Prom 54: Britten/Yiu/Nielsen/Janáček (25.08.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30
Royal Albert Hall

BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner, live at the BBC Proms. Britten, Janacek, Nielsen's Flute Concerto with Emily Beynon and a world premiere - Raymond Yiu's Symphony.


Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Raymond Yiu: Symphony (BBC commission: world premiere)
Nielsen: Flute Concerto
Janácek: Sinfonietta

Andrew Watts (countertenor)
Emily Beynon (flute)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner (conductor)

Proms regular Edward Gardner continues this year's Nielsen anniversary celebrations with the Flute Concerto - a work that expresses what Nielsen perceived as the instrument's 'Arcadian' quality. This gentle, pastoral quality battles, however, with darker forces, characterfully symbolised by the bass trombone. Both Janácek's Sinfonietta and Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem are also vivid expressions of contrast - in mood, texture and colour. The five movements of the Sinfonietta are all scored for a different - and sometimes unlikely - combination of instruments, while the three episodes in Britten's elegiac Sinfonia da Requiem paint different stages of mourning, from grief to anger and finally an uneasy acceptance. Raymond Yiu's BBC commission is a symphony which features the amazing countertenor voice of Andrew Watts, singing texts by Walt Whitman, Constantine Cavafy,Thom Gunn and John Donne on memories of love and loss.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Can any flautist forumite comment on the level of difficulty of the Nielsen?

[bluestateprommer]

Raymond Yu's new Symphony just finished. "Eclectic" is certainly one way to describe it, with lounge-like sonorities (Tom Service referred to "disco" in his post-performance comments) mashed up next to more 'traditional' symphonic style. Much of the harmonic language seemed quite audience-friendly, though with dollops of more chromatic density in the earlier section. Not sure how much I "liked" it, but I should give it another go later. Full marks to Andrew Watts for his work, and EG and the BBC SO accompanied very well. Interval talk, with Christopher Cook moderating, focusing on Nielsen now.

[Serial_Apologist]

I agree, BST - much of the musical language of the Yu symphony to me recalled Franz Schreker - likewise backing off from innovations that would have been lingua franca in the 1950s and 60s. If I was coming to new music today as a young person, I don't think I would find much of interest in much of it for me.

I'm afraid the interval talk didn't do anything whatever to illuminate Nielsen for me.

[Bryn]

Only just started listening to tonight's Prom. Any mention in the introduction to the Sinfonietta of Janacek's little instrumental quirk, the viola d'amore?

[bluestateprommer]

Only just started listening to tonight's Prom. Any mention in the introduction to the Sinfonietta of Janacek's little instrumental quirk, the viola d'amore?

Not that I recall, but would have to re-listen to it to confirm. Somewhat rocky start in the opening fanfare of the Janacek, with several blips, but I did like the hard-edge of the timpani. Most of the rest went quite well, with again a mild momentary slip in the final fanfare. Tremendous performance of Nielsen's Flute Concerto from Emily Beynon, EG and the BBC SO beforehand. (One off hand remark about the Raymond Yu that I forgot to mention was that the 'disco' style mashup actually put me momentarily in mind of Tippett's Symphony No. 3, in overall concept, i.e. the stylistic mash-up, rather than specific execution, i.e. no rock'n'roll drum kit in the Yu.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

much of the musical language of the Yu symphony to me recalled Franz Schreker - likewise backing off from innovations that would have been lingua franca in the 1950s and 60s.

??? I don't think I follow your point, S_A - why describe the work of a composer as "backing off" from innovations that occurred 20 and 30 years after he died?

I'm afraid the interval talk didn't do anything whatever to illuminate Nielsen for me.

Nor for me, either. (And was it my radio reception, or did one of the contributors keep referring to "Joyce" as an "avant garde" composer?

[Tony Halstead]

Can any flautist forumite comment on the level of difficulty of the Nielsen?

Although a very occasional flute player these days - definitely an amateur rather than a 'pro' - I can certainly confirm that some passages in the Nielsen are formidably difficult.
All of these were performed with almost nonchalant ease by Ms Beynon
however
I sometimes feel that in order for the 'whole message' of some of Nielsen's music to emerge, one craves a certain sense of 'struggle'.... there is a famous story about Stravinsky auditioning some young student bassoon players in the USA for an upcoming performance of 'Le Sacre'; he rejected the ones who sailed through the opening solo perfectly, and favoured the ones who somehow wrestled and struggled with it!

[jayne lee wilson]

Churlish perhaps, but our brave and beloved BBCSO did sound a touch under-rehearsed and overworked in the Janacek Sinfonietta... let's give it up for the soundbalancer(s) though, who achieved a gloriously dynamic final climax over HDs - very well done! I've never heard all those trumpets come across so well over any web- or broad-cast before!

