Prom 10 - 25.07.14: BBC Phil, Little / Mena

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Friday, 25 July
7.30 p.m. – c. 9.50 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Walton: Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
Moeran: Violin Concerto

David Horne: Daedalus in Flight (London premiere)
Elgar: 'Enigma' Variations

Tasmin Little, violin
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena, conductor

A concert of 20th-century English music begins and ends with works exploring musical friendships - Walton's Hindemith Variations pay homage to a beloved colleague; Elgar's Enigma Variations paint evocative portraits of friends and family. Tasmin Little joins the BBC Philharmonic for Moeran's lyrical concerto which meshes the composer's English heritage with his love of the Irish landscape. British music is brought right up to date with the shifting soundscapes of David Horne's Daedalus in Flight.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Henry Wood would have been proud.

[mrbouffant]

Looking forward to this one ! (Although I hope it is a little cooler in the hall than at the Tonhalle Prom last night...)

[EdgeleyRob]

Now that's a Prom.
I'll certainly be tuning in.

[Barbirollians]

Should be good - Mena is a rising star IMO .

[mrbouffant]

A small bump for tonight's extravaganza -- particularly looking forward to the Hindemith Vars...

[mrbouffant]

A very enjoyable concert indeed and how fun to bump into David Mellor beforehand. Tasmin wore a lovely sparkly frock and gave a sparkly performance of the Moeran which got slightly marred by people dropping things and coughing like they were in a TB sanatorium.

Three things got on my wick a bit though - perhaps it was the hot weather putting me in bad temper:

[1] Why oh why oh why do people insist on applauding almost before the last note has finished sounding? The Walton was marred by some chump who felt they wanted to shout 'Bravo' and be heard on the radio about 1.2s after the last note. What an idiot. Sporadic clapping also marred the end of the first movt of the Moeran and after Nimrod in the Enigma Vars. The end of the Moeran was ruined completely by a fool who just felt he had to clap even though the conductor had yet to drop his hands. Given the way the piece ends, it completely ruined the atmosphere. The conductor was non-plussed: if looks could kill !

[2] Why oh why oh why do people insist on taking photos during the performance with flash enabled. Sitting in the choir as I do, this is particularly noticeable since the main corpus of the audience is laid out in front of me. Bizarrely, somebody in the stalls directly opposite was playing with their phone with the effect that the LED flash was on for about 90 seconds during the 1st movt of the Moeran. This was very distracting and they deserved to be summarily taken from the hall and dumped on the pavement outside.

[3] Why oh why oh why do 'modern' composers have such limited imaginations that they have to compensate for this by deploying snarling brass and a battery of percussion? The Horne piece completely passed me by as I failed to discern any real development or relationship between the material. Perhaps it will yield its secrets if I 'listen again'. At least it was short and the composer looked pleased with the performance as he bounded onto the platform to take a bow.

[BBMmk2]

I didn't enjoy the BBC commission at all, because of this. Brass and percussion can do so much more besides, 'snarling'! I don't mind listening to contemporary classical music so long has it seems to0 have structure and motivation.

[Ferretfancy]

I;m afraid I found it a disappointing evening, the BBC PO were not really in top form.

David Horne was interviewed by Andrew McGregor at the RCM before the concert, and a number of young artists from the Manchester RCM gave performances of three
brief chamber works, including a spectacular item for solo clarinet. These were much more interesting than the orchestral item Daedelus in Flight. So much contemporary music seems to have no musical fingerprint by which to recognise the composer, I've been listening to works like this at the Proms since the 1960s.
Still, he seemed a likeable chap and spoke without pretension.

It wasn't a very well attended concert, the thinnest so far. In those conditions, without bodies to soak up the reverb, the hall can sound more hollow.Making allowances for that, I thought that the Walton never really took off, with a few tentative entries and a lack of tension. I'd really been looking forward to hearing this piece live.

Tasmin Little, glittering like Regent Street before Christmas, gave a nice account of the Moeran concerto,navigating its rather meandering structure rather well.
To me, this is characteristic of much English music of the 1930s and 40s, where are the strong ideas that stay in the mind?

Finally, after the David Horne, the Enigma Variations, which Mena took at a lick for the most part, failing to shape the variations by nearly always being slightly too fast.There was lovely cello in B.G.N from Jessica Burroughs, and Paul Turner was predictably excellent, he must be the best tympanist in the country. It's not fair to look for remembered comparisons, I know, But I thought of Boult, Barbirolli, and especially Pierre Monteux.

