Proms Saturday Matinee 5 - 31.08.13: Camerata Nordica

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

3.00pm – c. 4.30pm
Cadogan Hall

Britten
Simple Symphony (17 mins)
Tippett
Little Music for Strings (11 mins)
Britten
Elegy for strings (8 mins)
World Premiere
Britten
Lachrymae (15 mins)
Walton
Sonata for Strings (27 mins)

Catherine Bullock viola
Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen violin/director, Proms debut artist

The Proms focus on Britten and contemporaries continues with the world premiere of his Elegy for strings. Written six years before the Simple Symphony, this early miniature is contrasted with works by Britten's contemporaries Tippett and Walton. Violinist Terje Tønnesen directs the Swedish ensemble Camerata Nordica in their Proms debut. They are joined by viola player Catherine Bullock who is the soloist in Britten's Lachrymae.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So how many symphonies did Britten compose?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So how many symphonies did Britten compose?

If you're Robert Simpson, none!

[Serial_Apologist]

Written six years before the Simple Symphony

That would make Britten 2 years old when he composed it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Britten composed the Simple Symphony in 1933-34.

[bluestateprommer]

Oh dear, is this another case of me being the only person here to hear a Cadogan Hall Prom? If so, let's get the bad news out of the way first. Generally, with the Monday and Saturday Cadogan Hall concerts, either Petroc or CB-H indulges in a bit of banter with one of the musicians, as you all know, and while the chit-chat may not be terribly profound, at least it generally goes smoothly. However, to just about every rule, there is one exception, and this particular concert turned out unfortunately to be the exception in that regard. Terje Tønnesen didn't sound terribly at ease speaking in English, which was halting at times, and at one point, Clemency Burton-Hill had a question that went over his head, perhaps because she phrased it too briskly and he said "Pardon?" more or less. Likewise, the soloist in the Britten Lachrymae, Catherine Bullock, although being UK-born and thus no language barrier there, admitted that she was a bit nervous speaking and perhaps not in the ideal frame of mind for concert talk. It wasn't really anyone's "fault" on this, and I don't mean to heap blame on CB-H or the musicians, but unlike past concerts when people like Paul Watkins or Sian Edwards spoke with her, this one just didn't work out so well chat-wise.

I suspect that Tønnesen and Bullock simply wanted to communicate via their music-making rather than talking, which now gets to the good part, which was that this concert went very well indeed. The only "quirk" of interpretation was a stretching of tempo in the middle section of the "Playful Pizzicato" of BB's Simple Symphony, and in the coda, but that's more a matter of taste, perhaps (I don't have a copy of the score). The "world premiere" of the young BB's Elegy proved rather charming to hear, if the use of the terms doesn't seem inappropriate. CB did an excellent job in her solo in the Lachrymae. The Camerata Nordica is really a terrific group, marvelous ensemble work throughout, venturing away from "home" ground in all senses. Hopefully they weren't put off unduly by the public speaking aspect of appearing at The Proms, for down the line.