for the first of two concerts with an evening of wide-ranging sonic adventure.

In the first half they present three different approaches to the experience of calm, firstly in Ligeti's slowly shifting sound-clouds, then with Wagner's sustained stillness through to Sibelius's most formidable and bleak evocation of a frozen landscape. The French second half is, in contrast, all about movement and dance. Tennis is not the only game played in Debussy's flirtatious ballet Jeux, while Ravel's suite, drawn from his famous ballet begins with a sunrise and ends in an orgy.

Well, well, EA shall I present a calm sea and report my prosperous voyage through the BPO and Sir Simon's view of Ligeti, Wagner & Sibelius?
I'm afraid not.
I won't comment on the Lohengrin prelude - I'm blind to Wagner's charms - but I'm afraid that I didn't enjoy Sibelius's 4th symphony, notwithstanding the quality of execution that was the finest that I've ever encountered. There were a huge number of moments of amazing orchestral finess,e and the love and care that were spent on the piece were evident and noteworthy. I shall be in a minority, I know, but the question kept popping into my brain - can an orchestra encouraged by a techically gifted conductor be TOO GOOD to play a work? Where I wanted crags, discontinuities, and sudden jolts, all was smooth, rich and glowing with inner warmth. I concede that Rattle had a vision of other worlds, of a piece about things universal and not earth-bound, but where was the primeval spirit of the turmoil of creation, the great commotion as stars collapsed into cataclysmic black holes? As so often with Rattle, I loved the minutiae but hated the minutes.

What a shame that dinner took me away from Jeux - one of my favourite scores and one that I'd be confident that Rattle's attention to detail would enhance. I returned to Ravel's masterful Daphnis & Chloe. This is all about glitter and precision of detail. It was glorious. Whilst the orgy sounded strangely pre-scripted - I've never been involved in one in the flesh, so to speak, but always entertained the notion that they were about an excess of personal freedom, self-expression and liberation - it was full of technicolor and miraculous, rhythmic detailing. One slight quibble - why does this Ravel score appear so frequently across the Prom seasons, I wonder? I could suggest other, ignored, orchestral show-pieces that could act as substitutes from time to time.

But, I must end on a positive note - could any orchestra past or present - beat the verve & accuracy of the BPO under Sir Simon in this work ? Their achievement was staggering and, for a while, caused a full eclipse in my mind's eye, blinding me to their misjudgement of the Sibelius earlier in the evening.

[DracoM]

Ligeti: Atmosphères was for me star of the show. Astonishing musicianship to bring off so hair-raising a piece involving milli=-microtones, rock steady intonation and responsiveness to each other. Genuinely wonderful. And so full of menace, wonder, evocation of things beyond science to explain still in our universe.
Wagner: Lohengrin: OK, bit sucrose, fine violins.
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 - good, BUT the markings in the finale are rather less than the somewhat bleak route Rattle took.

'Fraid for me it all rather went downhill after that. Staggering playing, but..well, just not very French in lilt and swing. Can't put my finger on it.

[Roehre]

.....But, I must end on a positive note - could any orchestra past or present - beat the verve & accuracy of the BPO under Sir Simon in this work ? .....

Concertgebouw/Haitink

[Nick Armstrong]

Concertgebouw/Haitink

Seconded

[Tapiola]

Ligeti: Atmosphères was for me star of the show. Astonishing musicianship to bring off so hair-raising a piece involving milli=-microtones, rock steady intonation and responsiveness to each other. Genuinely wonderful. And so full of menace, wonder, evocation of things beyond science to explain still in our universe.
Wagner: Lohengrin: OK, bit sucrose, fine violins.
Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 - good, BUT the markings in the finale are rather less than the somewhat bleak route Rattle took.

'Fraid for me it all rather went downhill after that. Staggering playing, but..well, just not very French in lilt and swing. Can't put my finger on it.

I half-expect a roasting, but...

Listening at home, on FM...

