Prom 46 - 20.08.14: WEDO, Barenboim

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Wednesday, 20 August
7.30 p.m. – c. 9.45 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K492 – overture
Kareem Roustom: Ramal (UK premiere)
Ayal Adler: Resonating Sounds (UK premiere)

Ravel:
(a) Rapsodie espagnole
(b) Alborada del gracioso
(c) Pavane pour une infante défunte
(d) Boléro

West–Eastern Divan Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim return to the BBC Proms in this live performance introduced by Andrew McGregor. They bring some Spanish-infused repertoire starting with music by Mozart, the overture to his opera The Marriage of Figaro, set in Seville. It's followed by the UK premiere of two compositions by Middle-Eastern composers: Israeli Ayal Adler and Syrian-born Kareem Roustom. And then it's time again for some more Iberian flavours with Ravel's music: his Rapsodie espagnole, then Alborada del gracioso, followed by an orchestral version of his Pavane pour une infante défunte, finishing with the mesmerising rhythms of his Bolero.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've been struggling to play Pavane pour une infante défunte in its piano version for years. It isn't difficult yet - ...

[Nick Armstrong]

I've been struggling to play Pavane pour une infante défunte in its piano version for years. It isn't difficult yet - ...

It starts fine, but then...

(Bit like Clair de Lune)

[Petrushka]

This is a very strange programme and one I discounted very early on from my Proms Planner.

[Zucchini]

The WEDO Workshop was in Buenos Aires this year and a series of concerts have been given at Teatro Colon and I guess that accounts for the Spanish stuff in this year's repertoire. The main course has been performances with Martha Argerich and Tristan Prelude, Act 2 and Liebestod with the stellar cast of Meier, Seiffert, Gubanova and Pape. The Tristan team perform at Salzburg, Lucerne and Waldbuhne. The 'Spanish' programme usually includes Barenboim playing Mozart PC 27.

I'm sure the Proms ruled out Tristan after Barenboim's mighty Ring cycle last year.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is a very strange programme and one I discounted very early on from my Proms Planner.

It is. Four consecutive pieces by the same composer doesn't suggest thoughtful planning.

[Blotto]

I'm listening live and looking forward to it. It's certainly an unusual programme on paper but an evening of Ravel is a lovely prospect.

But - oh! Are there cattle in the hall tonight? Has one of them just been sick?

[french frank]

Four consecutive pieces by the same composer doesn't suggest thoughtful planning.

Ravel: Symphony No. 1?

[Blotto]

The printed and performed programmes differ. This is a better sequence, though.

[mercia]

It is. Four consecutive pieces by the same composer doesn't suggest thoughtful planning.

though not quite as bad as that Vaughan Williams 4+5+6 in one evening in 2012

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Ravel: Symphony No. 1?

Rather a long and repetitive finale.

[CallMePaul]

No-one seems to have paid much attention to the first half of the concert. Kareem Roustom certainly seems an interesting composer and I hope he doesn't waste his talent writing music for computer games (those who heard the interview with him will know what I'm referring to)! I thought that this piece was far more impressive than the Adler - he struck me as having a less individual voice than Roustom.

Unfortunately the second half of ther concert was ruined for me by the Prommers. Whatever you thought of Barenboim's conception, it should have been given a chance, but the obsession with applause just made it seem like a second half of 4 pieces by Ravel. Given Barenboim's conception, which he explained to Andrew McGregor just after the interval, the orchestra should have been allowed to play the music without a break. The applause either side of Pavane pour une Infante Défunte seemed totally inappropriate and that after Rhapsodie Espagnole was also totally out of context.

As well as the politics behind its formation, the WEDO has some fine players (especially the first clarinet) and fully deserved the applause and earned the encores at the end.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Whatever you thought of Barenboim's conception, it should have been given a chance, but the obsession with applause just made it seem like a second half of 4 pieces by Ravel. Given Barenboim's conception, which he explained to Andrew McGregor just after the interval, the orchestra should have been allowed to play the music without a break. The applause either side of Pavane pour une Infante Défunte seemed totally inappropriate and that after Rhapsodie Espagnole was also totally out of context.

If you (or DB) regard the group as Ravel's Symphony no. 1 then the applause might have been inappropriate, but in truth, they are 4 separate pieces, so surely we shouldn't complain about applause at the end of a piece.

[Serial_Apologist]

Rather a long and repetitive finale.

Bit like Sibelius 2 then...

[Petrushka]

If you (or DB) regard the group as Ravel's Symphony no. 1 then the applause might have been inappropriate, but in truth, they are 4 separate pieces, so surely we shouldn't complain about applause at the end of a piece.

I'd assume that there was no request in the programme for no applause between pieces?

Agree with CallMePaul about the quality of the Roustom work. This is one I'd like to hear again.