Prom 18: 29.07.16 - Mahler: Symphony no. 3

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Friday 29 Jul 2016 ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 3 in D minor

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano),
London Symphony Chorus (women's voices),
Tiffin Boys' Choir,
London Symphony Orchestra,
Bernard Haitink (conductor)

On the shores of the Attersee in Upper Austria, the hut still stands in which Gustav Mahler set about creating one of the most overwhelming visions of nature in all art. The composer's Third Symphony harnessed the expanse that surrounded him. Horns bray and trombones growl in the face of nature's primeval power; human voices move from grief to hope before, as Mahler declared, 'nature in its totality rings and resounds'.

In the 50th-anniversary year of his first appearance at the Proms, Bernard Haitink conducts Mahler's mighty nature symphony.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lg60v

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m5f8d

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm presuming the hut in question is the one Ken Russell placed at the foot of Derwentwater, with Catbells in the background?

But let's not forget the real significance of this concert: Haitink conducts Mahler.

[richardfinegold]

So if Haitink becomes indisposed, is Alan Gilbert slotted to replace him?

[Petrushka]

So if Haitink becomes indisposed, is Alan Gilbert slotted to replace him?

One must sincerely hope that neither of these things happen! Mind, I was present at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Prom of Mahler 3 a couple of seasons back when Gilbert deputised for an indisposed Chailly and while it was a whole lot better than his disastrous Beethoven 9 the following night it was still no great shakes.

Haitink's 50th anniversary at the Proms and let's hope for very many more Proms from him.

I heard Haitink and the Berliner Philharmoniker at a 2004 Barbican concert of Mahler 3 which was simply tremendous, a real life-changing event if ever there was one so I've got very high expectations of this Prom.

Needless to say, I will be there!

[Richard Tarleton]

Haitink's 50th anniversary at the Proms and let's hope for very many more Proms from him.

I heard Haitink and the Berliner Philharmoniker at a 2004 Barbican concert of Mahler 3 which was simply tremendous, a real life-changing event if ever there was one so I've got very high expectations of this Prom.

It was indeed

I'm looking forward to watching it on the telly. It'll be interesting to see if they improve on the camera direction from the last time they did it from the Albert Hall, it must have been a Prom - instead of a magical first entry for the post horn, with a wide shot, shot of the ceiling, anything would have done, they cut straight to a close shot of the post horn player standing in a corridor, thus forestalling any sense of mystery....I well remember the effect that moment had on me the first time I heard it live (before I'd heard it on record).....

[Nick Armstrong]

I heard Haitink and the Berliner Philharmoniker at a 2004 Barbican concert of Mahler 3 which was simply tremendous, a real life-changing event if ever there was one

It was indeed

Another such event - literally - was the Haitink Mahler 3 which I attended in London as recounted here

[Richard Tarleton]

Another such event - literally - was the Haitink Mahler 3 which I attended in London as recounted here

My first Mahler 3 (also Haitink, LPO, RFH, 1972) left me in such a state of weak-kneed emotional and physical exhaustion that we only just made it across Waterloo Bridge to the Coal Hole (a hostelry well known to Caliban I feel sure) where it took several pints for equilibrium to be restored. The sight of Alan Cumberland beating his timps in the final bars left an indelible memory

[Nick Armstrong]

My first Mahler 3 (also Haitink, LPO, RFH, 1972) left me in such a state of weak-kneed emotional and physical exhaustion that we only just made it across Waterloo Bridge to the Coal Hole (a hostelry well known to Caliban I feel sure) where it took several pints for equilibrium to be restored. The sight of Alan Cumberland beating his timps in the final bars left an indelible memory

I believe that more recently, my 50th birthday featured a pint or three in The Coal Hole

[Carlos V]

This was the concert that got my pulse running when the programme was revealed. I've bought tickets to other dozen concerts, but this one is (to me) the perfect match of orchestra, conductor and musical work.

[richardfinegold]

One must sincerely hope that neither of these things happen! Mind, I was present at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Prom of Mahler 3 a couple of seasons back when Gilbert deputised for an indisposed Chailly and while it was a whole lot better than his disastrous Beethoven 9 the following night it was still no great shakes.

Haitink's 50th anniversary at the Proms and let's hope for very many more Proms from him.

I heard Haitink and the Berliner Philharmoniker at a 2004 Barbican concert of Mahler 3 which was simply tremendous, a real life-changing event if ever there was one so I've got very high expectations of this Prom.

Needless to say, I will be there!

I was present at a Concert that was used in the Haitink/CSO recording of the 6th. I subsequently purchased the recording and while it is first rate it somehow fails to reproduce the tingle factor of the actual event. The Haitink /CSO concert of the First was one of my most memorable and I never purchased the recording because I didn't want my memories deflated in a similar way.
Was listening yesterday to the Haitink/Concertegbou recording of the 9th (I had a marathon where I played Kubelik/MTT /Haitink) all in the same day. Now that was a real recording achievement

[Maclintick]

I was present at a Concert that was used in the Haitink/CSO recording of the 6th. I subsequently purchased the recording and while it is first rate it somehow fails to reproduce the tingle factor of the actual event.

Thanks, Richard -- Recordings can only ever offer a pallid simulacrum of the live experience in GM3 -- my benchmark Lucerne FO/Abbado at the 2007 Proms. I've heard it many times in the concert hall, but have never felt the need to listen to a recording, since there's something about the arc of the piece, that all-encompassing trajectory, that demands the shared experience. Interesting that practically all comments on this thread refer to live performances, rather than gramophone records.....how refreshing !

[Prommer]

Now this concert is an Event. There was even a short piece yesterday on the World at One about Bernie.

But why oh why is it not live on BBC4? A 30 minute delay! Grrr.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/d89fbd/bbc-proms-2016--bbc-proms-2016-haitink-conducts-mahler

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But why oh why is it not live on BBC4? A 30 minute delay! Grrr.....

Nowadays there's always a delay of a few seconds - even the time signal is wrong. The downside of digital broadcasting.

[BBMmk2]

On BBC4?