Yes, an excellent Nielsen Flute Concerto from Gardner, BBCSO and Emily Beynon - a very loveable work as well as a very innovative one. Very fond of it, I've listened to several of the extant recordings this year, and this performance was... right up there!

[Ferretfancy]

Churlish perhaps, but our brave and beloved BBCSO did sound a touch under-rehearsed and overworked in the Janacek Sinfonietta... let's give it up for the soundbalancer(s) though, who achieved a gloriously dynamic final climax over HDs - very well done! I've never heard all those trumpets come across so well over any web- or broad-cast before!

Yes, an excellent Nielsen Flute Concerto from Gardner, BBCSO and Emily Beynon - a very loveable work as well as a very innovative one. Very fond of it, I've listened to several of the extant recordings this year, and this performance was... right up there!

Just a little churlish, jayne. From where I was standing it sounded terrific. The trumpets were a splendid sight in a long row on the high risers to the conductor's left, and I can't say I heard much sign of fall off in the BBC SO's playing. I suspect that they could have been a little tired after the technical difficulties of the Britten and the Liu Symphony, not to mention the lovely Nielsen flute concerto, but it was a very successful evening.

[Pulcinella]

Has the Sinfonietta ever been performed with (some of) the brass in the gallery, or would coordination/logistics problems rule this out as a possibility?
The performance lacked a bit of raw visceral earthiness for me, and I prefer some slightly slower speeds in places, but it was enjoyable all the same.
Was out for first half of concert, but hope to catch up with repeat or listen again.
Not a great fan of the Nielsen, but thought it came over well in a very good performance; happy to defer to jlw for her judgement as she clearly knows the piece better than I do (Chandos recording under Schonwandt).

[Serial_Apologist]

??? I don't think I follow your point, S_A - why describe the work of a composer as "backing off" from innovations that occurred 20 and 30 years after he died?

I expressed myself rather badly there, and was clumsily trying to conflate two aspects of both composers that weren't really conflatable, apart from a certain similarity between their sound worlds, to my ears, at any rate.

[Ferretfancy]

Has the Sinfonietta ever been performed with (some of) the brass in the gallery, or would coordination/logistics problems rule this out as a possibility?
The performance lacked a bit of raw visceral earthiness for me, and I prefer some slightly slower speeds in places, but it was enjoyable all the same.
Was out for first half of concert, but hope to catch up with repeat or listen again.
Not a great fan of the Nielsen, but thought it came over well in a very good performance; happy to defer to jlw for her judgement as she clearly knows the piece better than I do (Chandos recording under Schonwandt).

I'm not sure that Janacek's Sinfonietta ever comes across that well in recordings or broadcasts it simply isn't possible to convey the scale. On a completely different note, there were two young women in front of me in the Arena, either sitting on the floor or occasionally getting to their feet. There was plenty of space last night. Neither of them showed any interest in the music whatsoever, in fact I had to ask one of them to stop texting. Even the bottle of wine that they brought in with them was largely untasted.

I found myself wanting to ask-'Why did you come ?'
They must have had some reason to attend, but I can't for the life of me think what it was. It was a miserably wet evening and they presumably had spent quite a long time in the queue. All very odd.

[Sir Velo]

On a completely different note, there were two young women in front of me in the Arena, either sitting on the floor or occasionally getting to their feet. There was plenty of space last night. Neither of them showed any interest in the music whatsoever, in fact I had to ask one of them to stop texting. Even the bottle of wine that they brought in with them was largely untasted.

I found myself wanting to ask-'Why did you come ?'
They must have had some reason to attend, but I can't for the life of me think what it was. It was a miserably wet evening and they presumably had spent quite a long time in the queue. All very odd.

They may have had Friends or relations in the orchestra, or perhaps they were just Ed Gardner groupies?

[teamsaint]

I'm not sure that Janacek's Sinfonietta ever comes across that well in recordings or broadcasts it simply isn't possible to convey the scale. On a completely different note, there were two young women in front of me in the Arena, either sitting on the floor or occasionally getting to their feet. There was plenty of space last night. Neither of them showed any interest in the music whatsoever, in fact I had to ask one of them to stop texting. Even the bottle of wine that they brought in with them was largely untasted.

I found myself wanting to ask-'Why did you come ?'
They must have had some reason to attend, but I can't for the life of me think what it was. It was a miserably wet evening and they presumably had spent quite a long time in the queue. All very odd.

ticking boxes for UCAS applications possibly.

Oh, and as a comparison, for some reason, UEFA regulations prevent spectators taking any bottles, full, empty, (even with the top removed) alcoholic or just plain water, into stadiums for Europa league fixtures.
Its a daft rule, mind.