Prom 1: First Night of the Proms

[Suffolkcoastal]

Overall thoughts: I didn't like the Anderson at all, the Britten wasn't bad though 'Dawn' was a little rhythmically square. Hough's performance of the Rachmaninov was very mannered and generally the whole performance was rather flat, and I must say I prefer the Lutoslawski in its original two piano version. I thought Oramo did a good job on the RVW, I was particularly impressed with his shaping of the final movement and he gave it the space it needs. Roderick Williams was superb, and Sally Matthews good, but I can never get Sheila Armstrong out of my head in this work, she had it spot on for me.
I just kept muting as much as possible every time KD opened her mouth so it didn't spoil the broadcast.

[Mary Chambers]

Hate to moan bhut did we have to end on such a long held shot of Oramo`s sweat-soaked face...?!

I agree! Had to look away.

I also agree with earlier post that the RVW is much more interesting to sing than to listen to. I'm not sure I've ever heard it before from the outside, so to speak, and I did find it much more rambling and long-winded than I expected..

[Petrushka]

Hate to moan bhut did we have to end on such a long held shot of Oramo`s sweat-soaked face...?!

That's television for you, I'm afraid. The distant shot from the gallery would have been better. The RVW will never convince me but this was as good a performance as we're likely to get. Some audio drop outs on Freeview.

[marvin]

Just a note on the TV presentation: I don't think Katie can have consulted the BBC's own pronunciation unit's searchable online database on how to pronounce Lutosławski.

Here we go again. There's always one pedant to find fault. I know in the past I have been very critical of Ms Dereham with her over egged attempts of foreign pronunciation and I suppose she could have said 'Lutoswaffski' or something like that but hell, does it matter. It's music for the masses.

[EdgeleyRob]

Missed the first half.

RVW's magnificent Sea Symphony (why does it get such a bad press?)what a performance.
Super music,super playing,super singing.

'questionings, baffled, formless',.....riveting,moving......I am in bits.

[Nick Armstrong]

Damn fine playing from Mr. Hough, I thought.

Notes all there, but it sounds to me such stiff and unsmiling playing (struck me on the radio, reinforced catching up with the TV broadcast). I found the Rachmaninov very uninvolving And I love the piece!

[Nick Armstrong]

RVW's magnificent Sea Symphony (why does it get such a bad press?)what a performance.
Super music,super playing,super singing.

'questionings, baffled, formless',.....riveting,moving......I am in bits.

Largely agreed! Chorally wonderful with v good orchestral support, and Roderick Williams is simply fantastic I cannot imagine the solo baritone part being better sung. Perfect.

My reservations: I just don't like Sally Matthews's voice at all ... and Oramo didn't seem to me to take the opening fanfare by the scruff of its neck (ditto on its reappearances) - that seemed oddly limp, unlike the rest (i.e. the vast majority) of the performance...

[jayne lee wilson]

Something of my "worst fears confirmed" about Part One tonight.

Anderson's "Harmony" - starkly clear, dynamic and articulate. Great piece, brilliant opener. The Britten Interludes began well but couldn't quite maintain their virtuosity through the Storm. Whatever the seriousness of their origin, they function as an orchestral display piece in concerts like this, and to follow them with the Paganini Rhapsody - another "showpiece with depth" - felt wrong from the start. And sounded it, as the orchestral playing rarely rose above the routine (sometimes rather worse) and Stephen Hough's phrasing was awkward and mannered, lacking flow - most damagingly in the anticipatory 17th variation, all but ruining the famous climactic variation which follows. Throughout this performance I found myself wincing. Both here and in the Lutoslawski, the orchestral sound or "blend" was poor too, lacking discipline and internal balance. And to hear the Paganini theme AGAIN at the start of the Lutoslawski felt so obviously "once too often" as to leave you nonplussed as to why anyone could have programmed it there.

In the TV Series Twin Peaks (bear with me) there's a scene in which the Stag's Head from the Police Station wall is seen lying awkwardly on a table. A detective gives the receptionist a look and she says "it fell down". A reviewer of the time suggested that the director David Lynch was of the "leave it in" school; if a mistake happened on camera, that was his response.

After the Anderson was decided upon, you worry that whoever planned this concert took the same approach to the three pieces which followed...

***
(Heard on HDs-Hi; dinner to cook, so VW too long and late (excuses...); thanks to Edashtav for his witty and affectionate account of it.)

[Pabmusic]

I haven't listened to this (or seen it) yet, but until it appears on iPlayer I thought I'd prepare myself for the Sea Symphony.

