Prom 23 - 30.07.13: Mozart, Schumann & Sibelius

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

7.30pm – c. 10.00pm
Royal Albert Hall

Mozart
Masonic Funeral Music, K477 (6 mins)
Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major (38 mins)
INTERVAL
Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K503 (33 mins)
Sibelius
Symphony No. 7 in C major (23 mins)

Paul Lewis piano, New Generation Artist
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Daniel Harding conductor

Daniel Harding returns to the Proms after 10 years, directing the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with which he has a long association, in a programme exploring the subtly different properties of the keys of C major and C minor. Paul Lewis is the soloist in Mozart's majestic C major Piano Concerto No 25, which contrasts with the composer's austerely beautiful Masonic Funeral Music. Two great symphonies acutely expressive of light and shade, Schumann's Second and Sibelius's Seventh, complete an imaginative and stimulating sequence of works.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'd no idea Daniel Harding had been "absent" for so long.

[BBMmk2]

That does seem quite incredable! Unfortunately, only the Sibelius, holds my interest with this prom.

[Barbirollians]

That does seem quite incredable! Unfortunately, only the Sibelius, holds my interest with this prom.

Give K503 a chance BBM - it is a wonderful work and I look forward to hearing Paul Lewis in it . Also we have the delights of Schumann 2 with its stunningly beautiful slow movement.

[cloughie]

That does seem quite incredable! Unfortunately, only the Sibelius, holds my interest with this prom.

Bbm - I know we all have our own tastes and favourites but you're missing out big time!

[amateur51]

An interesting programme with a top-class pianist, conductor & orchestra - I'm looking forward to it

[slarty]

What a wonderful concert programme. Should be very good indeed.

[cloughie]

Schumann 2 sounded lacking in gravitas.

[pilamenon]

Schumann 2 sounded lacking in gravitas.

Yes, it was delightfully light on its feet.

[Sir Velo]

Yes, it was delightfully light on its feet.

Good to hear those accretions of solemnity stripped away to something more akin to what Schumann would have heard.

[amateur51]

Schumann 2 sounded lacking in gravitas.

I was disappointed by the slow movement which was kept flowing rather more quickly than I'd anticipated but otherwise I thought it was a good performance. The Mozart piano concerto was full of good things and after a rather quiet start the Sibelius certainly grew and grew to a wonderful if not quite Berglundian conclusion

[pianoronald]

And what a great performance of K 503 it was! I heard Piotr Anderszewski play it earlier this year in Edinburgh and Glasgow - fantastic performances - and Paul Lewis was also terrific last night! Brilliant first movement cadenza by Alfred Brendel.

[edashtav]

Good to hear those accretions of solemnity stripped away to something more akin to what Schumann would have heard.

Absolutely right, Sir Velo. I'm wondering, though, about the impact of such a performance in the vast and often distant space of the RAH.

I enjoyed Paul Lewis's account of the Mozart. Again it was full of sweetness and light - with those aspects echoed well by the responsive orchestra. This time, I was thinking - if Lewis had played on a less resonant, more sharply etched fortepiano, how would Harding and his band have played? I suppose that's just a tiny concern about period practice. Paul Lewis obviously appreciated the broad palettte offered by a modern piano (Steinway?) but does he err a little too much towards a warm, singing, lyrical tone? But... within its own chosen territory: a fine and loving interpretation. Did other listeners find, as I did, that the balance engineers had Paul Lewis a little close compared with recessive upper woodwinds?

[jayne lee wilson]

I could only give intelligent attention to the Mozart k.503, but Paul Lewis played it BEAUTIFULLY. A lovely blend of precision and cantabile. But the orchestra seemed to me a little impersonal here, restrained both tonally and dynamically. (The MCO are capable of great things as accompanists - to wit their Beethoven 1&3 with Andsnes). Paul Lewis was balanced slightly close (not as erringly so as the violin in that Prokofiev 2nd, also with an over-respectful accompaniment..), but it didn't trouble me too much. It would certainly have been interesting to hear him on a fortepiano with a more textured and characterful orchestra (authentic or not).

Glad if the Sibelius 7 concluded well, but the 7th's length/depth disproportion offers a problem - it never seems right at the end of a mixed programme - does it? I feel its stature is reduced. It works very well after No. 6, less so following Tapiola... no, I'd rather hear it contexted after some ethereal choral music, say Ligeti's Lux Aeterna, with Sibelius' own Rakastava before that. The 7th "comes from somewhere else" and needs a different kind of space.

[Tapiola]

Sibelius ... 7th's length/depth disproportion offers a problem - it never seems right at the end of a mixed programme - does it? I feel its stature is reduced. It works very well after No. 6, less so following Tapiola... The 7th "comes from somewhere else" and needs a different kind of space.

I thought I heard my name taken in vain, jlw and am in complete agreement about the 7th. Personally speaking, I think Tapiola works only at the end of a programme. I have heard it open concerts many times but have always felt the sadness and mystery of the final major chord works best at the conclusion of an evening's music-making. The audience doesn't automatically need a bang at the end.