Great programme, wonderfully finessed playing (as expected from this Rolls Royce of orchestras - cruise control...), lousy interpretation of the Ligeti and Sibelius (bands like this will play the other two works in their sleep). To my mind, Rattle does not "get" Ligeti. From what I heard over the radio, the seemlessness that Ligeti prescribed from Rosbaud for the first performance (no breaks in continuity), despite the best efforts of the BPO, was scuppered by The Gurner.

I have always thought that he was out of his depth with this amazing orchestra.

I'll get my coat, and my grey afro wig...

[Ferretfancy]

Concertgebouw/Haitink

Absolutely, Roehre, and for my money he would do well in the Ravel and Sibelius as well.

The huge opulence of the Berlin Phil in the hall was certainly something, but where was the tension? The segue from the Ligeti to the Wagner was impressive, but I heard none of the radiance that the Lohengrin Prelude surely requires. The Sibelius was certainly beautiful in sound, but this symphony should have a stark quality, perhaps a little peremptory at times. Everything tonight was smoothed over and plush. The last few bars should say " That's it, you can go now " instead we got a sort of sad fairwell.

A very disappointing evening, the last prom I can attend this season. I'm having a new right knee installed tomorrow - 7am at the hospital, so I'll sign off for a while, not too long I hope.

Ferret

[Nick Armstrong]

. I'm having a new right knee installed tomorrow - 7am at the hospital, so I'll sign off for a while, not too long I hope.

Ferret

Very best wishes Ff

[Tapiola]

Seconded. All the best, Ferret, for tomorrow!

[HighlandDougie]

Absolutely, Roehre, and for my money he would do well in the Ravel and Sibelius as well.

The huge opulence of the Berlin Phil in the hall was certainly something, but where was the tension? The segue from the Ligeti to the Wagner was impressive, but I heard none of the radiance that the Lohengrin Prelude surely requires. The Sibelius was certainly beautiful in sound, but this symphony should have a stark quality, perhaps a little peremptory at times. Everything tonight was smoothed over and plush. The last few bars should say " That's it, you can go now " instead we got a sort of sad fairwell.

A very disappointing evening, the last prom I can attend this season. I'm having a new right knee installed tomorrow - 7am at the hospital, so I'll sign off for a while, not too long I hope.

Ferret

FF

As the possessor of 2 replaced hips (a wee bit less complex than knees), life has been so much better afterwards so the very best for ... err today. Just remember to take it easy afterwards.

HD

[jayne lee wilson]

The problem with criticising a performance of Sibelius 4 as too smooth, too plush etc., is the implication that there are only a limited number of possible interpretations. Whilst that may be true absolutely, why should it not be valid to offer a more richly-voiced approach? Rattle said in the broadcast snippets of an interview that he saw the first movement of the 4th as Wagner mixed with Ligeti (I paraphrase), and listening on the HD stream the wide dynamic range and sharply-defined articulation made for anything but a "smooth, safe" impression. It wasn't jagged, no, but presented a full-throated post-Wagnerian music drama to the ear. Think of the subtle Wagnerian inheritance shown by Debussy's Pelleas.

Part of Rattle's (and other so-called revisionist conductors') point is that any music will indeed become "safe" and anaesthetised if not continuously recreated i.e performed from a different angle. If Sibelius always sounds a bit bleak and spare, we'll soon stop noticing those very qualities. I would prefer a much bolder interpretative approach to symphonic conducting of those works of the past now perceived as "core repertoire" to bring them to life more often. Look at the HIPS performances of Beethoven, the best of which serve as a living critique of "big-band" readings, placing them in a new (and usually unflattering) context. Why shouldn't the same be true of Sibelius performances, given that he is using a post-Wagnerian orchestra in highly original ways?

As one who grew up with "Atmospheres" - always in my head from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, those associations have been hard to shift. But I loved Rattle's performance tonight: the alien sonorities, the strangely static flow and continuity were marvellously offset by - yes, "that sound" - the power-in-reserve of a great orchestra which can do what it likes.

With Rattle conducting, the star-child took control of the spaceship.

[Pabmusic]

...Spot the theme.

But what did you think of the sound?

[salymap]

Thirded, good luck and best wishes Ferret

[Alison]

Fresh angles are fine if they convince.