Prom 73 (6.9.12): Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra – Beethoven & Bruckner

[Nick Armstrong]

I felt curiously unmoved by the Beethoven...
I had a different experience of the Bruckner. Notwithstanding my irritating disability I was knocked out by the performance - the first time I think I've heard the ninth live. I'm struggling to put this into words here. Haitink's vision, and control, of the transitions from pp to ff/fff passages was masterful; the scherzo had a coherence I've often found lacking in recorded and broadcast performances; the finale was simply magnificent. I thought the brass outstanding (I'd never before clocked the Wagner tubas only in the third movement - sad that Haitink overlooked them in the section calls) and the woodwind too - beautiful flute playing in particular.

Excellent post, kernel, which articulates some more of my own reaction too. (Sorry about the hearing niggle btw, good luck with its eradication - but I don't think it impaired your perceptions of this concert).

Reference to the flute playing reminded me of another thing that struck me powerfully last night. As long as one is not in the acoustic 'Bermuda triangle' at the back of the stalls, what a fantastic place the RAH is for Bruckner. I've long thought it, and have made a point of going to most of the Bruckner proms in the last 15 years or so.

The acoustic lends a huge extra element to the experience. The silences seem to speak, the climaxes expand, the layers blend yet remain separate. And at the risk of getting too purple, two particular things I found tremendous last night.

First was the way staccato chords (especially in the scherzo) seemed to blossom in the air (likewise the timp strokes) - nothing flat or dry about them. The second thing was the effect of that terrifying discordant fff climax in the third movement: when Haitink cut off the chord abruptly, the discord seemed to roll through the air to the back of the hall like an evil spirit, a sort of banshee that was still hovering malevolently at the back of the hall when the soft strings came in... at which point the evil spirit vanished. It was like an exorcism.

Unforgettable stuff

[kernelbogey]

I really hope the tall elegant man resurfaces, he sounds lovely !

I kept thinking 'Is this X from the Boards?...', 'Could it be Y...?' - and tho' I dropped a hint - I wasn't in uniform, you understand - he didn't pick it up....

[Belgrove]

I was in a similar vantage point to Caliban for this (that wasn't you quaffing champagne was it Caliban?) and agree entirely with those comments of how staggering the Bruckner sounded in the hall.

The Beethoven was intimate, looking back to Mozart's innovations in the form rather than forward to romantic developments. But as the strings stole in, one could immediately hear that the richness of tone associated with the VPO is for real. I liked the chamber approach taken. In retrospect it formed a refreshing contrast to the massive sonority of the Bruckner.

The symphony was awesome. I recall seeing Haitink conduct this in the early 1980's (with the LPO?) which was a more emotionally charged reading. But Thursday's account was vast in scope and vision. I have never heard a more weighty brass section, and the woodwinds sounded surprisingly bluesy in the second and third movements.

Haitink gave us visionary Brahms at last year's Proms with the COE. This year he gave us an entirely different perspective on late 19th century symphonic thought. And let us not forget what a strange work the 9th is. How it must have baffled those who first heard it. Like a Mass sans voices.

It was a privilege to hear the VPO live (for the first time), and in music so suited to their sound and so lofty of intent. A concert to remember.

[Nick Armstrong]

I was in a similar vantage point to Caliban for this (that wasn't you quaffing champagne was it Caliban?)

Ah... ...ahem... ...which one? There were quite a few... Actually I was more on the water, as I had before the concert enjoyed a pint of Spitfire with (indeed, been generously stood a pint of Spitfire by) one of the Hon. Members here

[kernelbogey]

....I had before the concert enjoyed a pint of Spitfire with (indeed, been generously stood a pint of Spitfire by) one of the Hon. Members here...[/COLOR]

I say, was that entirely sporting of the two of you - on the way to a concert of German and Austrian rep?

[Alf-Prufrock]

If the tall elegantly attired gent next to me with whom I chatted about completions of this symphony and Elgar 3 is a member I'd be interested to know...

Perhaps he does not recognise himself from this description. I have not yet recovered from being described some time ago as a 'dapper, dandy fellow'. He should see me in my summer cardigan and slacks now.

ADDITION - I thought the Bruckner quite stunning in every way.