[Tevot]

[1] Why oh why oh why do people insist on applauding almost before the last note has finished sounding? The Walton was marred by some chump who felt they wanted to shout 'Bravo' and be heard on the radio about 1.2s after the last note. What an idiot. Sporadic clapping also marred the end of the first movt of the Moeran and after Nimrod in the Enigma Vars. The end of the Moeran was ruined completely by a fool who just felt he had to clap even though the conductor had yet to drop his hands. Given the way the piece ends, it completely ruined the atmosphere. The conductor was non-plussed: if looks could kill !.

I enjoyed what I heard of this concert last night (including the snarly bits ) and will certainly be listening again to the Moeran Concerto in particular. Have to agree about the clapping at the end of it and Nimrod...

[Stanfordian]

I enjoyed what I heard of this concert last night (including the snarly bits ) and will certainly be listening again to the Moeran Concerto in particular. Have to agree about the clapping at the end of it and Nimrod...

Tevot,

I attend a considerable number of BBC Phil concerts and I know the orchestra sound fairly well. Sadly tonight the playing felt lacklustre in a workaday performance.

[EdgeleyRob]

I;m afraid I found it a disappointing evening, the BBC PO were not really in top form.

David Horne was interviewed by Andrew McGregor at the RCM before the concert, and a number of young artists from the Manchester RCM gave performances of three brief chamber works, including a spectacular item for solo clarinet. These were much more interesting than the orchestral item Daedelus in Flight. So much contemporary music seems to have no musical fingerprint by which to recognise the composer, I've been listening to works like this at the Proms since the 1960s.
Still, he seemed a likeable chap and spoke without pretension.

It wasn't a very well attended concert, the thinnest so far. In those conditions, without bodies to soak up the reverb, the hall can sound more hollow.Making allowances for that, I thought that the Walton never really took off, with a few tentative entries and a lack of tension. I'd really been looking forward to hearing this piece live.

Tasmin Little, glittering like Regent Street before Christmas, gave a nice account of the Moeran concerto,navigating its rather meandering structure rather well.
To me, this is characteristic of much English music of the 1930s and 40s, where are the strong ideas that stay in the mind?

Finally, after the David Horne, the Enigma Variations, which Mena took at a lick for the most part, failing to shape the variations by nearly always being slightly too fast.There was lovely cello in B.G.N from Jessica Burroughs, and Paul Turner was predictably excellent, he must be the best tympanist in the country. It's not fair to look for remembered comparisons, I know, But I thought of Boult, Barbirolli, and especially Pierre Monteux.

The beautiful interplay between solo violin and wind instruments,the heart rending opening of the concerto,the uplifting Irish jig like moments especially in the middle movement,the colourful orchestration,the many episodes or super rich lyricism,the gorgeous beyond belief last movement,yes but apart from that there aren't any

The hollow sound and the noise of people dropping stuff etc wasn't as intrusive on the wirless,perhaps you had not to be there!

Daedelus in Flight was interesting-ish,I'm not in any hurry to hear it again.

The Walton and Elgar were decent enough performances I thought.
Tasmin Little,not everyone's cup of tea,but she certainly does it for me.
E J Moeran's concerto was the highlight IMO.

[Nick Armstrong]

The hollow sound and the noise of people dropping stuff etc wasn't as intrusive on the wirless,perhaps you had not to be there!

It often feels like that.

The beautiful interplay between solo violin and wind instruments,the heart rending opening of the concerto,the uplifting Irish jig like moments especially in the middle movement,the colourful orchestration,the many episodes or super rich lyricism,the gorgeous beyond belief last movement,yes but apart from that there aren't any

Tasmin Little,not everyone's cup of tea, but she certainly does it for me.

E J Moeran's concerto was the highlight IMO.

Oh dear, include me in 'not everyone' I'm afraid... I find there something oleaginous about the constant throbbing vibrato. I can't listen to her, I'm afraid. Massive contrast with Julia Fischer the other evening.

[cloughie]

Tasmin Little,not everyone's cup of tea,but she certainly does it for me.

I like her Elgar with Andrew Davis on Chandos very much - certainly preferable to the deadly dull Ehnes on BBC Music Mag disc.

[Sir Monty Golfear]

I like her Elgar with Andrew Davis on Chandos very much - certainly preferable to the deadly dull Ehnes on BBC Music Mag disc.

Have you tried Ida Haendel with Sir Adrian Boult ?..... I find that my go to Elgar performance.