Prom 29: Stravinsky/Messiaen/Ravel (7.08.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

18:30
Royal Albert Hall

The BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Nicholas Collon, live at the BBC Proms. They are joined by pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Mozart: Idomeneo - ballet music
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major
Messiaen: Un oiseau des arbres de Vie (Oiseau tui) (orch. Christopher Dingle) (world premiere)
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Ravel: Miroirs - Oiseaux tristes (arr. Colin Matthews) (BBC commission) (world premiere)
Ravel: La valse

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
BBC Philharmonic
Nicholas Collon (conductor)

Mozart's Idomeneo owes its ballet sequence to the influence of French opera, and it launches a programme featuring two Frenchmen who idolised Mozart: Ravel and Messiaen. Ravel's Piano Concerto in G adds a jazzy colouring to its Classical influences, while Oiseaux tristes and La valse contrast the doleful calls of lost forest birds with a dark, swirling portrait of the disintegration of Vienna. The world premiere of a recently rediscovered work by Messiaen - originally intended for the composer's Éclairs sur l'au-delà - brings more birdsong (that of the tui from New Zealand), while Stravinsky's urbane neo-Classical Symphony combines piquancy and elegance.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was trying to work out how Idomeneo fitted into a French-themed concert, but the Radio 3 website explains this. Another interesting concert, especially the Messiaen.

[Serial_Apologist]

All these years I'd always thought the title to be "Eclairs sur l'eau dela".

[jayne lee wilson]

Playing anything after the Symphony in 3 Movements seems a bad idea, but La Valse!?

So - drop the Mozart & La Valse, have both Ravel Piano Concertos - one in each half with one orchestration, end with the Stravinsky - sorted.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

On balance, perhaps not the best conceived programme of the season. I first heard the Ravel live with Bernstein directing the VPO from the piano.

[bluestateprommer]

Playing anything after the Symphony in 3 Movements seems a bad idea, but La Valse!?

So - drop the Mozart & La Valse, have both Ravel Piano Concertos - one in each half with one orchestration, end with the Stravinsky - sorted.

Not the most practical option to have both Ravel concerti on the same program, even with a willing pianist, who'd be wrecked at the end of the proceedings. Besides, Marc-Andre Hamelin has the left hand concerto next week. Plus, the rather fragmentary nature of the Stravinsky doesn't make it a satisfactory end to a concert, IMHO. I've heard it at the end of the 1st half of a concert before once, though, which works out fine.

That aside, another mental blankout here and I forgot to iPlayer in early for this BBC Phil Prom, so that I've only caught most of the 2nd half so far. NC's interpretation of the Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements struck me as OK, not much more, but then the work doesn't really lend itself to "interpretation", but simply just playing it "straight". Rather tepid attempt at applause after the 1st movement. The Colin Matthews orchestration of Ravel's "Oiseaux tristes" was, again, OK, but nothing extraordinary IMHO. La valse is always a treat to hear, even if the word "treat" might not fit a work with such a dark ending, and the energy level definitely went up.

So a somewhat "meh" experience, albeit hearing it backwards, as it were, if/when I catch up with the 1st half.

[edashtav]

Not the most practical option to have both Ravel concerti on the same program, even with a willing pianist, who'd be wrecked at the end of the proceedings. Besides, Marc-Andre Hamelin has the left hand concerto next week. [...]

That aside, another mental blankout here and I forgot to iPlayer in early for this BBC Phil Prom, so that I've only caught the 2nd half so far.
[...]
The Colin Matthews orchestration of Ravel's "Oiseaux tristes" was, again, OK, but nothing extraordinary IMHO.
.

I agree with bluestateprommer about the impracticality of programming both Ravel piano concerti in the same concert, particularly if they're given to the same pianist.

I didn’t listen to the Mozart.

I enjoyed the Ravel G major piano concerto and found the finale most satisfying. Throughout all three movements, I found the BBC Philharmonic’s accompaniment, under the assured guidance of Nicholas Collon, to be uniformly excellent. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet plays perhaps a little too heavy for my liking and I found his contrasting tempi in the first movement to be extreme. The movement I enjoyed least was the second where I found Bavouzet too matter of fact. I wanted more grace and elegance. The finale was a breeze.

A pseudo-Messaien premiere is an unexpected pleasure and this one allowed me to luxuriate in memories of “true” British premieres that I attended long ago, particularly those “starring” the London Sinfonietta. Christopher Dingle has done a fine task of realising an appropriate sound world in his orchestration. The performance was a confident one, sharply etched and brightly coloured. I enjoyed the unexpected close.

Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements is one of my favourite 20th century scores. I agree with Jayne Lee Wilson’s reservations about its position in the programme. That’s probably because I regard it as a masterpiece and as such it has a finality that causes difficulties to works that follow. I loved the clean, bouncing rhythms in the first movement: the music had great shape and direction and the piano playing was spot on. The slow movement had some lovely solo work from members of the BBC Philharmonic. Just one section seemed too slow, a touch disjointed and under-characterised. The strings soon got the ship back on course. I loved the careful balancing in some of the wind-dominated moments. Some horn melodies I found so beautiful, I was moved to tears. The martial nature of the finale was well-established and the contrast to what had gone before was clearly projected. Some marvellous bassoon playing put a swing into the music. The fugal entries were precise and very effective. The ending was brilliant and strident- just the ticket.
Have I enjoyed a live performance of this great piece more? No!

I regarded the orchestration of Ravel’s piano piece as redundant, so I gave it a miss.

Ravel’s La Valse disappointed me: it lacked elegance and mystery, was too coarse & rather hard-driven. A young man’s interpretation.
No matter, Collon is already, a fine musician and I predict that he will be one of the world’s leading conductors in the decades to come.

[jayne lee wilson]

The two Ravel Concerti too demanding for one pianist in one night...?

Andsnes managed Beethoven 1 & 4, then 2 & 5, directing as well; and neither Trifonov nor Babayan appeared to faint across the keyboard over their Prokofiev - in 1 & 3, and 2 and 5 respectively...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The two Ravel Concerti too demanding for one pianist in one night...?

Andsnes managed Beethoven 1 & 4, then 2 & 5, directing as well; and neither Trifonov nor Babayan appeared to faint across the keyboard over their Prokofiev - in 1 & 3, and 2 and 5 respectively...

I prefer concerts with more variety than is apparent when we are given two (or 5) concertos by the same composer.

Themed concerts are OK, but this one didn't seem to work as well as some.

[edashtav]

The two Ravel Concerti too demanding for one pianist in one night...?

Andsnes managed Beethoven 1 & 4, then 2 & 5, directing as well; and neither Trifonov nor Babayan appeared to faint across the keyboard over their Prokofiev - in 1 & 3, and 2 and 5 respectively...

Superficially, you've made some good points, Jayne, but you're using exceptions to prove rules. Andsnes spent three years immersed in the Beethoven concerti touring with the MCO, developing a deep and united vision of the cycle. That's different from jetting hither and thither on one night stands with different bands and their maestri. The Prokofiev cycle in a night was a fiesta, again repeated a number of times. It didn't have a consistent set of performers , perhaps because of the format's demands.

Most pianists seem happier to undertake one concerto per night, and where a second concerted work is scheduled that tends to be less challenging.

The two Ravel concerti are towering works and they make different demands on the soloist. To climb two peaks in one evening, one with your right hand tied to your ruck-sac is no mean task, IMHO.

[Ferretfancy]

Didn't anybody like the concert? Or at least have a view?

Collon is proving to be a very persuasive conductor, and the orchestra obviously enjoyed playing for him. I would say that the rhythmic precision of the orchestral playing was a perfect complement to Bavouzet's beautiful performance of the Ravel. In the Idomeneo ballet music, Mozart had a catchy theme in the Gavotte that had me itching to remember which piano concerto he used it in years later. I should have checked the programme, it was K 503
Both the Stravinsky and the Ravel were excellent, perhaps there could have been more sinister undercurrents in La Valse, but all the details came through.

It was my last Prom for a couple of weeks ( family business ) but it's been a fine season so far.

I didn't stay for the late Sinatra concert, but there was a large and enthusiastic queue promming on the night. It was also a very young audience, which was very encouraging.

[bluestateprommer]

Looking at this program again, it put me in mind of a passage in David Wright's article in The Proms: A New History, where he wrote about a program that William Glock wanted to do in his first season as Proms Controller:

"Glock had originally programmed [Stockhausen's Gesang der Junglinge] with Mozart's overture to Idomeneo and Piano Concerto in C minor, K. 491, Stravinsky's Symphony in C and a scene from The Rake's Progress, concluding with Ravel's Bolero. It was an early example of how eclectic Glock's mixed programming could be..."

The 1960 Prom that actually resulted, since the Stockhausen fell through for lack of proper technical gear, was this one for Prom 14:

Mozart: Idomeneo, rè di Creta, K 366 - Overture
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress, Aria - 'No word from Tom', Act 1, Scene 3 Proms premiere
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491 - Cadenza by Ingrid Haebler
Stravinsky: Symphony in C major (Proms premiere)

Berio: Perspectives (UK premiere)

Ravel: Boléro

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis, Conductor
Joan Carlyle, soprano
Ingrid Haebler, piano
(Anonymous, sound projection)

Remarkably close in style and spirit to this BBC Phil Prom from 55 years later, it would appear.

From hearing the whole thing, finally, it did strike me much more how much of a mixed stylistic bag this concert really was. The touch was suitably light for the Mozart opener, but did get a bit heavy-handed in the closing Ravel, in keeping with what edashtav wrote. But as also noted, NC is definitely on the rise as a conductor, as NC will take up a new post in The Hague with Het Residentie Orkest (in English, the Hague Philharmonic) next year, in parallel with Jan Willem de Vriend as joint principal conductor there.