Prom 64 - 30.08.13: Bantock, Prokofiev, Sibelius & R. Strauss

[LaurieWatt]

Indeed, and my pet theory for the day is that reasons for this feeling may be principally twofold:

(i) With musicians of this calibre, there are few or no technical limitations for them to transcend and what we hear/perceive is the personality of the individuals, or at least we perhaps wrongly internalise it as such.

(ii) Some of the individuals that might be talked about in these terms come from a different generation where the path to the top was rather different to now, more diverse, sometimes being largely self-taught from a start point of innate brilliance. They tended to be more individual, idiosyncratic even, perhaps stronger in that perceived "personality" and therefore less interchangeable.

Specifically on Simon Carrington, for what my opinion is worth (i.e. approximately zilch!) I'm not sure I can think of any current player with more impressive but lightly worn technical flawlessness and pinpoint rhythmic accuracy. He can deliver immense power and drive at times, but perhaps deploys it rather more sparingly than some. He isn't averse to some techically breathtaking pedalling in all the "wrong notes" in e.g. Tchaikovsky or Verdi either, but tends to be less outrageous than the LSO's Nigel Thomas and his chromatic scales in Tchaik 6! That is, he's a different musical personality - and one which fits well with the current LPO IMO, somewhat sweepingly but somewhat accurately described occasionally as the "Intellectual" among London's big 3 orchestras.

Regardless of any of this, I'm looking forward to the LPO Prom, which I would agree has tended to be one of the highlights of the season through the Jurowksi era.

Yes, you are spot on about Simon. I don't want to in any way do Russell down as he is, as Jayne says, a formidable tympanist and was much missed - and to be fair Simon took his time to settle in to make the role very much his own.

One more great Russell Jordan moment is the the thundering tymps underpinning the recapitulation in Tennstedt's Beethoven 9 on the LPO label! On another occasion when the orchestra were playing Holst's The Planets in the Musikverein in Vienna, I was in the auditorium for the rehearsal. In the break I said to one of Russell's colleagues in the percussion section (Russell had slipped out) " shouldn't he be using hard sticks at the end of Mercury?" Andy said that interestingly conductors usually asked for them but "Roger (Norrington) didn't say anything". The rehearsal continued and at the performance that evening Russell played that wonderful passage with hard sticks! At the end of the section he held the sticks up briefly! On the bus back to the airport, I casually said how nice it was to have the hard sticks in that passage. "Someone said", he replied. He went on to say that it was also the morning after the night before and would have usually used hard sticks in the rehearsal but....!

[LaurieWatt]

Indeed, and my pet theory for the day is that reasons for this feeling may be principally twofold:

(i) With musicians of this calibre, there are few or no technical limitations for them to transcend and what we hear/perceive is the personality of the individuals, or at least we perhaps wrongly internalise it as such.

(ii) Some of the individuals that might be talked about in these terms come from a different generation where the path to the top was rather different to now, more diverse, sometimes being largely self-taught from a start point of innate brilliance. They tended to be more individual, idiosyncratic even, perhaps stronger in that perceived "personality" and therefore less interchangeable.

Specifically on Simon Carrington, for what my opinion is worth (i.e. approximately zilch!) I'm not sure I can think of any current player with more impressive but lightly worn technical flawlessness and pinpoint rhythmic accuracy. He can deliver immense power and drive at times, but perhaps deploys it rather more sparingly than some. He isn't averse to some techically breathtaking pedalling in all the "wrong notes" in e.g. Tchaikovsky or Verdi either, but tends to be less outrageous than the LSO's Nigel Thomas and his chromatic scales in Tchaik 6! That is, he's a different musical personality - and one which fits well with the current LPO IMO, somewhat sweepingly but somewhat accurately described occasionally as the "Intellectual" among London's big 3 orchestras.

Regardless of any of this, I'm looking forward to the LPO Prom, which I would agree has tended to be one of the highlights of the season through the Jurowksi era.

Yes, you are spot on about Simon. I don't want to in any way do Russell down as he is, as Jayne says, a formidable tympanist and was much missed - and to be fair Simon took his time to settle in to make the role very much his own.

