Prom 49 - 23.08.14: BBC SO, A. Komsi / Oramo

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Saturday, 23 August
7.30 p.m. – c. 10.00 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Ravel: Ma mère l'oye (complete ballet)
Szymanowski:
(a) Songs of a Fairy-tale Princess, Op 31 (version with orchestra; UK premiere)
(b) Three additional songs, orchestrated by Sakari Oramo (UK premiere)

Jukka Tiensuu: Voice verser (UK premiere)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op 35

Anu Komsi, soprano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor

[Nick Armstrong]

Looking forward to hearing if Mr O pulls off the Ravel with his new band... Having witnessed his brilliant, muscular way with English music, it'll be interesting. The glow he got from the strings in the more gorgeous sections of Job (and we all know the VW-Ravel links) bodes well, I'd have thought...

[Nick Armstrong]

Missed the Ravel and made the mistake of switching on during one of the vocal numbers (no idea which one) - it was one of those moments when I catch myself thinking in phrases that my dad would use: in this case, 'what on earth is that horrendous caterwauling?!'

Off went the radio.

Anyone hear the Ravel?

[Master Jacques]

Live in the hall, I was steaming angry when I realised we were getting the Ravel SUITE, rather than the whole ballet (which was one of the things which attracted me to the concert). This was as per the printed programme, but the website half and hour beforehand was still proclaiming we were to hear the complete work. The website got changed as the show got underway. I will be making my feelings felt about this.

Moving on to more pleasant matters, the Ravel was exquisitely turned, and indeed Caliban I have never heard it sound so close to English music, with its modality and pentatonic tunes, as it did yesterday. The RVW-Ravel connection was patent! The Finnish work was a hoot (very funny and quick-witted) with players out in the arena, so surrounding the soprano heroine/victim. The perfect Prom novelty, and much enjoyed by the audience.

She further won hearts by her pitch-perfect and sweetly voiced rendition of the Szymanowski songs (Oramo's orchestrations a little more brittle than the composer's own) and the performance of Scheherazade was a thing of wonder. Marvellous solo work from the section leaders, a fabulously ripe string tone, and an unforced, natural and powerful interpretation from the conductor, who relished the whole thing (and the playing of it) in a winning manner.

What a revolutionary, obsessive masterpiece this work is! The seeds of everything from La Mer through to the minimalists lies here. How Rimsky did it is one of the great mysteries of music. A fabulous concert all round, in my opinion, and the one I've enjoyed most in the hall so far.

[cloughie]

Moving on to more pleasant matters, the Ravel was exquisitely turned, and indeed Caliban I have never heard it sound so close to English music, with its modality and pentatonic tunes, as it did yesterday. The RVW-Ravel connection was patent! What a revolutionary, obsessive masterpiece this work is! The seeds of everything from La Mer through to the minimalists lies here. How Rimsky did it is one of the great mysteries of music. A fabulous concert all round, in my opinion, and the one I've enjoyed most in the hall so far.

I've always thought that the Ravel/RVW connection was about RVW's orchestral learning curve but Ravel was probably sorting the Mother Goose orchestration around the time they were together so maybe RVW's music rubbed off a little with Ravel. Also nice to see that I'm not the only one who rates Scheherazade on these boards - I hadn't thought of his influence on Debussy, but certainly Stravinsky eg Firebird owes something to RK, and yes Petrouchka and Rite then placed him somewhere else in the C20th!

[Master Jacques]

I hadn't thought of his influence on Debussy, but certainly Stravinsky eg Firebird owes something to RK, and yes Petrouchka and Rite then placed him somewhere else in the C20th!

Massive, I think. We're only just waking up to the extent of R-K's full stature here in the West. Do you know Rimsky's opera-ballet Mlada, Cloughie? Passages in the balletic writing (full of complex poly-rhythms and barbaric timbres) are "strikingly prescient" of parts of his pupil's Rite - there is indeed little or nothing new under the sun... and the younger composer's attitude to his teacher could be - well, mealy-mouthed at times.

