Prom 46 - 20.08.14: WEDO, Barenboim

[LeMartinPecheur]

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

I experienced something similar from Chethams forces under Jac van Steen at the Bridgewater Hall last month: 1st half Debussy Prelude a l'apres-midi.., Szymanowski Stabat Mater; 2nd half Ravel Alborada..., Rapsodie Espagnol, La Valse. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

I suppose at 6 mov'ts this might be construed as Ravel's 'Symphonie Mahleresque'... Come to think of it, La Valse isn't that far from some of Mahler's symphonic dissolutions/ upheavals/ 'organised chaoses'...

[Dave2002]

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

That's only 3. I hope you're joking - it was a very good evening.

[mercia]

I hope you're joking

I am - though if half a concert devoted to Ravel "doesn't suggest thoughtful planning", logically a whole concert devoted to VW implies even less thoughtful planning doesn't it ? sorry, I'm feeling a bit supercilious today [if that's the word]

[Sir Velo]

It was billed as Ravel's "Spanish Symphony" and given the selection of works and the order in which they were played the programming made more sense than many others. The Pavane is a clear "adagio", Alborada a scherzo (in every sense of the word) while "Bolero" makes an obvious finale. Given many of us own all Ravel records which comprise all these works, and probably play them all the way through, I found nothing objectionable. The playing was sumptuously exotic to boot. More fool those who deprived themselves of a most entertaining evening!

[pureimagination]

I, like others, enjoyed the Kareem Roustom piece Ramal - not so keen on the Adler. Some video game composers have a large audience. Akira Yamaoka who scored for some of the Silent Hill games for instance and there have been concerts performed in Japan of just video game music.

I also see nothing wrong with several pieces by the same composer being included. I also went to The RVW 4,5,6 concert several years ago and it was wonderful.

[Ferretfancy]

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.

I wasn't able to be there last night, but once again I see that you are willing to blame the Prommers for unwanted applause. I won't say that this never happens, but usually this type of interruption comes from the upper seats, or sometimes the stalls, and is often greeted with disapproving stares from the Arena. I get heartily sick of the assumption that people who may have waited hours for admission are lowly and ignorant folk who have no manners.

[Zucchini]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/prom-46-daniel-barenboim-westeastern-divan-orchestra--review-9682536

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/prom-46-west-eastern-divan-orchestra-barenboim

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/proms-2014-westeastern-divan-orchestradaniel-barenboim-royal-albert-hall--music-review-9683102.html

[Ockeghem's Razor]

I, too, will be listening again to the piece by Kareem Roustom. It was a real discovery.

[bluestateprommer]

While a mixed bag of a Prom, overall, I'm willing to "look on the bright side of life" on this one, from Barenboim and the WEDO. Of the two new works, agree with the general consensus that the Roustom work was by far the better composition. The NYT critic, reviewing the performance of this program in Lucerne, had the same assesment:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/arts/music/daniel-barenboims-west-eastern-divan-orchestra-delivers.html

Regarding the 'Spanish Symphony' conceit of the 2nd half, while Barenboim may have intended the works to flow into each other, with no applause in between, in actual practice, the audience applauding after each individual work was actually quite wise. The individual works are indeed their own separate entities, and in all honesty, the applause served as a welcome mental break to refresh the spirits and prime for the next work. To his great credit, Andrew McGregor did not speak between the works, but let the applause from the hall serve as sufficient comment. In turn, about the next point:

I wasn't able to be there last night, but once again I see that you are willing to blame the Prommers for unwanted applause. I won't say that this never happens, but usually this type of interruption comes from the upper seats, or sometimes the stalls, and is often greeted with disapproving stares from the Arena. I get heartily sick of the assumption that people who may have waited hours for admission are lowly and ignorant folk who have no manners.

Just from inferring the nature of the sound over iPlayer, I'm with Ferretfancy on this assessment. The applause between the works clearly came from the hall as a whole, and not from 'the Prommers' or any single group.

The one debit was that unfortunately, the 5th encore, the tango, got omitted from the R3 broadcast and thus the archive on iPlayer. Obviously the orchestra had been doing this all throughout their summer tour with this particular concert, as Oestreich noted in his review from Lucerne.

Plus, Oestreich notes this quote from Barenboim in the review:

"This is the only place in the world where an Israeli or an Arab does something important, and the others support him. It is another way of thinking for the majority in the region."

Hmm, Daniel Barenboim for president of Israel, perhaps? (It's a mainly ceremonial post. He'd still have time to tour.)