Prom 35 - 12.08.14: BBC NOW, Bevan / Whately / Ehnes / Søndergård

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Tuesday, 12 August
7.00 p.m. – c. 9.20 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Caroline Mathilde - suite from Act 2 (first performance at The Proms)
Walton: Violin Concerto

Sibelius:
(a) The Swan of Tuonela
(b) Symphony No. 5 in Eb, Op 82

Mary Bevan, soprano
Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano (Proms debut artist; New Generation Artist)
James Ehnes, violin

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Søndergård, conductor

Commissioned by Jascha Heifetz, Walton's concerto extended the possibilities of what could be achieved on the violin, while at the same time maintaining a striking intimacy and emotional directness. Thomas Søndergård and BBC NOW open with a suite from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's ballet Caroline Mathilde, in which the English princess is sent to an unhappy marriage in Denmark. Caroline Mathilde was written for The Danish Royal Ballet and premiered in 1991 in Copenhagen, with tonight's conductor playing percussion at the back of the orchestra in the pit. Sibelius had a painting of a flight of swans hung on the wall of his study, and these birds inspired the two great orchestral canvases in this concert - in the majestic 'swan theme' appears at the culmination of his Fifth symphony, and in a more serene and mystical way in the Swan of Tuonela.

[Nick Armstrong]

Reports of the BBCNOW from those that heard them in the Elgar 1 suggest that they are bang in form at the moment - the Sibelius 5 alone should be worth the price of entry!

[jayne lee wilson]

Reports of the BBCNOW from those that heard them in the Elgar 1 suggest that they are bang in form at the moment - the Sibelius 5 alone should be worth the price of entry!

Might be more like Re-Entry, by all accounts.......hope they don't forget to do the Gravity, though...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Have I missed something or have the Proms planners an obsession with 5th symphonies this year? It's an interesting idea, but I wondered whether is was deliberate.

[jayne lee wilson]

HDs Ratings Part One:

Max Davies - sound 8/10, performance 8/10
Walton - sound 6/10, performance 7/10, soloist 8.

[pastoralguy]

I've just switched this on. 'The Swan of Tuonela' always leaves Mrs. PG in tears...

[jayne lee wilson]

HDs Ratings Part 2:

Sibelius 5 - sound 7/10, performance 7/10.

[EdgeleyRob]

Have I missed something or have the Proms planners an obsession with 5th symphonies this year? It's an interesting idea, but I wondered whether is was deliberate.

Same old same old 5th symphonies,so many great 5ths are missing!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just switched this on. 'The Swan of Tuonela' always leaves Mrs. PG in tears...

I don't think any work gets to the soul of the cor anglais.

[pastoralguy]

IMHO, a good but not great performance of Sibelius 5. The orchestra sounded a bit tired and the 'gear changes' were a little clunky for my liking. It Really takes a Karajan to make that transition from the slow to fast section of the first movement sound convincing.

[Maclintick]

IMHO, a good but not great performance of Sibelius 5. The orchestra sounded a bit tired and the 'gear changes' were a little clunky for my liking. It Really takes a Karajan to make that transition from the slow to fast section of the first movement sound convincing.

Agreed, PG - good but not great. I'd also concur with JLW's assessment overall ( pleading late entry & not having heard the Maxwell Davies) finding James Ehnes technically immaculate but lacking the degree of gutsy abandonment & Waltonian passion the concerto demands. The 5th could have done with more of the brooding intensity of "The Swan" - the evening's highlight IMHO - & a lot more commitment from the strings, who sounded tired, as PG says.

[Hornspieler]

IMHO, a good but not great performance of Sibelius 5. The orchestra sounded a bit tired and the 'gear changes' were a little clunky for my liking. It Really takes a Karajan to make that transition from the slow to fast section of the first movement sound convincing.

I have to agree. Not my favourite Sibelius symphony. That monotonous finale drives me crazy (and even did so when I had to play the work)
Swan of Tuonela was to my mind not a good introduction - it just got in the way somehow.

It's a filler, like "Scene with Cranes" - another filler. Not suitable to introduce the second half of a concert.

A Karajan? Yes. My preference would always be Berglund.

After the magic of Part 1 of this concert, I found the whole of the second half a disappointment.

HS

[Roslynmuse]

And what exactly were Mary Bevan and Kitty Whately doing in this concert??!

[Roslynmuse]

And what exactly were Mary Bevan and Kitty Whately doing in this concert??!

Ah, 15 mins into the PMD they made a short contribution!

[Lento]

Not my favourite Sibelius symphony.

I, also, have a problem with the finale, in particular. Thor's hammer, aka swan's wings fails to evoke much for me, and its supposedly clever simultaneous appearance in the bass at lower speed strikes me as ungainly: not a patch on the music of Byrd, whose techniques are supposed to have inspired the manoeuvre, I would wager.