Prom 39 - 12.08.13: Holst, Nishat Khan & Vaughan Williams

[DracoM]

Yes, I love the sitar, but I agree that the piece was a good 15 mins too long.
Anyway, I'd FAR rather hear a proper sitar etcetc recital that this almost Bollywood-esque manifestation.

Don't the prommers themselves know how much their inter-movement applause is irritating others in the audience as well as radio listeners?

[pilamenon]

The orchestral accompaniment to the sitar was bland, anodyne stuff, interesting that it was scored by someone else - it got in the way of my appreciation of the sitar rather than commenting on it/interacting with it in any stimulating way. The Albert Hall is a perfect venue for the sitar in its own right (as discussed elsewhere) and I missed that sense of total repose and contemplation that would have come with Nishat Khan playing alone, or with tabla.

Enjoyed the bits of the symphony that I heard. As remarked earlier, good to have David Atherton back with this orchestra - I remember with pleasure him conducting them in Holst's Choral Symphony not many years ago.

[Bryn]

Yes, I love the sitar, but I agree that the piece was a good 15 mins too long.
Anyway, I'd FAR rather hear a proper sitar etcetc recital that this almost Bollywood-esque manifestation.

Don't the prommers themselves know how much their inter-movement applause is irritating others in the audience as well as radio listeners?

Cont. p. 94.

[Ferretfancy]

Although I was standing only about 30 feet away, if that, there were times when the sitar was virtually inaudible,Mr khan was closely miked, so it may have sounded better at home. Frankly I thought it was 50 minutes of utter drivel, almost bereft of any structure or interest, the most tedious item at the Proms for quite some time. It's a pity, because the sitar is a fascinating instrument but there were simply no musicval ideas worthy of the name.

I was keen to hear the Holst, which I only know from David Atherton's Lyrita recording. Of course, this is a very early work, but enjoyable in its own right with a few indications of what was to come later. The Vaughan Williams was a good forthright performance, not up there with the giants but movingly done. I don't think he wrote anything better than the coda to this loveable piece.

[Serial_Apologist]

Listening right now to the Khan, one thing I am often struck by when listening to crossover type genres of music is the sacrifice entailed in one or another aspect crucial to the music being "fused" - in this case the tension and release mechanisms that constitute one of the main features of the listening experience in Indian classical music. You, Indian musicians, must give up this part of your musical form; in turn, we will give up harmonic expressiveness. In terms of money to be made for somebody willing to take the idea further, potentially, a good deal, don't you think?

[Ferretfancy]

Listening right now to the Khan, one thing I am often struck by when listening to crossover type genres of music is the sacrifice entailed in one or another aspect crucial to the music being "fused" - in this case the tension and release mechanisms that constitute one of the main features of the listening experience in Indian classical music. You, Indian musicians, must give up this part of your musical form; in turn, we will give up harmonic expressiveness. In terms of money to be made for somebody willing to take the idea further, potentially, a good deal, don't you think?

Neither fish nor fowl, I felt, and that is the nub of the problem. I would have liked to hear the full capability of the sitar, but most of the time it was masked by the very dull orchestral component.