And I found this. It's a letter from George Butterworth to RVW about the first performance of A London Symphony, which had taken place the evening before:

Dear Ralph,

Among the debauch of last night's congratulations and mutual pattings on the back, I really had nothing much to add, but should now like to tell you how frightfully glad I am that you have at last achieved something worthy of your gifts...[he talks about the quality of the performance, which must have been good] ...it is still possible that the Sea Symphony & Mystical Songs may turn out equally well - but at present they're not in the same class...Meanwhile here's to Symphony no. 2!

It is clear from the context that 'Symphony no. 2' referred to a yet-to-be-written work, and that (despite its title) Butterworth didn't regard A Sea Symphony as being a 'symphony'.

Now consider this. It's RVW writing about Butterworth for inclusion in the privately-published memorial volume. By this time he had written A Pastoral Symphony:

...At the end of the evening just as [Butterworth] was getting up to go he said in his characteristically abrupt way "You know, you ought to write a symphony". From that moment the idea of a symphony - a thing which I had always declared I would never attempt - dominated my mind. I showed the sketches to George bit by bit as they were finished - and it was then that I realised that he possessed, in common with very few composers, a wonderful power of criticism of other men's work and insight into their ideas and motives. [my emphasis]

The symphony was A London Symphony, which is dedicated to Butterworth. Again, it is clear that RVW wasn't thinking of A Sea Symphony as being a 'symphony' in the way that the London and Pastoral were.

Clearly RVW was content for A Sea Symphony to be included eventually in the canon, but I think these snippets allow us to view it in a slightly different light.

[Nick Armstrong]

Notes all there, but it sounds to me such stiff and unsmiling playing (struck me on the radio, reinforced catching up with the TV broadcast). I found the Rachmaninov very uninvolving And I love the piece!

"....Stephen Hough delivering Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on Paganini's theme with characteristic sparkle and dazzle... There was not a trace of keyboard warhorse in Hough's brightly coloured treatment of the Rachmaninov, instead almost a chamber music feel to the score, with delicious interplay between Hough and a succession of woodwind and string soloists. No needless wallow in the celebrated 18th variation either, with Hough limpid and restrained and Oramo, keenly attentive throughout, allowing the orchestra only briefly off the leash."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jul/13/first-night-proms-royal-albert-hall-review?CMP=twt_fd

Seems as if it came across somewhat differently in the hall.

Look forward to reports from those who were there...

[antongould]

enjoyable and insightful interval feature (I thought)

don't we get online programme notes this year ? they were so good last year

Yes I enjoyed the interval feature too mercs - interesting thoughts on the love of the boards Beethoven 9.

Sadly like you I have yet to find the notes...............

[ardcarp]

I'm with Caliban about the Rach. Yes, Hough is technically brilliant, but I wonder if nerves pure and simple got the better of both him and Oramo for about the first three variations? Nothing 'wrong' exactly, but the liaison between the two seemed strained, and it did not have its usual flow and swagger. Hough is not one to 'emote' overmuch while playing, but I think I'd almost have preferred Lang Lang than that strained, anguished look!

As far as programming the Rach and the Lutoslawski back to back, was this a good idea? The latter is a fantastic piece, but it clearly owes a lot to the former, and I'd just about had enough of DEE di diddle diddle DEE by the end of it.

Great to see all those young choirs mixed in for the RVW...and yes Roderick Williams' voice was just terrific. Reminded me of Shirley Quirk at his best.

[Mary Chambers]

I always find Stephen Hough mesmerising. Could be something to do with those slightly mad eyes, though in fact he always comes across as very sane indeed in conversation and his writings. Extraordinary man, with so many interests and abilities. Needless to say I enjoyed his contribution very much.

[mercia]

is Leaves of Grass considered great poetry ? I'm just amazed VW was inspired to write such majestic music from such, well, silly words (IMO) - heaving breasts, husky nurses (what ?), lots of pennants and mates

perhaps I need to try harder with them

[ardcarp]

RVW has oft been chastised for his choice. But we are talking of the first decade of the 20thC when RVW's discovery of Whitman might have been seen as a breath of (slightly daring) fresh air. This is only from Wiki, but.....

[Leaves of Grass] is notable for its discussion of delight in sensual pleasures during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. Where much previous poetry, especially English, relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, Leaves of Grass (particularly the first edition) exalted the body and the material world. Influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist movement, itself an offshoot of Romanticism, Whitman's poetry praises nature and the individual human's role in it. However, much like Emerson, Whitman does not diminish the role of the mind or the spirit; rather, he elevates the human form and the human mind, deeming both worthy of poetic praise.

Are we judging RVW with the benefits of hindsight? Think of the total **** that the likes of Granville Bantock set to 'music' !