Prom 25: Monteverdi – Orfeo (4.08.15)

[Darkbloom]

You would have thought Christiansen would have realised this!! I presume he was there too, and would have experienced the same as you did. In the Guardian the reviewer notes the absence of surtitles...
... is there anywhere to project them in the RAH?


OG

I imagine Christiansen got so worked up at the thought of having caught JEG out on something that he rushed into print before his brain caught up. Even among opera critics he writes some notable nonsense. I wouldn't put it past JEG to have seen the article and put him right in no uncertain terms, given his fiery reputation.

Regarding the use of surtitles; the only occasion I have seen them used was for a Royal Opera production of Meistersinger (this was back when CG was closed for renovation) and they had a screen hung down over the stage, so it is technically possible, but I imagine they sell many more programmes (with libretto) than they normally would, so there is no incentive for them to do so. I can't imagine that the many people I saw with their heads stuck in their programmes throughout the performance were exactly immersed in the stage spectacle, but that's the reality of commerce for you.

I think the lack of an interval was a mistake. As someone said, JEG bent rather alarmingly to the ground towards the end of the performance, and I wondered if he was all right, only to see that he had gone to retrieve his water bottle. It was obviously a draining experience for many people. A break halfway through would have freshened us all up and made us more attentive to what was a very fine performance.

[kernelbogey]

I think the lack of an interval was a mistake.

I didn't note the actual ending time, but the R3 schedule suggests that it was planned to end at 2145. One 20 minute interval would have taken it to past ten. Setting aside audience preferences about getting home after a later finish, I believe the orchestra's contract might invoke overtime after 10. (There certainly was such a clause in the OROH contract in the 1980s.)

[Bryn]

I could have done without Donald Macleod commentating over the interstitial held chords during the broadcast, (and on the iPlayer Listen Again facility|), but it was not too distracting, I suppose.

[Old Grumpy]

I didn't note the actual ending time, but the R3 schedule suggests that it was planned to end at 2145. One 20 minute interval would have taken it to past ten. Setting aside audience preferences about getting home after a later finish, I believe the orchestra's contract might invoke overtime after 10. (There certainly was such a clause in the OROH contract in the 1980s.)

According to iplayer the final chord came at approx 2135h. This timing does not include the applause. As has been stated above - the printed Proms Guide does indicate that "there will be one interval".

OG

[edashtav]

Has the article been edited - I don't see any mention of microphones or amplification. There were some speakers in evidence, but I imagine that was part of the set up for the 6Music Prom, rather than Monteverdi, I certainly couldn't hear anything other than sound direct from the singers, even when the Messenger was wandering through the arena

Yes, Christiansen's piece has been edited, quietly and with no Monteverdian fanfare. The "revised" version makes nonsense of a detailed BBC rebuttal letter printed in today's (07/08) Telegraph!

As I once heard during a lesson reading in a country church: " 'E who has ears to 'ear, let him 'ear."

[Darkbloom]

I didn't note the actual ending time, but the R3 schedule suggests that it was planned to end at 2145. One 20 minute interval would have taken it to past ten. Setting aside audience preferences about getting home after a later finish, I believe the orchestra's contract might invoke overtime after 10. (There certainly was such a clause in the OROH contract in the 1980s.)

I don't think that can have been the reason, because they would just have started earlier, as they do for most operas of reasonable length.

[jean]

Yes, Christiansen's piece has been edited, quietly and with no Monteverdian fanfare. The "revised" version makes nonsense of a detailed BBC rebuttal letter printed in today's (07/08) Telegraph!

Here, for non-Telegraph readers, is the full letter:

The full Monteverdi
SIR – I’m pleased to be able to reassure Rupert Christiansen (Arts, August 6) that the Proms performance of Monteverdi’s Orfeo was in no way amplified. The head-microphones he saw were used, because of the soloists’ movement around the stage, to ensure a high-quality broadcast of the concert on Radio 3. They resulted in no alteration of the sound in the hall whatsoever.

Edward Blakeman
Director, BBC Proms 2015
London W1

[Darkbloom]

Here, for non-Telegraph readers, is the full letter:

The full Monteverdi
SIR – I’m pleased to be able to reassure Rupert Christiansen (Arts, August 6) that the Proms performance of Monteverdi’s Orfeo was in no way amplified. The head-microphones he saw were used, because of the soloists’ movement around the stage, to ensure a high-quality broadcast of the concert on Radio 3. They resulted in no alteration of the sound in the hall whatsoever.

Edward Blakeman
Director, BBC Proms 2015
London W1

It would be nice if he responded with an apology. I'm sure that won't happen.

[Old Grumpy]

It would be nice if he responded with an apology. I'm sure that won't happen.

And perhaps an apology for sneakily altering the online review so it looks like he never said it!

OG

[Darkbloom]

And perhaps an apology for sneakily altering the online review so it looks like he never said it!

OG

I can imagine how pleased he was with himself for spotting it, he spent about a third of his review droning on about this heinous offence and how surprised he was that JEG had countenanced it. He's really been in the job too long if he goes to performances and gets sidetracked by irrelevancies like that.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I imagine Christiansen got so worked up at the thought of having caught JEG out on something that he rushed into print before his brain caught up. Even among opera critics he writes some notable nonsense. I wouldn't put it past JEG to have seen the article and put him right in no uncertain terms, given his fiery reputation.

I suspect I may have played some part in this. Our reviewer also made comment on the microphones/amplification issue. Unlike the Telegraph editor, I checked with the BBC Proms publicity assistant, mentioning that the Telegraph review had also reported some amplification. She checked with the concert manager and came back with the confirmation that “They were purely for radio – absolutely zero amplification!”.

[Richard J.]

I could have done without Donald Macleod commentating over the interstitial held chords during the broadcast

If you mean at the end of Act 2, the "interstitial chords" were the orchestra retuning to the organ, not part of the opera at all.