It's proving very difficult for me to keep up or catch up with Proms this year, but I had to come back for this first part, which included an unusually thoughtful and searching account of Schumann's darkly obsessive Violin Concerto, with both soloist and orchestra precisely and tenderly observant of the subtle dynamic shifts and shades of mood throughout the piece.
The first movement feels to me like the experience of depression - darkly repetitive, a mind struggling to free itself from the prison of its own gloom; there are glimpses of warmth and light, but the spirit can't escape its dark interiors. In the langsam, a lovely gentle sunlight breaks through, a warm balm; the mind-violin tenses as the sky briefly darkens again, but - finally - it escapes - it can dance. Yet even here the joy feels provisional, a little stiff and weary, almost Beckettian. The battle, but not the war. Life will keep going back, keep going on....
It was important to Schumann himself I think, as the equally intense 3rd Violin Sonata, composed the same year of 1853, is closely related both in mood and melody. A remarkable work itself, far more concentrated and concise. If you always find the concerto difficult it would be worth seeking this piece out as it could provide a "key to the door" of the orchestral complement.
I must say though, I do wish some modern performers would play the Violin Concerto like Igor Oistrakh and Rozhdestvensky do on their live 1969 recording; at only 25' for the whole work, the much quicker tempi are truly a revelation. More HIPPS recordings on smaller bands (e.g. Faust/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque) would help the piece too.
Jörg Widmann's Armonica seemed almost a sonic image of the vortex-like instrument itself, twisting and turning within its glittering colours like the curving glass it was played upon, seeming to climax in bigger dramatic crescendi, then dispersing its energies into disruption, quirk and fragmentation. The slow textural evolutions and frequency extremes brought the French spectralists like Murail and Dusapin to mind.
The only problem with Sibelius' Tempest music, beautifully played again, was that there was too little of it. The Suites are some of his most original and inspired creations, and not only among his Incidental music. Its intimacy makes it ideal for late night solo listening, yes, but it should be heard live more often.
***
Given that outstanding Nielsen 5th in Part Two (see above), this was one of the best concerts so far, certainly the most original.
(heard via R3 iPlayer @ 320 kbps)
The first movement feels to me like the experience of depression - darkly repetitive, a mind struggling to free itself from the prison of its own gloom; there are glimpses of warmth and light, but the spirit can't escape its dark interiors. In the langsam, a lovely gentle sunlight breaks through, a warm balm; the mind-violin tenses as the sky briefly darkens again, but - finally - it escapes - it can dance. Yet even here the joy feels provisional, a little stiff and weary, almost Beckettian. The battle, but not the war. Life will keep going back, keep going on....
It was important to Schumann himself I think, as the equally intense 3rd Violin Sonata, composed the same year of 1853, is closely related both in mood and melody. A remarkable work itself, far more concentrated and concise. If you always find the concerto difficult it would be worth seeking this piece out as it could provide a "key to the door" of the orchestral complement.
I must say though, I do wish some modern performers would play the Violin Concerto like Igor Oistrakh and Rozhdestvensky do on their live 1969 recording; at only 25' for the whole work, the much quicker tempi are truly a revelation. More HIPPS recordings on smaller bands (e.g. Faust/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque) would help the piece too.
Jörg Widmann's Armonica seemed almost a sonic image of the vortex-like instrument itself, twisting and turning within its glittering colours like the curving glass it was played upon, seeming to climax in bigger dramatic crescendi, then dispersing its energies into disruption, quirk and fragmentation. The slow textural evolutions and frequency extremes brought the French spectralists like Murail and Dusapin to mind.
The only problem with Sibelius' Tempest music, beautifully played again, was that there was too little of it. The Suites are some of his most original and inspired creations, and not only among his Incidental music. Its intimacy makes it ideal for late night solo listening, yes, but it should be heard live more often.
***
Given that outstanding Nielsen 5th in Part Two (see above), this was one of the best concerts so far, certainly the most original.
(heard via R3 iPlayer @ 320 kbps)
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