Prom 53: Bartók – The Miraculous Mandarin; Shostakovich – Orango (24.08.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30
Royal Albert Hall

The Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen, live at the BBC Proms.


Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491
Shostakovich: Orango - Prologue (orch. G. McBurney)

David Fray (piano)

Natalia Pavlova (Susanna)
Natalia Yakimova (Renée)
Alexander Shagun (Armand Fleury)
Alexander Trofimov (Paul Mâche)
Vladimir Babokin (Foreigner 1)
Oleg Losev (Foreigner 2)
Dmitry Koleushko (Zoologist)
Ivan Novoselov (Orango)
Leo Elhardt (Voice from the Crowd)
Denis Beganski (Master of Ceremonies)
Yuri Yevchuk (Veselchak)

Philharmonia Voices
Philharmonia Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)
Irina Brown (stage director)

Shostakovich's Orango - an incomplete opera whose manuscript came to light only in 2004 - is a glossy fusion of wit and political venom. The 'Orango' of the title is half man, half ape - a symbol of the decadent West. It's a work matched for vivid colouring by Bartók's violent and sexually charged ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin. French pianist David Fray returns following his Proms debut in 2011 to play Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 - written at the height of the composer's fame in Vienna as a performer of his own works.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orango_(opera)

[Beef Oven!]

Composer

I really like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin, but I have never knowingly heard a note of DSCH's Orango. Not sure about this one, even though I wouldnt mind catching the Bartok.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Plenty of Vitamin C in this programme!

[Beef Oven!]

Plenty of Vitamin C in this programme!

Great!

[Serial_Apologist]

Do people feel the subject matter of The Miraculous Mandarin to be misogynistic? I've often asked myself this question.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Do people feel the subject matter of The Miraculous Mandarin to be misogynistic? I've often asked myself this question.

Yes, it's a valid suggestion.

[richardfinegold]

McBurney does the "Beyond The Score" series here. I would like to hear that piece.
Some excerpt from Orango is on the Nelsons/Boston disc. It's short and loud

[mahlerei]

McBurney does the "Beyond The Score" series here. I would like to hear that piece.
Some excerpt from Orango is on the Nelsons/Boston disc. It's short and loud

Hi Richard

The filler on the BSO/Nelsons disc is the Passacaglia from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Or have I misunderstood your post?

Salonen has done a fab recording of Orango, although it's coupled with a very disappointing Fourth:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=754152

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, it's a valid suggestion.

Well, at least two of us think so!

[maestro267]

It'll be fantastic to hear The Miraculous Mandarin played complete. I never understand why they only ever perform the Suite. Only 10 minutes of music is cut between the complete ballet and the suite, so you might as well play all of it.

[richardfinegold]

Hi Richard

The filler on the BSO/Nelsons disc is the Passacaglia from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Or have I misunderstood your post?

Salonen has done a fab recording of Orango, although it's coupled with a very disappointing Fourth:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...lbum_id=754152

You are right about the Lady Macbeth; somewhere in the notes I thought I saw a mention of Orgango...

[Simon B]

Orango: Words aren't really much help for a response!

If there was an almighty bang on the relay at some point, that was a microphone being sent flying accidentally by a ballet dancer wielding a 6 foot long bright red rifle :-)

Mass flapping noises? Everyone in the arena and gallery waving red flags...

The point made elsewhere of British orchestras often getting the Shostakovich sound was underlined too. That's the way to do brass and percussion (no polite cymbals tonight!) in DSCH.

Profound 2nd half? Probably not. Great fun though!

[Ferretfancy]

It would have been nice if we had been told beforehand when to wave our flags! On the way home I spoke to a couple of the staff at Knightsbridge tube, I was going to offer them my red flag but by then the strike was off. Incidentally, has anybody seen the early Soviet silent called Strike? It pre-dates films like October, and is well worth searching out.

It was a terrific performance of the Miraculous Mandarin, emotionally exhausting as it should be with tremendous virtuosity from the Philharmonia. I was glad that there was a decent pause before the Mozart. David Fray gave a bright and crisp performance in very good rapport with Salonen and the orchestra. I suspect that later on he will find a little more poetry but it was enjoyable as a straightforward account.

Orango was fun in a rather messy way, and I liked to see Sir Henry Wood flanked by a huge banner of the Place of the Soviets topped by Lenin! It was very much of its time, and the spectacle of a performer dressed as an orang utan being treated like a circus animal before being punctured by a large syringe would not do today.
All in all an Albert Hall romp, but Shostakovich's raucous parodies fell flat after the magnificent Bartok.

[mercia]

interesting and entertaining Proms Extra interval feature with Mr McB explaining where one would hear bits of Orango elsewhere

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0670fs7