Prom 59: 29.08.16 - Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – Beethoven

[underthecountertenor]

I had BBC4's country bus slow tv on while listening to the concert. Uplifting music and soothing green countryside - effective antidote to a busy( and not always pleasant) working Bank Holiday weekend.

I think you should watch the country bus again without music. The soundtrack of birdsong, farm beasts, occasional chatter between passengers etc made a huge contribution to the mind-relaxing effect of the programme, which Beethoven, glorious as it is, would have cancelled out for me.

As one of the papers said, one to keep and re-watch on a dark winter evening.

I'll obviously have to catch up with Blomstedt later.

[EdgeleyRob]

Very telling left hand contribution tonight

I wonder if the piano bass line was a little too prominent ? listening via I player.
Don't know whether this would be due to Schiff's playing or the miking ( is that even a word ?)
Not having a go,just an observation,it was a wonderful concert

[gedsmk]

I wonder if the piano bass line was a little too prominent ? listening via I player.
Don't know whether this would be due to Schiff's playing or the miking ( is that even a word ?)
Not having a go,just an observation,it was a wonderful concert

Was in the hall for this one. Second half was superb. Egmont overture - best orchestra performance of the year.
First half not so much. Orchestra was world class throughout but not so sure about Sir A. An off-night? Rather uneven tone (pace the beautiful Bosendorfer sound) in the Beethoven and WHAT was he trying to prove in the encore? close your eyes and you would have thought Lang Lang had snuck on to the stage. Very bizarre stuff going on in the left hand. Lack of dynamic poise and control, random accents, overdid the accelerando at the end. Not something I'd want to hear again.

[oddoneout]

I think you should watch the country bus again without music. The soundtrack of birdsong, farm beasts, occasional chatter between passengers etc made a huge contribution to the mind-relaxing effect of the programme, which Beethoven, glorious as it is, would have cancelled out for me.

I did hear part of it during the concert interval, and yes I hope to catch a repeat at some stage with the entire soundtrack.
One thing that didn't work so well for me was the stray bits of text, many of which I just could not read. The same thing happened with the Sami reindeer trek and for the same reasons(lack of contrast between film image and text box, and text drifting at an angle). It might be due in part to my ancient TV but not entirely I think. After the fist couple of 'what did that say' I just ignored them altogether.

[Ferretfancy]

Was in the hall for this one. Second half was superb. Egmont overture - best orchestra performance of the year.
First half not so much. Orchestra was world class throughout but not so sure about Sir A. An off-night? Rather uneven tone (pace the beautiful Bosendorfer sound) in the Beethoven and WHAT was he trying to prove in the encore? close your eyes and you would have thought Lang Lang had snuck on to the stage. Very bizarre stuff going on in the left hand. Lack of dynamic poise and control, random accents, overdid the accelerando at the end. Not something I'd want to hear again.

Once or twice I found myself wondering whether there was a mistuned note at the very top of the keyboard, but decided that it might have been Sir A's heavy playing that created the tinny effect. I much preferred Andsnes in the Emperor during his cycle last year.
It's only fair to say though, that moving a few feet when standing in the Arena can change the quality of the sound you hear.

The seventh was wonderful, and for once we had a conductor who observed the assai meno presto " a little less quickly" in the third movement trio, where so many give us a dirge like tempo which ruins the mood.

[Sir Velo]

Is it my imagination or is Leonore No 2 more common in the concert hall these days?

An ideal opener IMHO.

The moments up to the entrance of the off stage trumpeter to herald the deliverance of Leonore and Florestan have to be among the most sheerly exciting in all music. If only LvB had included that section in Leonore No.3...

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Was in the hall for this one. Second half was superb. Egmont overture - best orchestra performance of the year.
First half not so much. Orchestra was world class throughout but not so sure about Sir A. An off-night? Rather uneven tone (pace the beautiful Bosendorfer sound) in the Beethoven and WHAT was he trying to prove in the encore? close your eyes and you would have thought Lang Lang had snuck on to the stage. Very bizarre stuff going on in the left hand. Lack of dynamic poise and control, random accents, overdid the accelerando at the end. Not something I'd want to hear again.

I agree. A superb Seventh but the Emperor was a disappointment, lacking fire. An off-night? I'm afraid not. I heard Schiff play it a few weeks back at the Verbier Festival (where he also directed the orchestra) and it was even more anodyne there.

https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-59-beethoven-blomstedt-schiff-leipzig-gewandhaus-august-2016

https://bachtrack.com/review-andras-schiff-verbier-festival-chamber-orchestra-july-2016

[Petrushka]

I agree. A superb Seventh but the Emperor was a disappointment, lacking fire. An off-night? I'm afraid not. I heard Schiff play it a few weeks back at the Verbier Festival (where he also directed the orchestra) and it was even more anodyne there.

I was in the hall for this and sadly agree. Despite the wonderful playing of the orchestra the solo part was earthbound. In addition, I find Sir Andreas's (why the K? Is he a British citizen?) platform manner awkward for such a long established artist.

[Bryn]

I was in the hall for this and sadly agree. Despite the wonderful playing of the orchestra the solo part was earthbound. In addition, I find Sir Andreas's (why the K? Is he a British citizen?) platform manner awkward for such a long established artist.

Born in Hungary but yes, a U.K. citizen (2001) and knight (2014).

[bluestateprommer]

Is it my imagination or is Leonore No 2 more common in the concert hall these days?

Definitely not in the USA, at least IMHO. Leonore No. 3 pretty much still rules the roost in US orchestra programs, and it would take a relatively imaginative conductor and/or director of artistic programming to program one of the others. That aside, I have to admit that on paper, this looked like the dullest programming imaginable, Leonore No. 2 aside. In practice, however, this concert went splendidly well. Blomstedt went batonless, and kept his gestures relatively modest, but nothing modest about his leadership. While Sir AS's rendition of Concerto No. 5 wasn't the greatest, it was fine, certainly not the terrible disappointment (again, IMHO) that many here seemed to feel. It certainly made the audience generally happy, and I have to guess that on sheer statistics, this must have been the first Prom for at least one audience member. AS & HB either must have figured out in advance to forestall the "happy clappers", or decided that they would leave just a slight pause before launching into the slow movement. HB simply left his arms aloft, and paused briefly enough to let the last chord of movement 1 finish off.

HB's approach to the "happy clappers" showed up again in LvB 7, between movements 1 & 2, and then 3 & 4, and paid off there as well, with no (or unnoticeable) attempt at premature applause. After movement 2, he was wise to allow for the mass audience cough, to give us all a moment of respite to allow for absorption of the music. Overall, a very fresh and vital evening of LvB, "old school" in the best sense, all the more so given that HB is 89, but he was clearly happy too, as I saw him doing the "Yes!" raised arms motions to the musicians when walking off the stage after Leonore No. 2. The program booklet noted that HB is recording the LvB cycle current with the Gewandhaus. While I haven't heard the Chailly cycle with the orchestra, it's easy to imagine what a contrast HB's recorded cycle will be.

[french frank]

That aside, I have to admit that on paper, this looked like the dullest programming imaginable, Leonore No. 2 aside. In practice, however, this concert went splendidly well.

It was, interestingly, listed as one of the 'Proms for Starters' which this year seem(?) a bit more 'ambitious', and most seem to happily blend in with the 'Proms for the Old Hands' - which well-known Beethoven performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus seems to achieve.