Prom 40: 15.08.16 - Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Monday 15 Aug 2016
Royal Albert Hall

Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No 1 in D major, 'Classical'
Francisco Coll: Four Iberian Miniatures (London premiere)
Thomas Adès: Lieux retrouvés (UK premiere of version with orchestra)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No 8 in F major

Augustin Hadelich (violin)
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Britten Sinfonia
Thomas Adès (conductor)

Thomas Adès's Lieux retrouvés was inspired by the cello's 'haunting sense of time and place'. Here, Steven Isserlis performs it in its new cello-and-orchestra guise. Francisco Coll's piquant Iberian miniatures for violin and orchestra contrast with 'Classical' symphonies by Prokofiev and Beethoven.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07nmjzs

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In its previous guise:

http://www.thomasades.com/compositions/lieux_retrouves

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

?

[jayne lee wilson]

Lean, clean, largely vibrato-free upper registers, full dark and weighty at the bass end - pretty good tonal profile for Thomas Ades' firebrand delivery of the outer movements of Beethoven 8. Good, big presence and immediacy of sound-image via HDs, 3D and quite tangible, set a little closer in than for a larger orchestra.
Ades relaxed and just witty enough (well at least in deadpan mode) for the contrast in the scherzando; woodwind solos in the trio and finale seemed a touch self-conscious or unconfident, some intonation problems and a bizarre miscue somewhere in the minuet... but this apart, a fine 8th.

I can't find much to say about Coll's Four Iberian Miniatures on one hearing except, churl churl, perhaps music more fun to play (or at least be involved in close to the platform) than to listen to, qua music or "abstract music"? May give it another go.

Gave up at halftime - summer evening air was more enticing...

[EdgeleyRob]

The finale of LvB 8 seemed very fast to me,maybe that's why the woodwind players seemed to lack confidence.
Mind you I don't listen to the 8th that often so I'm not sure how quick it should be.
Gave up half way through the Iberian thingies,boring.

[edashtav]

?

I'm afraid that I've had a disrupted evening. I missed the Beethoven, loved Coll's satirical Spanish miniatures, admired Ades in his new, simpler, accessible style (Isserlis played superbly). I was disappointed by the Classical Symphony because of some unbending stiffness in the conducting and balance issues from the small Britten band e.g. Violins drowned by bassoon in the first movement. I need to listen again on iPlayer.

[VodkaDilc]

It was a pretty average Prom; I'm not sorry I went, but it won't be among my top concerts of the year.

The symphonies were played in reverse order, which was possibly a mistake. The Classical Symphony, at the end of the programme, was the most convincing work of the evening. Playing it first could have got things off to a better start. Beethoven's 8th was over-ambitiously fast and this led to scrappy moments. From my seat the lower strings were under-powered, but that could just be a quirk of that particuar position. Between the symphonies we had two modern pieces; pleasant enough, but I'm not sure I would want to hear either again. The hushed end of the third movement of the Adès was a highlight; here, as throughout, the audience was very attentive.

Sorry if this all sounds negative. I'm sure others will have had a better evening. And the day started so well with Stile Antico at lunchtime; one of the highlights of the season so far.

[bluestateprommer]

It was a pretty average Prom; I'm not sorry I went, but it won't be among my top concerts of the year.

The symphonies were played in reverse order, which was possibly a mistake. The Classical Symphony, at the end of the programme, was the most convincing work of the evening. Playing it first could have got things off to a better start. Beethoven's 8th was over-ambitiously fast and this led to scrappy moments. From my seat the lower strings were under-powered, but that could just be a quirk of that particuar position. Between the symphonies we had two modern pieces; pleasant enough, but I'm not sure I would want to hear either again. The hushed end of the third movement of the Adès was a highlight; here, as throughout, the audience was very attentive.

Sorry if this all sounds negative. I'm sure others will have had a better evening. And the day started so well with Stile Antico at lunchtime; one of the highlights of the season so far.

On paper, at first reading, I had the same thought, that it would have been better to have the Prokofiev to start and LvB 8 to close. However, after hearing it on iPlayer, the chosen order of the program actually made a lot more sense. The first half was definitely weightier musically of the two, and the mental load gradually lightened as the evening went on. But overall, I would agree that this was OK, not among the top Proms this season.

In TA's reading of LvB 8, I had a kind of 'sandwich' reaction, in that TA drove the outer movements much too hard in my opinion, with reduced vibrato as well to reflect HIPP, which came off as sounding like the worst caricature of the HIPP movement (inflexible, too speedy, unyielding, inexpressive). However, the inner movements came off much better, because they felt more relaxed, much less hard driven. TA did lead the 'novelties' by Coll and himself very well, with very good work indeed from both Augustin Hadelich (Coll) and Steven Isserlis (TA). Curiously, the 'sandwich' phenomenon repeated itself in the Prokofiev, IMHO, with the relentless factor coming back.