Prom 25: 3.08.16 - Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

[Petrushka]

The 'heavy sigh', according to the stage directions, sounded pretty good to me and I thought that John Relyea was superb as Bluebeard. I was following the text from that in the Solti recording and found his Hungarian much easier to follow than Komlosi, who is genuinely Hungarian!

The whole work, though, is, for me, the most disturbing in all of music, more so than Mahler's 6th or Wozzeck. There is no possibility of any kind of redemption at the end and it makes me feel quite unsettled. It's still a favourite of mine though!

[Ferretfancy]

The 'heavy sigh', according to the stage directions, sounded pretty good to me and I thought that John Relyea was superb as Bluebeard. I was following the text from that in the Solti recording and found his Hungarian much easier to follow than Komlosi, who is genuinely Hungarian!

The whole work, though, is, for me, the most disturbing in all of music, more so than Mahler's 6th or Wozzeck. There is no possibility of any kind of redemption at the end and it makes me feel quite unsettled. It's still a favourite of mine though!

Komlosi gave John John Relyea special praise in an interview in the Prom programme, saying how good his Hungarian is. She has sung the role of Judith sixty times!

Referring to his work with Bartok, Menuhin said that his music has an ideal balance between emotion and intellect. It certainly shows new facets at every hearing.