Prom 55 - 27.08.14: Seoul PO, Wei / Chung

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Wednesday, 27 August
7.30 p.m. – c. 9.50 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Debussy: La Mer
Unsuk Chin: Šu (first performance at The Proms)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, 'Pathétique'

Wu Wei, (sheng) (Proms debut artist)
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Proms debut ensemble)
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

Myung-Whun Chung makes his first Proms appearance this summer as Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, which makes its own Proms debut as one of our series of global orchestras.

They bring with them the sounds of South Korea in a concerto for sheng (traditional reed mouth organ) and orchestra written by their compatriot Unsuk Chin - a sonic game between soloist and orchestra.

Chin's evocative textures are framed by the sensuous richness of Debussy's La mer, capturing the sea in all its moods, and Tchaikovsky's final symphony, with its elusive but turbulent narrative.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Last time I heard La Mer at the Proms, it was played by the Czech PO with Vladimir Ashkenazy. The hall was only 2/3 full, which I didn't expect.

[mercia]

sorry folks, the Pathetique doesn't end there

[Alison]

Only caught the second half: I find myself admiring the orchestra yet not really enjoying the unidiomatic performance of the Pathetique. A fatal lack of poise and weight somehow.

Plenty of passion and charisma without a doubt.

[bluestateprommer]

sorry folks, the Pathetique doesn't end there

True enough, but they're not the first audience (nor will they be the last) to applaud after the 3rd movement of Tchaik 6. I thought I almost heard someone about to applaud in the first movement, just before the great fff crash to start the development section. M-WC paced the 2nd and 3rd movement a bit more briskly than some might be used to, although I've read somewhere that the metronome mark for the 3rd movement is actually pretty darn quick. Even if it might seem a bit 'lightweight' to some, there's no doubt as to the quality of the sound of the orchestra. At the risk of using again the China Phil as the whipping boy, the blend and sound of the Seoul Phil is way ahead of them, much richer and again, more "European" in timbre, very responsive as well.

M-WC was also quite charming in his speech to the audience after Tchaik 6, before doing the unthinkable and launching into an encore, Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 1. However, he acknowledged this mildly cognitive dissonant act, to give him credit. Also, M-WC justified this by saying that he didn't want to send the audience out after a work that ends in death. (Need to catch up with the 1st half at some point.)

[Petrushka]

I've said before about applause after the 3rd movement of the Pathetique that somehow it almost feels written into the score - from wild exhilaration to black despair in a moment.

Solti and the Chicago SO also gave an encore after their 1978 Prom Pathetique only in their case it was Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture (I was present at that one).

[Norrette]

Some people even left the hall at that point. MWC mimed to the orchestra when the applause wouldn't stop that perhaps they should leave. Many arena prommers also guilty of the extended applause. Ruined it for me. Rest of the prom was most enjoyable.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I've said before about applause after the 3rd movement of the Pathetique that somehow it almost feels written into the score - from wild exhilaration to black despair in a moment.

Oh, I don't hear "wild exhilaration", Pet; the little boys playing Mendelssohnian soldiers at the start of the Movement have grown into the young men stamped into the mud by the machine of War at the end. The mothers and widows then lament.

[Petrushka]

Oh, I don't hear "wild exhilaration", Pet; the little boys playing Mendelssohnian soldiers at the start of the Movement have grown into the young men stamped into the mud by the machine of War at the end. The mothers and widows then lament.

Interesting take on it. There is something manic, even hysterical in this third movement; 'stamped in the mud' is about right.

Every live performance, at least in this country (does it happen abroad? In Russia?) has applause after the third movement. It's a symphony with two finales or perhaps a symphony with a finale and an epilogue and if you can think of it like this then the applause doesn't seem out of place. The unbearable build up of tension in the March almost demands some sort of emotional release on the part of the audience and applause is the way it comes out.

Surely, Mahler was strongly influenced by the Pathetique when coming to his 9th?

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Interesting take on it. There is something manic, even hysterical in this third movement; 'stamped in the mud' is about right.

Tchaikovsky casting the audience in the role of "the mob"?

[pureimagination]

From where I was sitting (on the sofa at home sadly) this was another prom I wish I had attended. The Debussy is a real favourite and the Seoul PO didn't disappoint. Unsuk Chin's Su was, for me, not an easy piece to listen to due to the orchestration but the sound of the sheng is an interesting one especially in Wu Wei's encore. I found this piece captivating, the modulation almost electronic in sound. Any one know the title of it?*
Tchaikovsky's 6th also sounded great and I love the allegro molto march section (alway's reminds me of a second world war movie 'though obviously written a good while before.)
The clapping may have just been an enthusiastic response or maybe some of the audience don't know the piece that well and thought the piece has ended - it does have that kind of feel to it at the end of the 3rd movement.
For me the encore as some have suggested was unnecessary. Nevertheless a great prom. (Note to self, one I make every season - pick your proms with more care or you'll be kicking yourself for days after.)

* Wu Wei encore was a self composed piece called Dragon Dance and there is clip (of studio performance) on the In Tune page of BBC Radio 3 website

[Petrushka]

Note to self, one I make every season - pick your proms with more care or you'll be kicking yourself for days after.

Been there, done that. Very often, scanning of the Proms Planner doesn't always highlight the best Proms. If it's any consolation, looking back at all my Proms Guides since my first season (1978) I am left utterly disbelieving that I failed to go to certain Proms and am still kicking myself over 35 years later!