Prom 56 = 24.08.13: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

7.30pm – c. 9.40pm
Royal Albert Hall

Wagner
Rienzi ‒ overture (12 mins)
Ravel
Piano Concerto in G major (22 mins)
INTERVAL
Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 in D minor (49 mins)

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester
Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano
Philippe Jordan conductor

Founded by Claudio Abbado in 1986, the pan-European Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester remains one of the most musically exciting and technically polished youth orchestras in the world. Tonight, Philippe Jordan directs the GMJO in the overture to Wagner's Rienzi and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, written in an atmosphere of intense scrutiny and artistic repression, after the public denouncement of his opera The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Ravel's jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G major completes the programme, with the flamboyant French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet as the soloist.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I always thoght Rienzi Overture was longer than this. Is the opera itself worth of its current neglect, or does Adolf Hilter's admiration for the work have something to do with it?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I always thoght Rienzi Overture was longer than this.

Ah! You have the Klemperer recording, I see.

Is the opera itself worth of its current neglect, or does Adolf Hilter's admiration for the work have something to do with it?

I've only heard it twice (well - once-and-a-half) - it did seem to go on the first time (the Downes broadcast) and I couldn't get through the second (the EMI recording which a friend lent me). Someone once described it as "Meyerbeer's best work", which has rather put me of investigating Meyerbeer. On the whole, if I had a spare five hours, I'd rather spend the time listening to Les Troyens.

[Nick Armstrong]

On the whole, if I had a spare five hours, I'd rather spend the time listening to Les Troyens.

If I had 5 hours spare, I'd rather spend it listening to my various recordings of the Ravel piano concertos

I found this holiday that I have 6 versions of each on the iPod and others back at the ranch on the shelf.

Managed to score a couple of lovely seats for this concert (late returns) to take Ravel-enthused pianist godson (who doesn't yet know the concertos) to see what Monsieur Thibaudet makes of the G major. Really looking forward to it!

[VodkaDilc]

Managed to score a couple of lovely seats for this concert (late returns) to take Ravel-enthused pianist godson (who doesn't yet know the concertos) to see what Monsieur Thibaudet makes of the G major. Really looking forward to it!

I'm looking forward to this one too, largely for the combination of Ravel and Thibaudet. I'd be interested to know your definition of 'lovely seats'.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm looking forward to this one too, largely for the combination of Ravel and Thibaudet. I'd be interested to know your definition of 'lovely seats'.

Front stalls, 1st violin side, at about ten-to (taking the conductor at 12 o'clock).

[Simon B]

Front stalls, 1st violin side, at about ten-to (taking the conductor at 12 o'clock).

I think we may have done this before, but, argh! Don't tell everyone or they'll all want one

[VodkaDilc]

Front stalls, 1st violin side, at about ten-to (taking the conductor at 12 o'clock).

Sounds roughly where I sat for Lugansky a couple of weeks ago - that was Stalls J2.

[edashtav]

I always thoght Rienzi Overture was longer than this. Is the opera itself worth of its current neglect, or does Adolf Hilter's admiration for the work have something to do with it?

I had the impression that the overture was unusually long, too. I think that I last heard it c.1963. An old school friend who was present then and will be again at the Proms has reminded me, thus:

When did I last hear Rienzi Overture in the flesh? We heard it from Silvestri when we were probably still in 6th form – I remember because you were sat in direct line of the trombones, and complained that they gave you a headache. Rienzi – the ultimate split-personality overture. Just the right length for a work by Wagner. He should have stuck to the formula, and dispensed with the remainder of the operas.


I'm afraid that neither of us has successfully progressed from Wagner overtures to his complete operas.

[ucanseetheend]

too slow and precise Shost 5.

[Alison]

Superior painting by numbers in the symphony: enjoyable enough I suppose. The literal approach seemed less damaging in the Overture.

[Petrushka]

Superior painting by numbers in the symphony: enjoyable enough I suppose.

All the notes were there and played in the right order but there was no life behind them. Must have been one of the very few times I've been bored by a performance of the DSCH 5 as it's usually over in what feels like seconds. Tonight it felt like every one of its 50 odd minutes.

[ucanseetheend]

All the notes were there and played in the right order but there was no life behind them. Must have been one of the very few times I've been bored by a performance of the DSCH 5 as it's usually over in what feels like seconds. Tonight it felt like every one of it's 50 odd minutes.

Agreed , no passion. Maybe its not a piece for a young persons orchestra. it was just going through the motions

[Ferretfancy]

Agreed , no passion. Maybe its not a piece for a young persons orchestra. it was just going through the motions

I'm not too sure if some of you heard the same performance, perhaps the engineering had something to do with it. There was certainly no lack of passion as I heard it in the hall. Oh, and incidentally there was no encore after the symphony -thank heavens !

[Petrushka]

I'm not too sure if some of you heard the same performance, perhaps the engineering had something to do with it. There was certainly no lack of passion as I heard it in the hall. Oh, and incidentally there was no encore after the symphony -thank heavens !

Well, it's three if us who have reached the same conclusion independently, though admittedly we were listening on R3. The engineering seemed to me to be at a rather low level in the Shostakovich, significantly lower than the first half, in my opinion. I compensated by turning up the volume, and nearly got pushed through the back wall by the bass drum thumps at the very end. The whole reading felt at a low voltage and while the engineering undoubtedly had a bearing on that there seemed more to it than that.

Await the views of edashtav and JLW with interest.