Prom 28: Dukas/Turnage/Schuller/Scriabin (6.08.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30
Royal Albert Hall

Live at BBC Proms. Oliver Knussen conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Works by Dukas, Schuller and Scriabin's thrilling Poem of Ectasy. And violist Lawrence Power plays Turnage.


Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Mark-Anthony Turnage: On Opened Ground
Gunther Schuller: Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy

Lawrence Power (viola)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Oliver Knussen (conductor)

Poetry, art and music itself inspire this programme. Scriabin's The Poem of Ecstasy fuses poetry and music in pursuit of sexual bliss and spiritual transcendence. Turnage's viola concerto On Opened Ground pays tribute to the poet Seamus Heaney. Schuller's Seven Studies explore Paul Klee's paintings in sound, while Dukas transforms a ballad by Goethe into a musical tale of magic and mischief.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

For me at least, a concert like this represents the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at its very best.

[teamsaint]

For me at least, a concert like this represents the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at its very best.

Looks an interesting evening indeed.
I discovered the Schuller work in that Sony twentieth century Masters box just this week. It should make a really fine Proms piece, and doubtless Ois the man to do it justice.

Can't be there sadly, but look forward to catching up after the weekend.

[jayne lee wilson]

Dukas done-to-death for me, and I've given-up-trying with Fire and Ecstasy, so....

Would've loved to hear OK sweep the BBCSO through the Divin Poeme....
or better still Symphony No.2...

Just lose the Dukas, play Turnage and Schuller in Part One, then hunker down for a truly symphonic intoxication....
...ah, if only.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Scriabin really understood how to handle harmony.

[bluestateprommer]

Before the Dukas, OK mentioned in his remarks to Tom Service that he loves The Sorcerer's Apprentice, perhaps a subliminal attempt to forestall accusations of any "dumbing down" of the annual Olly Prom. That aside, very fine reading, where I can't recall a recording where I've heard the flutes play as precisely as they did here. Good start to the proceedings here. (Side note: I once heard an alternative, less literal, translation of the French title 'L'apprenti sorcier' as "The Apprentice Sorcerer", another way to look at the work and the character [Fantasia associations aside]).

For me at least, a concert like this represents the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at its very best.

Others agree with you, such as Martin Kettle in his Guardian review of the 2012 "Olly Prom":

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/26/prom-56-bbcso-knussen

'Fixed points in the Proms come in many guises. One of these, never formally announced as such but an annual staple nevertheless, is the season's Oliver Knussen Prom. The Olly Prom has its own fixed points, too: a clutch of contemporary, mainly British pieces; often one by Knussen himself; something from an earlier composer Knussen particularly reveres; it's always a longer-than-usual concert evening; and sadly, all too often, attendance is small but select. "No one empties a hall quite like Olly," one of his admirers admitted on Saturday. But some of the giants of Knussen's generation were there all the same.

And one more thing – the Olly Prom is always a big musical learning experience in a way few concerts are. Knussen doesn't just conduct his own concerts; he curates them, too. There's a real sense of them reflecting his formidable mind and his interests. It's impossible not to be drawn in. Not enough people come. But I bet none of them leave early.'

It would be great to hear from someone actually in the RAH how big (or otherwise) the crowd was. I hope that OK got a good-sized audience.

[richardfinegold]

I heard the Schuller work a long time ago and remember being impressed, but for whatever reason haven't encountered it since. An interesting program

[EnemyoftheStoat]

It would be great to hear from someone actually in the RAH how big (or otherwise) the crowd was. I hope that OK got a good-sized audience.

Well, the annual Ollie Prom is never difficult to get into, shall we say; a combination of "difficult" repertoire and the lack of a "star" band and conductor no doubt to blame. And those who stay away invariably miss a treat; same again this time.

With a small if discerning crowd already assured, this summer's tube strikes once again took their toll. My own plan B was almost scuppered by overground train cancellations (due to "difficult passengers" ) but I got to RAH at two minutes to kick-off and could still have pitched a very large tent in the arena. Or pretty much anywhere else for that matter.

[Ferretfancy]

A couple of dozen assorted gripes so far, and no mention of the quality of the performances.

Unfortunately the hall was half empty last night, with plenty of room in the Arena surrounded by massive gaps in the stalls. No doubt the travel problems last night were largely to blame.

It was a very successful concert with the wonderful Lawrence Power providing a fine performance of The Turnage work On Opened Ground. I shall certainly seek out his CD

My particular interest last night was the Gunther Schuller. I have the excellent CD which Dorati and the Minneapolis SO and Dorati made for the Mercury label back in 1960. This was my first chance to hear it live, and this was very much Oliver Knussen's territory, as he had once studied with Schuller. Brilliant playing from the BBC SO who were on top form for the whole concert.

I usually lose patience a bit with the Scriabin, but not last night, the mighty ending was pretty overwhelming from my fairly close vantage point in the Arena. It struck me that all the works last night, with the possible exception of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, would have presented a great dynamic challenge for the OB engineers. I rather expected the sound in the hall to be more cavernous than usual, due to the smaller audience, but oddly enough it sounded clearer. I would likme to know what the broadcast was lime on good equipment.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

A couple of dozen assorted gripes so far, and no mention of the quality of the performances.

Well, I did try to get a word in edgeways somewhere back there but failed to realise that this thread was about the regulars' views about presenters.

[french frank]

Some posts have been moved, as suggested, to the Presentation thread.

This for further comments on Prom 28.

[bluestateprommer]

Unfortunately the hall was half empty last night, with plenty of room in the Arena surrounded by massive gaps in the stalls. No doubt the travel problems last night were largely to blame.

It was a very successful concert with the wonderful Lawrence Power providing a fine performance of The Turnage work On Opened Ground. I shall certainly seek out his CD

My particular interest last night was the Gunther Schuller. I have the excellent CD which Dorati and the Minneapolis SO and Dorati made for the Mercury label back in 1960. This was my first chance to hear it live, and this was very much Oliver Knussen's territory, as he had once studied with Schuller. Brilliant playing from the BBC SO who were on top form for the whole concert.

I usually lose patience a bit with the Scriabin, but not last night, the mighty ending was pretty overwhelming from my fairly close vantage point in the Arena. It struck me that all the works last night, with the possible exception of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, would have presented a great dynamic challenge for the OB engineers. I rather expected the sound in the hall to be more cavernous than usual, due to the smaller audience, but oddly enough it sounded clearer. I would like to know what the broadcast was like on good equipment.

Indeed, this edition of the annual Olly Prom came over very well indeed musically on iPlayer, both in terms of music-making and engineering. You're up on me in that I've never heard the Schuller work live, and not sure if the chance will ever come my way. Ff is quite correct that this Prom again shows the BBC SO on very strong form, as seems to have been the case all summer. The Scriabin can indeed come across as very tendentious, but Knussen judged the work beautifully, and the ending did indeed come across as OTT in the best way over iPlayer, saving it just for the end. Very fine playing indeed from LP in the M-AT.

Even without transport issues, historically, Knussen's annual Proms have struck me, from a distance and reading various reports, as always being "hard sells" with correspondingly low attendance, maybe just because they're just "too smart" for most audiences. (OK, it would be different if either Dudamel or Rattle were conducting the exact same program.) Perhaps the Proms' marketing team should embrace the precise fact that the Olly Proms are for the discerning, and maybe do some "up-scale" marketing, although I haven't the faintest idea how one should do that. I should almost get over there again just for an Olly Prom, although that is an incredibly high-carbon footprint way of trying to add to the audience.