Prom 43: 17.08.16 - Martha Argerich/Daniel Barenboim /West–Eastern Divan Orchestra

[underthecountertenor]

19:30 Wednesday 17 Aug 2016 ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Richard Wagner:The Mastersingers of Nuremberg
[/B]

What, ALL of it? Argerich had better get on with it (as per Tetrachord) if so.

[Prommer]

What, ALL of it? Argerich had better get on with it (as per Tetrachord) if so.

Large.

[bluestateprommer]

Jorg Widmann's Con brio just finished. Most of it didn't quite live up to the title, IMHO, except from about 3/4 of the way in, it seemed. But full marks to the WEDO for playing it well, and in the spirit of the title.

Is she coming then?

Yup, MA is there, judging by the rather vociferous applause now :) .

[kernelbogey]

Will Martha turn up?

Wondering whether her no-shows may be to do with her being in remission from having suffered two spells of cancer...?

[Barbirollians]

I've always found her playing far too rushed; as if she has to get it out of the way because she has another appointment afterwards. Pass.

Have you heard her live ? A Beethoven 1 at the Manchester Piano Festival 2013 is probably the highlight of my concert going life.

[Barbirollians]

A Liszt 1 to win over Caliban ???

[gedsmk]

the Liszt was ok, but does DB have to crash the party with the encore again? and just as in April 2015 could she not have picked something a bit more interesting than the Schubert Rondo in A AGAIN?

[Barbirollians]

the Liszt was ok, but does DB have to crash the party with the encore again? and just as in April 2015 could she not have picked something a bit more interesting than the Schubert Rondo in A AGAIN?

Don't be such a Grump- it was gorgeous .

[bluestateprommer]

I think the encores are likely to be confined to the band in the second half, if the programme in Salzburg is anything to go by. (DMVN Act 3 prelude plus Lohengrin ditto.)

Post-Liszt: SM-P mentioned stage hands bringing out a 2nd piano bench, and concertmaster Guy Braunstein making ready to be page-turner. Very generous piano-four hands encore of the Schubert. Per gedsmk's comment, it's necessary to remember that MA no longer gives solo recitals, so she wouldn't give a solo piano encore in any case. DB isn't crashing the party; she's inviting him to the party.

Interesting to see that from the BBC Proms Archive, Argerich first appeared at The Proms 50 years ago, at the 1966 Last Night. So it's her 50th anniversary @ The Proms also, as well as Barenboim's (and Haitink's, for that matter).

[Barbirollians]

I want K365 from them.

[Zucchini]

I want K365 from them.

I doubt they can hear you

[Prommer]

Post-Liszt: SM-P mentioned stage hands bringing out a 2nd piano bench, and concertmaster Guy Braunstein making ready to be page-turner. Very generous piano-four hands encore of the Schubert. Per gedsmk's comment, it's necessary to remember that MA no longer gives solo recitals, so she wouldn't give a solo piano encore in any case. DB isn't crashing the party; she's inviting him to the party.

Interesting to see that from the BBC Proms Archive, Argerich first appeared at The Proms 50 years ago, at the 1966 Last Night. So it's her 50th anniversary @ The Proms also, as well as Barenboim's (and Haitink's, for that matter).

This Prom had the Schubert encore they did in Lucerne, AND the Wagner encores which may not have both have been given there, but were in Salzburg, where due to Martha's indisposition, DB played a Mozart piano concerto instead in the first half.

I am not sure about Lucerne because the broadcast cut off after the prelude to Act 3 of Meistersinger. But that doesn't always signify.

Who was presenting on R3 tonight? I was in the hall. Fabulous. (More anon.)

And did they stay with to broadcast the two encores at the end?

[jonfan]

Barenboim's Wagner Symphony idea just didn't work. We got two overtures with bleeding chunks in between. The whole sounding like a collection of encores. The orchestra just doesn't have the sonority for Wagner. A pity we didn't get a real symphony which suited the undoubted talents of the players and give the second half some meat.
SM-P has stated that Barenboim could be the world's greatest Wagner conductor. That's Richard Farnes surely.

[Nick Armstrong]

Who was presenting on R3 tonight? I was in the hall. Fabulous. (More anon.)

And did they stay with to broadcast the two encores at the end?

Sara Mohr-Pietsch, and yes they did. I came in part-way through the Dawn/Rhine Journey section and stayed till the end - it did indeed sound fabulous to me, I loved the sound of the band and the pacing of the performance...

Not sure in what respects

The orchestra just doesn't have the sonority for Wagner

- sounded fine to me! Though I do agree that the 'symphony' concept doesn't work - especially with full blown applause in between, and Ms Mohr-Pietsch doing the full presenting bit for each chunk. That said, I don't really care: it was orchestral excerpts from the operas, very well played.

[VodkaDilc]

- sounded fine to me! Though I do agree that the 'symphony' concept doesn't work - especially with full blown applause in between, and Ms Mohr-Pietsch doing the full presenting bit for each chunk. That said, I don't really care: it was orchestral excerpts from the operas, very well played.

I could see the lady TV presenter just above me, though I'm not sure who it was. She certainly had plenty of attention from the make-up person before her appearance and her blue frock looked good in the bright lights, I'm sure. A shame she had to speak so loudly and disturb the pre-concert silence. I'm sure that all will be revealed in a couple of weeks.

I found the Wagner rather disjointed and, as someone else wrote, the orchestra lacked some of the real weight that composer needs. A couple of very prominent brass inaccuracies spoiled the flow for me too.

Was anyone else struck by how the two stars have aged? Pottering on and off the platform together, they looked like someone's grandparents. Some interesting comments on that subject in the extensive interview with DB in Wednesday's Guardian.

Would it be fair to say that I found the concert enjoyable, but not as exceptional as I might have expected?