Prom 14: Prokofiev piano concertos (28.07.15)

[Bryn]

Sergei Babayan – no 2 in G minor.

Gosh, does Sergei know this piece,- what a marvellous, relaxed swagger he imparts to the piano’s first entry! Gergiev & the orchestra are faithfully picking up his detailed inflections – this is marvellous music-making in one of my favourite Prokofiev works. I’ve never heard Babayan but the power and insight of his playing is bowling me over – if someone told me that this concerto was for 4 hands at two pianos, I’d have to believe them. It’s many years since I experienced piano playing of the quality displayed in the first movement.

On to a “short ride in a fast machine” that shows Prokofiev setting an example that John Adams couldn’t equal. Brilliant!

In the third movement, I was staggered by Babayan’s variety of attack , there’s never a moment of routine in his playing, he conjures whatever’s needed and the result is a constantly changing kaleidoscopic set of images, full of colours and shapes. This is what is needed for a Festival performance: an artist ready to reveal hidden depths of well-loved works. My word, the orchestra has caught on fire! I thought Trifonov was as good as it gets in the first concerto but this is remarkable, Babayan told us he loved this work, & he’s proving it. Fingers crossed that he likes the 5th concerto almost as much.

Listening to this formidable performance was a treat, a revelation, an education and a privilege. Message to the BBC; please get Babayon back, early & often.

The Arena chant ,bsp, referred to Gergiev stance re Putin and his expansionist adventures, I think.

My favourite of the five, and wow, yes, what a performance!

[edashtav]

My favourite of the five, and wow, yes, what a performance!

My favourite, too, Bryn - what a tremendous piece, eh?

[Bryn]

Phew! A wonderfully spirited 3rd, too. This is turning out to be a very successful night. Just sorry I was unable to get away from work in time to attend.

[bluestateprommer]

Just heard DT's rendition of Concerto No. 3, a salutary reminder of why it is the most popular of Prokofiev's 5 piano concertos. I found DT in much more controlled form here than in No. 1, while being no less virtuosic. Well-deserved audience roars there.

SB did a very fine job in Concerto No. 2, although portions of the work do turn into a "bash-fest", from hearing it again (haven't given the work a hearing in a while). I missed that this was his Proms debut (corrected the Forum calendar accordingly).

Thanks about the clarification about the Arena shout earlier; part of me was wondering if it might have to do with Putin. Trifonov is of the same ilk, I understand, geo-politically.

[gedsmk]

Just heard DT's rendition of Concerto No. 3, a salutary reminder of why it is the most popular of Prokofiev's 5 piano concertos. I found DT in much more controlled form here than in No. 1, while being no less virtuosic. Well-deserved audience roars there.

One minor loss of ensemble in the second movement aside this was brilliant. Have loved this concerto ever since hearing Barry Douglas in a performance I had regarded as definitive. This performance showed effortless virtuosity alongside wit and insight.

[Beef Oven!]

Thanks about the clarification about the Arena shout earlier; part of me was wondering if it might have to do with Putin. Trifonov is of the same ilk, I understand, geo-politically.

As many of us are, but that's all quite irrelevant, IMV.

Btw, I don't think edashtav clarified as such, more that he gave a plausible thought.

Amazing music, I am gutted that I ran out of time today and couldn't go along :sad face:




.

[Simon B]

Said mumblings from arena were about as far from political comment as you could get!

5 Prokofiev concertos side by side. Strap yourselves in for a thrilling ride.

Or somesuch. Much eye rolling but no alarm from the heavies distributed around the place.

#2 the pick of the bunch so far for my money. But maybe that's reviewing the piece as much as the performance. Piano getting lost in the Mighty Bathroom in the other 2 even from quite close up with the less thunderous touch of Trifonov.

[edashtav]

Daniil Trifonov - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no. 3 in C major

A lovely piece and recognised as Prokofiev’s most popular concerto. My reaction may be a little different from my comments Daniil’s his earlier performance this evening because I shall be following the 3rd from the score. From the start, I noticed that Trifonov 1st entry “ironed out” Prokofiev’s careful dynamic markings: from f, through p; a cresc. to mf ending on an emphasised minim. Perhaps, that over-eager loudness was initial nerves, for soft phrases soon appeared (Trifonov may be at his best, in fact in very soft, fast passages). He’s very much the leader of the band and there were a couple of instances in the 2nd movement’s variations when Daniil got slightly ahead of more plastic phrasing from soli woodwind instrument. But, I must not cavil too much, because Trifonov is very capable of getting to the heart of matters, of clarifying a rhythm, or shaping a legato line in a manner that seems so “right”, and I’m aware that I’ve never heard so many elements of his performance played that way or that well, before.

