Prom 19 - 31.07.14: RLPO, Dam-Jensen / V. Petrenko

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thursday, 31 July
7.30 p.m. – c. 10.05 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Richard Strauss:
(a) Festival Prelude (Festliches Präludium)
(b) Deutsche Motette, Op. 62
(c) Four Last Songs

Elgar: Symphony No. 2 in Eb, Op 63

Inger Dam-Jensen, soprano
BBC Singers
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Two rarely heard works continue our 150th-anniversary celebration of Richard Strauss. Scored for organ and an orchestra calling for no fewer than 10 trumpets (six offstage), the Festival Prelude packs symphonic weight into its brief duration.
It is matched for impact by the Deutsche Motette - a concerto for choir by any other name: its vocal lines trace the same expansive arcs and arabesques as the composer's exquisite, autumnal Four Last Songs. Maintaining the mood of late-Romantic nostalgia, Elgar's Second Symphony delights in flexible chromaticism, its shifting moods coloured in delicate shades.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Strauss and Elgar:
Inger Dam-Jensen, soprano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
BBC Singers

[Rolmill]

BBC Singers

Rather unfair, surely? I have a CD (Collins Classics, now defunct) of them giving a very good performance of this virtuoso piece under Stephen Cleobury. I know the nature of their sound has attracted some disapproval on this forum, but I would imagine they could provide a thrilling experience in the RAH acoustic. I'll certainly try to hear this concert on the radio.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Of course I'm being unfair. It's just that I have been listening to concerts with the BBC Singers for so many years now, and they still disappoint. I should add that I am a great admirer of what the BBC has done for music over such a long period of time. But I can't warm to the sound of an unblended group of soloists.

[Mary Chambers]

Of course I'm being unfair. It's just that I have been listening to concerts with the BBC Singers for so many years now, and they still disappoint. I should add that I am a great admirer of what the BBC has done for music over such a long period of time. But I can't warm to the sound of an unblended group of soloists.

Couldn't agree more. I'll listen if I remember.

[Richard Tarleton]

I shall definitely listen to Inger Dam-Jensen's 4LS. A soaraway winner of Cardiff SOTW 21 years ago, she returned to Cardiff a few years later to sing Strauss songs (with the Philharmonia/Ashkenazy).

Her CSOTW performances were remarkable - she showed real chutzpah singing Let The Bright Seraphim in front of Joan Sutherland . I'm looking forward to hearing how her voice has matured.

PS wasn't it last year we had a 4LS malfunction, replicated on TV?

[EdgeleyRob]

Strauss and Elgar:
Inger Dam-Jensen, soprano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
BBC Singers

Strauss and Elgar:
Inger Dam-Jensen, soprano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
BBC Singers

But only IMO.

[Petrushka]

Once heard the Strauss Festival Prelude at a Prom First Night a few years ago and, while it may last no more than 11 minutes, be prepared for the loudest orchestral (and organ) tumult you are ever likely to hear. Sitting in 'O' stalls it left my ears ringing. Up until that moment the loudest noise I'd ever heard was a Vulcan bomber taking off and I'm not sure if the Strauss beat it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I wasn't trying to start a new trend.

[Nachtigall]

But I can't warm to the sound of an unblended group of soloists.

Exactly so. Couldn't agree more!

[Mary Chambers]

This Prom will be on television (BBC4) on Sunday evening. In the Radio Times, neither the orchestra nor the conductor is mentioned at all for that broadcast, only the soloist. How odd. (They're named in the Radio 3 section, of course.)

[mercia]

the Motette will be a long piece for the orchestra to sit through, I wonder if they will leave the stage. Radio 3 played a recording of the BBCS singing the DM recently (perhaps the recording previously referred to) - I thought they were ideally suited to the piece

[Richard Tarleton]

This Prom will be on television (BBC4) on Sunday evening. In the Radio Times, neither the orchestra nor the conductor is mentioned at all for that broadcast, only the soloist. How odd. (They're named in the Radio 3 section, of course.)

And to quote the Radio Times's "Sunday Choices" preview on p 59, "Katie Derham is our silky-smooth host". Can't decide which emoticon, none of them quite do justice.

[Ferretfancy]

Once heard the Strauss Festival Prelude at a Prom First Night a few years ago and, while it may last no more than 11 minutes, be prepared for the loudest orchestral (and organ) tumult you are ever likely to hear. Sitting in 'O' stalls it left my ears ringing. Up until that moment the loudest noise I'd ever heard was a Vulcan bomber taking off and I'm not sure if the Strauss beat it.

Petrushka, do you think I should stand in the Arena 14 rows back instead of 12 rows back?

Bws.
Ferret

[PhilipT]

Once heard the Strauss Festival Prelude at a Prom First Night a few years ago and, while it may last no more than 11 minutes, be prepared for the loudest orchestral (and organ) tumult you are ever likely to hear. Sitting in 'O' stalls it left my ears ringing. Up until that moment the loudest noise I'd ever heard was a Vulcan bomber taking off and I'm not sure if the Strauss beat it.

So you weren't in the Arena for the Xenakis Pléïades, for which the stewards handed out free ear-plugs to the Prommers?