[Master Jacques]

Ravel rated his "pupil" RVW very highly indeed, Cloughie, and they remained good friends. Ravel "plugged" RVW whenever he could, and was responsible for a Paris performance of On Wenlock Edge (in French) about the time they were working together, in which he himself played the piano part. I agree with you, that modal/pentatonic writing was something they had in common, and which certainly made them "brothers in art"; and that a growing interest in the earlier music of their own countries (e.g. Purcell/Tallis - Couperin) accelerated from the time they spent together.

As for Scheherazade and La Mer, the chromatic "storm at sea" sequence in Rimsky's last movement is one thing I would point to. Earlier, an extraordinary passage for high violins with harmonics, accompanied by flecks of glinting, sunlit harp colouration, would be another. Rimsky's is indeed a stupendous achievement here, and too easily taken for granted!

[pastoralguy]

I've always thought that the Ravel/RVW connection was about RVW's orchestral learning curve but Ravel was probably sorting the Mother Goose orchestration around the time they were together so maybe RVW's music rubbed off a little with Ravel. Also nice to see that I'm not the only one who rates Scheherazade on these boards - I hadn't thought of his influence on Debussy, but certainly Stravinsky eg Firebird owes something to RK, and yes Petrouchka and Rite then placed him somewhere else in the C20th!

Scheherazade has always been one of my favourite pieces despite my tastes having developed and matured (I hope!) I always hate it when music lovers with advanced tastes are sniffy about it.

[Roslynmuse]

I've only heard the vocal pieces so far - and enjoyed both very much indeed.

Ravel/RVW - play the opening of L'enfant et les sortilèges and then the opening of RVW 3...

Scheherazade (R-K) - it's a piece I listened to so many times in my teens that more often than not it's happy memories of performances rather than the piece itself that do it for me now. Coincidentally, it was a concert performance also coupling the Ravel Mother Goose Suite and Scheherazade back in 1980 - Louis Frémaux and the RLPO, with Imogen Cooper wonderful in the Ravel G major Piano Concerto - that really sticks in my memory as the one that brought the piece most vividly to life. If I have any time I'll have a listen to this performance.

[Serial_Apologist]

Ravel/RVW - play the opening of L'enfant et les sortilèges and then the opening of RVW 3...

Both of which would have been composed around the same time, though I think what you've discovered is stylstic coincidence; I'd have my doubts if either heard the other's work, in this particular instance.

[Roslynmuse]

Both of which would have been composed around the same time, though I think what you've discovered is stylstic coincidence; I'd have my doubts if either heard the other's work, in this particular instance.

I wasn't suggesting one copied from the other! Just, as you say, stylistic coincidence - 'something in the air', a line of intersection.

[antongould]

I thought the Ravel was wonderful - I find myself repeating it on iplayer.......

[Master Jacques]

Both of which would have been composed around the same time, though I think what you've discovered is stylstic coincidence; I'd have my doubts if either heard the other's work, in this particular instance.

There's a difference between hearing and knowing. Whilst I'd be fairly confident you'd be correct about the first, I'm not so confident you'd be right about the second. I can't quote chapter and verse about these particular two works, of course, but how likely is it that both friends would have sent newly published scores to one another for reading? Very likely indeed, I'd say. Certainly RVW admired Ravel's later works, and of course he went on to emulate his use of popular "jazz" in works of the 1930's and 40's, such as Job (the comforters), the Piano Concerto and the 6th Symphony (scherzo).

[pureimagination]

Thought I'd add my tuppence worth of opinion about the concert.
I too would have liked a longer Ravel (I see no reason why we only got the suite) though I will need to listen to it again because due to my sensitive ears I was distracted by the coughing that occured throughout the piece.
The Szymanowski I'm afraid did nothing for me.
Personally I didn't entirely enjoy Voice Verser either. "Caterwauling" indeed Caliban and in my opinion very pretentious. The orchestral arrangement of the 3rd movement was for me the most interesting part however. From where I was sitting in the hall the sense of 'echo' bouncing from the orchestra to the 8 or 10 musicians in the arena worked really well.
The Scheherazade was fantastic. A big favourite of mine. Nothing sniffy about liking popular pieces of music.

[Nick Armstrong]

I thought the Ravel was wonderful - I find myself repeating it on iplayer.......

The Scheherazade was fantastic. A big favourite of mine. Nothing sniffy about liking popular pieces of music.

Thanks folks, you remind me to give the orchestral parts of this concert a re-listen