Prom 27 - 6.08.14: BBC NOW, Trusler / M. Wigglesworth

[Serial_Apologist]

Interesting discussion on the origins of the British symphony during the interval currently,Lewis Foreman and an Elgar scholar who's name I didn't catch.

Poor Parry hardly got a mention, although Elgar's nearest stylistic harbinger, yet Stanford was referred to time and time again!

[EdgeleyRob]

Poor Parry hardly got a mention, although Elgar's nearest stylistic harbinger, yet Stanford was referred to time and time again!

True,it's a subject that probably needs more than a 20 minute slot.
I could have listened to those guys chatting for hours.

I reckon the performances of his two symphonies at these Proms have done Elgar proud.

[Nick Armstrong]

Fantastic performance of Elgar 1!!

Some expressive words from someone formerly of this parish, one rubbernecker, who was there: "The Elgar was mindblowing"...

[mrbouffant]

I enjoyed it, even though I was sat in the stifling environment of the gods with a whole row of seats to myself...

The overture bubbled away nicely with excellent work on the castanets.

The concerto was brimful with interesting sonorities and typically angular Mathias melodies and rhythms. I think I would like to hear it a few times more before forming an opinion. Certainly one would churlish to imagine it would get a 'better' performance than this.

The Elgar was wonderful despite a few brass inaccuracies.

All in all a solid 4/5 from me !

[Lento]

Brilliant description, by Stephen Johnson, of the Elgar 1 final return as being like “a ship cutting through storm-tossed waters”. He also mentions an interesting parallel between the calming of the music as 2nd mvt leads into 3rd and the slowing of the river Lugg as it flows into the Wye, a walk Elgar knew. This seems to link in with Elgar’s “something …. heard down by the river” comment re the 2nd mvt’s “relaxed” theme.

[Simon Biazeck]

This was a fantastic Prom in the hall - heard form a loggia box! BBC Welsh are a fine orchestra and on cracking form under Wigglesworth who did the Elgar from memory. The ppp strings in the Adagio were exquisite and the silence in the hall was cosmic for them, thankfully!

Knowing Mathias's music well via his choral and organ rep. it was delightful to hear his trademark harmonies and rhythms coloured in with the orchestra. I like his music very much, although sometimes I find the episodic writing a little predictable and unengaging. However, this was a new take on it with the colourful mosaic of sounds and instrumental detail adding interest. Matthew Trusler was brilliant. I look forward to hearing it again!

[Rasluap]

Simply for the record, Mark Wigglesworth was using a score for the Mathias, as was Matthew Trusler (on 2 music stands because of the fold-out pages).

Congratulations all round for bringing this striking piece of late Mathias to the Proms.

[mrbouffant]

Congratulations all round for bringing this striking piece of late Mathias to the Proms.

Seconded. Oh for a revival of the Organ Concerto in a future season.... !

[Roehre]

...
Knowing Mathias's music well via his choral and organ rep. it was delightful to hear his trademark harmonies and rhythms coloured in with the orchestra. I like his music very much, although sometimes I find the episodic writing a little predictable and unengaging. However, this was a new take on it with the colourful mosaic of sounds and instrumental detail adding interest. Matthew Trusler was brilliant.

It starts a bit prokofjevian, but it ends as a typical Mathias - though the orchestral colours less bright as usually.
But we have to keep in mind: one of his very last scores.
Now waiting for his 3 symphonies and other orchestral works and concertos, like the piano, organ and the oboe concertos, being performed at the Proms (and don't forget choral works either please).

[Roehre]

...
Congratulations all round for bringing this striking piece of late Mathias to the Proms.

thirded

[EdgeleyRob]

It starts a bit prokofjevian, but it ends as a typical Mathias - though the orchestral colours less bright as usually.
But we have to keep in mind: one of his very last scores.
Now waiting for his 3 symphonies and other orchestral works and concertos, like the piano, organ and the oboe concertos, being performed at the Proms (and don't forget choral works either please).

Yes please,along with so much other stuff by so many other composers.

[Tevot]

Yet another Prom I need to catch up on

There seems to be a fair bit of Matthias on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=william+mathias+

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Lento]

5 stars from Richard Morrison in The Times: says pacing of the Elgar "spot on", and Mathias piece does not deserve its long neglect, Trusler "superbly incisive and sinuous".

(Paywall for full article):

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/music/classical/article4169526.ece

[teamsaint]

This was repeated on Ao3 today.

Can't make my mind up about the Mathias on first hearing, which I think is a good sign. Lots to enjoy certainly.
As was pointed out on R3, interesting orchestration, and some vibrant work from the soloist.
Rather East European sounding,I thought.

[bluestateprommer]

Very interesting programming for this Prom indeed. The first half went especially well, with the BBC NOW on splendid form, and interesting to hear that this was Mark Wigglesworth's return to the orchestra since his departure as principal conductor. I'd read scattered reports that there was some bad blood at the time, but presumably with the passage of time, all was forgiven (or swept under the rug). Cracking rendition of the Wagner, which I can't remember hearing on any sort of recording anywhere. Likewise, Matthew Trusler did an absolutely splendid job as soloist in the William Mathias concerto. The concerto is a tremendous amount of notes, virtually non-stop for the soloist, as others have noted, and I'm not sure if 100% of the notes actually belonged there, as the work ran a bit long at times. But it definitely is a fine concerto, and eminently worth hearing. Perhaps MT will be invited elsewhere to perform it (although I doubt in the USA). It was a nice touch that Mathias' daughter Rhiannon was present to say some words about her father on the air.

Interesting discussion on the origins of the British symphony during the interval currently,Lewis Foreman and an Elgar scholar who's name I didn't catch.
'When Cipriani Potter met Beethoven',wonderful stuff.

The scholar is Bruce Wood, emeritus professor, retired from the University of Bangor. Very good interval feature indeed; it would have been nice to have been there to hear the entire talk.

The Elgar 1 in the 2nd half didn't quite scale the heights for me, compared to the first half. MW took the scherzo a touch faster than I'm used to, from recordings and other live renditions, which was no bad thing at all. But in the closing portion of the finale, MW took things rather too briskly for my taste. Maybe he didn't want the finale to come off as 'over-triumphal', but it came off as a bit perfunctory. So a tale of two halves.