The finale was a triumph, brilliantly played and interpreted. A word about the accompaniment. I think someone on this thread commented that it was a waste that the LSO’s only PROM this year should be in concerti. Neither Gergiev nor his band was treating this as an easy ride providing a background for a virtuoso soloist. As earlier in the concert, I found that the orchestra was on top form, very well drilled and ever ready to shape a phrase to complement Daniil’s conception of it. No, they were not wasted but contributed wonderfully to superb performances. Daniil is still a very young man. This performance was outstanding but… he will do it even better in the future!

[bluestateprommer]

Said mumblings from arena were about as far from political comment as you could get!

5 Prokofiev concertos side by side. Strap yourselves in for a thrilling ride.

Or somesuch. Much eye rolling but no alarm from the heavies distributed around the place.

There was some laughter after the Arena comment, which makes more sense with a comment in the nature of "Fasten your seat belts" rather than anything about Putin-esque thuggery. But back to matters at hand: Alexei Volodin just did a splendid job in the Concerto No. 4. Granted, there's nothing that he can do about the rather trivial nature of the very short last movement. Clearly using just one hand renders matters less open to a "bash fest", and opens up a relatively gentle side of Prokofiev over a longer span.

[edashtav]

Alexei Volodin - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 4 in B flat major

What a splendid start like uncorking champagne. Wonderful shaping of melodies from the orchestra whilst Alexei was working away so fast that it’s difficult to appreciate that he’s using just one hand. Mind you, he needs to project for some of the orchestration for low brass is “full on”.

The slow movement is a serious, inward piece. I like Alexei’s singing, resonant tone that shines through some heavily orchestrated passages, but I’m wondering whether the audience present in the RAH are enjoying the balance as much as listeners on Radio 3.

The transition to the more martial third movement is well handled. The mood darkens and Prokofiev’s stern objective music is projected unyieldingly, with intensity, but no sentiment.

To the final dash that Prokofiev loved so much and wrote so often. Plenty of crystal clarity and sharply cut figures from our capable soloist.

[edashtav]

Sergei Babayan - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major

Great work from the LSO in the first movement where the orchestration is more complex than in earlier concerti. Sergei is certainly a big-boned pianist – quite capable of matching stentorian brass at the climax to the movement.

Could he, should he have used a lighter touch in the more skittish music in the second movement? It sounds to be like fencing with staves. There’s no lack of brio, though.

To another chase between a lightly equipped orchestra and a heavily armoured car.

Relief, the 4th movement starts reflectively but soon Sergei’s left hand goes for broke. But, he does inspire some “nobilmente” playing from the LSO violins, soaring above grouchy brass. On this evidence, Sergei lacks the mystery that his pupil , Daniil, can invest in quiet passages.

The finale is quick but Sergei’s fingers have so much tensile strength that I think they are shaped from titanium rather than steel. The quieter, lightly scored passages does afford relief, and the mood changes but as the tempo increases, once again Babayan flexes his muscles, I feel, to excess.

Odd, how I loved Babayan’s first contribution to the evening so much but felt that his view of the 5th concert was so heavy-handed.
I do hope other listeners don’t feel, as I do, that the evening ended in bathos.

[zola]

Sergei Babayan - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major

Odd, how I loved Babayan’s first contribution to the evening so much but felt that his view of the 5th concert was so heavy-handed.

Perhaps it was simply a case, as he said in interview, that he had lived with the second for years but Gergiev had ( presumably recently ) asked him to learn the fifth. Certainly the reservations I expressed upthread about the programming were not justified and the evening did in fact work.

[Simon B]

Perceptually it seemed a relatively short evening to me. No more homogenous than, say, Das Rheingold ;)

There may have been some virtue in doing all 5 this way in terms of ingesting the Prokofiev "style" before being served the more evasive, arguably weaker 4th and 5th.

For the record, almost nobody left (from a sellout) after the 3rd and just a few after the 4th. So that prediction of doom was emblematically adrift.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Have loved this concerto ever since hearing Barry Douglas in a performance I had regarded as definitive. This performance showed effortless virtuosity alongside wit and insight.

One of my more left-field ex-charity-shop CDs is a performance of the 3rd concerto by Douglas and the European Community Youth Orchestra from the 1987 Lucerne Festival (CD apparently issued by the sponsoring company Digital Equipment Corporation). Presumably that isn't your performance gedsmk?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"all about the orchestra keeping up with the soloist" says Service

..... or not as the case may be

It would be nice if sometimes he would gently bite his tongue.