Prom 24 - 31.07.13: British Light Music

[mrbouffant]

It was very well received in the hall. The Bantock held my attention by virtue of its orchestration - so delicate in parts. The Elgar I think is a bit overblown - as a Nursery Suite it seemed destined to send me off to sleep despite some attractive moments. The solo playing in the orchestra was of high quality. I was always going to enjoy the Arnold but the soloists definitely brought something new to the piece (compared to the recordings available on CD) - the seductive theme of the first movement smouldered in the baking atmosphere of the hall, the second movement was sultry despite its apparent simplicity and the finale was both amusing and disconcerting in equal measure. Such a shame we didn't get an encore, but I guess with the late-night Prom they were erring on the side of caution. In the second half, the Walton went at a hell of a lick - the central big tune seemed a bit fast for my taste but it was all played with aplomb. The Coates seemed to be the weakest part of the concert in terms of musical ideas and material. I do feel that once you have heard one piece of Coates you have heard it all. However, this feeling was not shared by others around me. The Arnold dances sparkled and once again served to remind us what a master orchestrator he was. The Langford arrangement at the end came and went with oohs and aahs from some of the audience as they recognised this tune or that.

Good to see dear Barry W getting a lot of applause in the hall.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Looking forward to being in the hall and feeling the organ during Crown Imperial... :)

And to think that some people object when their neighbours use Kindle ...

[Nick Armstrong]

And to think that some people object when their neighbours use Kindle ...

Ferney!!

[BBMmk2]

Not kindling then!! :)

[cloughie]

Not kindling then!! :)

I suppose it's whatever lights it!

[amateur51]

I've only heard the Arnold so far. Maybe it was my mood having just blown in from France, but I found it came across as an embarrassingly bad piece

With respeck to ma learned friend, I feel that I need to step forward to provide a counter-view of the Arnold which was written for Cyril Smith, the virtuoso concert pianist and his duo partner Phyllis Sellick in response to the major changes in their life occasioned by Cyril's thrombosis and a major stroke that left him able to play only with his right hand.The piece received its Proms premiere played by its dedicatees in 1969 where it was so enthusiatically greeted that they had to replay the third movement as an encore.

The piece opens in a pastiche -style reminiscent of the very straightfaced opening to Dohnanyi's Variations on a Nursery Theme. The slow movement is certainly reminiscent as edashtav has pointed out of the Ravel G major piano concerto. The finale is as Caliban suggests reminiscent of Arnold's St Trinian's music but to me is none-the worse for that

I think it's a worthy tribute to a great British piano duo and as such it is a generous piece of work

[BBMmk2]

Here, here Cali!

[bluestateprommer]

That Ken Bruce could teach most of the Radio 3 lot how to present. Ease personified, unlike the uptight majority on 3.

Actually, I would respectfully disagree about Ken Bruce's presentation in places, namely where he gave a musical term, and then a flippant follow-up explanation, like "the second movement is marked Andantino, which to me translates as....". I don't really care what the term translates "to him" as, but simply translating it would have been fine. Given the ridicule heaped on Petroc in other places for being too casual, curious to see it forgiven with Ken Bruce in this instance. However, I will admit that KB and Petroc did make a good presentation team for this "joint" Prom, and that on average, KB was all right, the occasional "reverse patronizing" moment aside. I will also acknowledge that I'm probably the only person here who has never listened to Radio 2, and thus has never heard "Friday Night Is Music Night".

That aside, back to the music; this was an OK Prom, definitely on the unpretentious side. I agree with mrbouffant about the Elgar, definitely too long for its material, and also about how surprisingly brisk the Walton was, where a bit of stretching out would have been welcome, but never mind. The Bantock was a touch long for its material, but not to the extent of the Elgar. I have to admit that I still have residual memories of the Malcolm Arnold Two Piano/Three Hands Concerto recording with MA himself conducting in my head, so that any live performance will have to suffer by comparison, but Kathryn Stott and Noriko Ogawa did it generally well. It was a nice surprise to hear the vocal shout from the orchestra at one moment in the finale. I wonder if that shout is in the score.