Prom 38: Messiaen – Turangalîla Symphony 13.08.15

[Bryn]

It doesn't sound like an sell-out then! That's a shame, some things can sound a bit dry if there aren't enough people in the hall. I suppose the rain put them off.

At least you won't get bullied by the stewards into standing up half an hour before the music starts, as happens so often to me.

Rain? What rain? Bone dry while I queued.

Three restarts for the Pre-Prom event due to unserviceable introductions.

I will, of course, most likely lose my prime seat during the interval.

[DracoM]

Superb! What a wonderfully subtle and joyful performance!!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My son and I were listening to it. Unfortunately it was distressing Frau A, so I had to turn it off.

But I recorded it.

[Simon B]

Magic @ RAH. Complete joy from start to finish. Haven't been so involved in a Prom this season. Nights like this are what makes all the hassle and expense and disappointments still worth it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Magic @ RAH. Complete joy from start to finish. Haven't been so involved in a Prom this season. Nights like this are what makes all the hassle and expense and disappointments still worth it.

[teamsaint]

Look forward to hearing more comments from those in the hall.
It certainly came over really well on the radio, excellent sound, couldn't hear much in the way of balance issues.
Thoroughly enjoyable, although, FWIW, I thought it was a quite " in your face" performance,rather than the last word in
Subtlelty.

Terrific stuff.

[Bryn]

It was alright if you like that sort of thing, which I do, very much so. Met up with Caliban and Beef Oven in the interval and moved from my seat at the back to near the front with Beef Oven for the Messiaen. Highly enjoyable.

[edashtav]

Superb! What a wonderfully subtle and joyful performance!!

I'm about a third in agreement, DracoM.

To start with the Foulds, a composer whose work fascinates me, I wasn't completely convinced that the 3 Mantras had received sufficient rehearsal. Much was good, but that final bit of "spit & polish" was missing so that chording sounded splashy rather than unanimous, in places. Nevertheless, a cleverly chosen foil for the Messaien and I would have loved to have been in the RAH, had I been fit enough.

With the Turangalila, I agree it was joyous and extremely confident. However, I reject utterly your assessment that it was a subtle performance , siding with Teamsaint who judged it,"Thoroughly enjoyable, although, FWIW, I thought it was a quite " in your face" performance,rather than the last word in subtlety." It did hector, there was plenty of grand-standing and if Our Mutual Friend, Pierre, had heard it, he might have stomped off muttering about it being "the music of the Bordello". The problem for me with such an gaudy performance is that it reduces the structure of the piece. To adapt the words of Florent Schmitt, it's "une symphonie sans esprit de symphonie; c'est, peut-être, une symphonie à l'esprit d'une suite". But... for a Prom performance it gave us all the fun of the Karma Sutra, and you'd need to be a monk, or Boulez to reject such a proposition. It was huge fun and as full of brio as an Offenbach " Can-Can" on speed. Maybe, not a Messiaen performance for the aesthete, but, heigh-ho, what's not to like about Messaien for the masses?

I enjoyed and was informed by the interval talk.

[Nick Armstrong]

Look forward to hearing more comments from those in the hall.

Terrific stuff.

Agreed! Report to follow tomorrow...

[Beef Oven!]

[kernelbogey]

This was one of the most exciting concerts I've attended in a long time. Knocked out by Turangalila. Maybe I'm not into subtlety at the moment, Edashtav!

More thoughts tomorrow.

[Beef Oven!]

Look forward to hearing more comments from those in the hall.
It certainly came over really well on the radio, excellent sound, couldn't hear much in the way of balance issues.
Thoroughly enjoyable, although, FWIW, I thought it was a quite " in your face" performance,rather than the last word in
Subtlelty.

Terrific stuff.

I think I understand why you say "in your face". Some of the more percussive sections were enthusiastically dispatched and, as expected, the performance had an undeniable, insuppressible 'joie de vivre'. However, the pianissimos were utterly astounding and I've never heard that level of subtle detail at the previous performances that I have attended, nor from any recording. And believe me, my and Bryn's faces were very close to it all (Caliban was on a sofa, I believe, to our right)!

To be fair, I think that one would have to have been there to fully appreciate what I mean. It was essentially a very subtle performance. Somehow there was a divine blend of ebullient music, exuberant musicianship and the diaphanous quality of the programmatic dimension of the work. In fact, I think it was perfect!

[edashtav]

One of the first reviews in the press comes from Bernard Hughes. It's enthusiastic, thoughtful and nuanced:

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/prom-38-osborne-bbc-philharmonic-mena

Bernard Hughes ends:

“It takes a creative master to write a piece so diffuse and yet unified, so richly romantic and yet at times so mechanical, but above all so deeply weird. Mena and the BBC Philharmonic rejoiced in the music’s affirmation but also celebrated its weirdness; The Turangalîla Symphony shouldn’t really work, but it can, and, here, it did.”

[cloughie]

Enjoyed the Foulds - particularly the bit with the chorus.

[Simon Biazeck]

To be fair, I think that one would have to have been there to fully appreciate what I mean. It was essentially a very subtle performance. Somehow there was a divine blend of ebullient music, exuberant musicianship and the diaphanous quality of the programmatic dimension of the work. In fact, I think it was perfect!

I absolutely agree, and the review.

From 2nd tier box 32 it was quite something. I thought the Foulds Mantra I was terrific and they were perfect beside the mighty Turangalîla.