Prom 68: Bach – Six Cello Suites (5.09.15)

[Frances_iom]

Frances - you can catch them again on TV next Thursday,..

I'm one of the 2% without a box! - R3 is bad enough at the moment the thought of the gogglebox has very little appeal

[EdgeleyRob]

He praised the prommers' stamina (!), then thanked Pablo Casals for re-introducing these works to the world, and played Song of the Birds in his honour.

A very memorable, if slightly taxing, evening/night (beginning with that excellent talk at 3.45 and ending at 11.50).

Ah thanks Keraulophone,this wasn't broadcast

[antongould]

Ah thanks Keraulophone,this wasn't broadcast

Encore played on Breakfast this morning .......

[EdgeleyRob]

Encore played on Breakfast this morning .......

Thanks Anton,just had a listen,wonderful despite the background noise.

[underthecountertenor]

May I also join in the complaint - missed the opening bars of a couple by misjudging the time to unmute that pontificating nuisance - a real service would be to join him with KD preferably on a another radio station in a far away place.

Blimey. As First World Problems go, this takes some beating.

[Frances_iom]

Blimey. As First World Problems go, this takes some beating.

and just what has that comment to do with the subject ?

[underthecountertenor]

Only that, if this is the sort of thing you think warrants taking to the ether to complain about (missing a few bars of a couple of suites because you took the risk of doing so by muting your radio), you appear to lead a charmed existence which would be the envy of many.

[CallMePaul]

May I also join in the complaint - missed the opening bars of a couple by misjudging the time to unmute that pontificating nuisance - a real service would be to join him with KD preferably on a another radio station in a far away place.

If you want to keep KD off R3, vote for her to stay in Strictly!

[Frances_iom]

... you appear to lead a charmed existence which would be the envy of many.

possibly but what does that have to do with you - I'm happy to argue the insane geopolitcs coupled with fundamentalism funded by oil wealth that lies at the heart of the present Middle East mess but as FF will soon point out the board decided to banish politics as a topic - as for TS and KD my own opinion is that they are both too ready to push themselves + their opinions rather than their major function to introduce the music + musicians - as for the ether I'm afraid Michelson + Morley disproved that about a century ago.
As for Strictly - isn't this just a modern form of taunting the idiots in Bedlam which in its time was also a popular spectator sport.

[underthecountertenor]

and just what has that comment to do with the subject ?

possibly but what does that have to do with you - I'm happy to argue the insane geopolitcs coupled with fundamentalism funded by oil wealth that lies at the heart of the present Middle East mess but as FF will soon point out the board decided to banish politics as a topic - as for TS and KD my own opinion is that they are both too ready to push themselves + their opinions rather than their major function to introduce the music + musicians - as for the ether I'm afraid Michelson + Morley disproved that about a century ago.
As for Strictly - isn't this just a modern form of taunting the idiots in Bedlam which in its time was also a popular spectator sport.

Nothing at all, I'm sure, and I'm very happy for you. But when you write on a public board about a reaction that I consider somewhat disproportionate, and which results in a cutting off of the nose to spite the face (not literally of course, any more than was my reference to the ether, but thanks anyway for the gratuitous science history lesson) I see no reason why I shouldn't call it out as such.

[EdgeleyRob]

Even more remarkable on TV.
I was struck by how seldom Yo-Yo Ma actually looked at his cello while playing.

[pureimagination]

Watched it all on BBC Four last night (missed some of the radio broadcast). Have some of you got nothing better to do than carp on about the presenters and avoid giving Yo-Yo Ma the props he deserves. The armchair critics amongst you really need to focus more on the performance. To play all the pieces from memory is a feat to be admired. When some of you get your turn at a solo Prom I'll go easier on you, until then can't you show some appreciation for Ma's concentration, musicianship, endurance [over 2 hours]. He looked so focussed, his facial expressions were a picture of concentration and immersion in the music though he did seem to lean further and further back I thought he might be about to slip to the floor and play the cello whilst prone a la Jimi Hendrix.

Eine Alpen [post no.2] Do you still stand by your comments?

underthecountertenor, thank-you.

[Keraulophone]

Re #2, this listener (in the hall) experienced no monotony, indeed YYM could have gone on playing Bach into the early hours as far as I was concerned, although he indicated, quite understandably, that he wanted to go off for a nap. Watching last night's video recording inevitably had a different effect from being there, but was extraordinary in its own way. As the happy memories of a Tuscan summer holiday are able to soothe one's spirit for months afterwards, so the experience of this remarkable concert will continue to inhabit and delight the mind.

[Richard Tarleton]

Taking them one at a time (on TV) - so far so superb.

Any cello experts out there know - or did it perhaps say in the programme - which cello he was using? Tony Faber's little book "Stradivarius" tells the moving story of how he came to be the custodian of Jacqueline du Pré's "Davidoff" Strad - and how in the late 1990s he took it back nearer to original set-up with baroque bridge and gut strings (and removed the spike) for some baroque recordings. This cello looked like it had a modern bridge, and certainly had a mighty long spike on it. His other cello apparently a 1733 Montagnana. Was this that? Just curious.

And may I just say how much I appreciate Kirsty Wark's presentational skills on these occasions? - a safe pair of hands for all sorts of BBC arts broadcasting.

[EdgeleyRob]

Re #2, this listener (in the hall) experienced no monotony, indeed YYM could have gone on playing Bach into the early hours as far as I was concerned, although he indicated, quite understandably, that he wanted to go off for a nap. Watching last night's video recording inevitably had a different effect from being there, but was extraordinary in its own way. As the happy memories of a Tuscan summer holiday are able to soothe one's spirit for months afterwards, so the experience of this remarkable concert will continue to inhabit and delight the mind.

My thoughts too.