One more great Russell Jordan moment is the the thundering tymps underpinning the recapitulation in Tennstedt's Beethoven 9 on the LPO label! On another occasion when the orchestra were playing Holst's The Planets in the Musikverein in Vienna, I was in the auditorium for the rehearsal. In the break I said to one of Russell's colleagues in the percussion section (Russell had slipped out) " shouldn't he be using hard sticks at the end of Mercury?" Andy said that interestingly conductors usually asked for them but "Roger (Norrington) didn't say anything". The rehearsal continued and at the performance that evening Russell played that wonderful passage with hard sticks! At the end of the section he held the sticks up briefly! On the bus back to the airport, I casually said how nice it was to have the hard sticks in that passage. "Someone said", he replied. He went on to say that it was also the morning after the night before and would have usually used hard sticks in the rehearsal but....!

[Ferretfancy]

This will be my penultimate visit to the Proms this season. Rather odd to find the season fizzling out in the final week (VPO Bruckner 8 apart) this year. I have so many happy memories of the really great Proms that were on in the first week of September in previous seasons so I feel a bit short-changed as we approach the season's end.

Somewhat to my surprise, I've never heard Zarathustra live and am looking forward to a massive wall of sound from the organ and timps in the first 40 seconds. LPO/Jurowski Proms are always an event and this looks to be no exception.

I'll be there, let's hope that Also Sprach also boasts a massive bell for the penultimate climax.

[LaurieWatt]

I'll be there, let's hope that Also Sprach also boasts a massive bell for the penultimate climax.

Tonight's performance doesn't boast a massive bell. A low E bell would weigh 74 tons and create problems of its own. They do have a proper if much smaller bell (which I procured for them the last time they did it in the RFH and which VJ insisted on using for the Prom). The Whitechapel Foundry offered them the hire of a bigger E bell but it was going to cost £700 to hire for the day and the BBC baulked at that! They are boosting the lower bell frequencies with a long E tubular bell and a Thai gong!

Also, Alison, you may or may not be pleased that Simon C cannot play this evening as there is sudden and serious illness at home and he got the call half way through the rehearsal this morning. He did the ASZ rehearsal and it sounded wonderful but he will be replaced tonight, I think, by the tympanist from the ENO - sadly not Russell.

Petrushka, the end of the first part is truly a wall of sound! The rest sounds utterly wonderful in the rehearsal this morning, as does the Sibelius. i couldn't stay for the second part of the rehearsal. I will be there tonight in Box 36, Grand Tier (door 9)!

[Alison]

Very sorry to hear about Simon C, Laurie. I was looking forward to hearing him again tonight.

I feel much nearer long delayed closure on my RJ 'problem' thanks to your valuable insights and comments.

Maybe you're sharing a drink with Petrushka and Simon as I type !

[Nick Armstrong]

when the orchestra were playing Holst's The Planets in the Musikverein in Vienna, I was in the auditorium for the rehearsal

The rest sounds utterly wonderful in the rehearsal this morning

Oh 'ee don't 'arf drop 'em...



Hope it's 'alright on the night' !

[Vile Consort]

Oh dear! That is a particularly penetrating 32 foot reed, isn't it?

[Nick Armstrong]

Hope it's 'alright on the night' !

Shock - Horror. What was that organ calamity!?

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh dear! That is a particularly penetrating 32 foot reed, isn't it?

Sounded as if the organist had slumped, insensible, upon the manual...

[Alison]

It sounded in the right key ?!

[Nick Armstrong]

It sounded in the right key ?!

Didn't notice, I've got the big hi-fi pumped up v high (neighbours still away) and it scared the living be-jeebers out of me!

[Alison]

[QUOTE=Caliban;326366]Didn't notice, I've got the big hi-fi pumped up v high (neighbours still away) and it scared the living be-jeebers out of me!
[/QUOTE

How amusing. One of my cats looked at me as if for reassurance.

[Nick Armstrong]

How amusing. One of my cats looked at me as if for reassurance.

I'd have leapt on to your lap!

[Alison]

Now, will Cookie mention it ?

[Vile Consort]

No. He's surely too professional than to draw attention to it.

Sounded to me like the organist using the pedalboard as a lever to adjust his position on the bench, preliminary to a long tacet, without pressing the general cancel to push all the stops in. Easily done, but shouldn't happen at this level. Hope is wasn't anyone I know!