Prom 66: 3.09.16 - BPO/Rattle – Julian Anderson, Dvořák and Brahms

[ahinton]

A lawyer writes: is it, I wonder, a contract of Service or a contract for Services?

I cannot answer that, not knowing whether he's employed or self-employed (or wheehr he has a company that's contracted by BBC) but, as long as he's not an armed Service, I can't be too bothered about that...

[gurnemanz]

Whatever else it was, the premature applause was enough to make me spend the moments after the performance expressing my annoyance to my wife (innocently on the the receiving end of it as the only other person present), rather than in reflection on the music just heard.

[P. G. Tipps]

Oh come on. It's only music, and Brahms at that.

Still, the early applause did startle me quite a bit as well even though it was only Brahms ...

The Second is by far my favourite symphony by this composer especially that marvellous first movement. The work is so enigmatic in emotional thrust that, judging by Tom Service's typically semi-hysterical pre-concert discussion, it even manages to bemuse some of those insufferable Brahmsians themselves.

Result, Johannes!

[DaisyDog]

Whatever it is, Service should be terminated. Or possibly exterminated. He's too manic for Radio 3.

[BBMmk2]

Agreed! ^ :)

[Barbirollians]

I quite liked the opening piece but found the Dvorak too suave and under characterised for my taste . Did not get to hear the Brahms as I was distracted by a fascinating programme about the Cutty Sark on BBC4

[makropulos]

Justifying the actions of ill-mannered oafs by quoting instances of ill-mannered oafs of the past hardly relinquished the responsibly of today's audiences to be more considerate.

Is anybody justifying it? I shouldn't think so - but there's maybe a tendency to forget that this kind of thing has been around for a very long time.

[underthecountertenor]

It's those rose-tinted rear-view specs again, makropoulos.

[Keraulophone]

the early applause did startle me quite a bit as well even though it was only Brahms ...

Expecting nothing less of the small selfish minority of lunatic fringe Prommers, I wasn't in the least startled; but within minutes felt it necessary to put on Haitink's beautiful 1973 recording to experience the required afterglow of this heart-warming symphony.

Re Dr Service: however you may wish to alter his BBC contract, please don't do anything to upset Mrs Service, whom we heard in fine form last season.

[Beef Oven!]

Nothing new here - I've got two live recordings of Brahms 2 from the 1950s, and in both of them the applause starts before the music has stopped. So your threats of a boycott (which I'm sure would be a crushing blow to the Proms) are either 70 years too late or a tad extreme, or both.

Well I must disagree with you here. In the main, I only buy tickets on the day for the arena, so the £6 revenue each time is hardly going to be missed given that I attend an average of about 8 concerts each year.

But anyway, I wouldn’t want to harm the Proms, which on balance is a wonderful music festival. It wasn’t a threat, extreme, dichotomous or otherwise. I’m just thinking that I may boycott it next year, rather than roll around on the pavement with the culprits, post-concert.

[makropulos]

Well I must disagree with you here. In the main, I only buy tickets on the day for the arena, so the £6 revenue each time is hardly going to be missed given that I attend an average of about 8 concerts each year.

But anyway, I wouldn’t want to harm the Proms, which on balance is a wonderful music festival. It wasn’t a threat, extreme, dichotomous or otherwise. I’m just thinking that I may boycott it next year, rather than roll around on the pavement with the culprits, post-concert.

I think the most amusingly dreadful moment from the 1950s in terms of interrupting music came not from the audience but from the BBC announcer during the world premiere broadcast of Tippett's Midsummer Marriage. During the Ritual Dances the scene was audio-described for listeners at home... As in, a plummy voice tells us what's happening on the stage, talking over some of the most beautiful music in the opera. If you've never heard it, it's certainly worth it for amusement ("The second dance begins: the Autumn in Winter. The otter chases the fish..." and so on, in the third and fourth dances too). It's on spotify :)

[Prommer]

Have a listen to this: Beecham conducting the Brahms 2 at the EIF in 1956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU4xbEdN-bs

Re applause before the music has finished...hear what the audience and Tommy do at the end.

Now whose fault is that?

Wonderful anyway!

[Sir Velo]

It's those rose-tinted rear-view specs again, makropoulos.

Welcome to the forum, Dr Pangloss!

[Keraulophone]

Beecham conducting the Brahms 2 at the EIF in 195
Now whose fault is that?

Beecham's of course! Yelping at the orchestra and inciting the audience by holding onto the final cord for over seven seconds, complete with diminuendo and crescendo!

Incredibly exciting, but it's Brahms-Beecham. Unique.

[Boilk]

Really interesting ideas thrown up in the interval discussion - but obscured, rather than enhanced, by the breathless argumentation of the 'chair'....

I consider that a preferable role for the presenter/chair is to bring out the discussion between the guests. TS appeared to want to wrestle his own ideas into the foreground, as a result of which the programme, for me, lost clarity.

On Friday's BBC Four Prom TS described the combining of Boulez's Éclat with Mahler 7 as "ingenious" programming. Why? Just because they both contain guitar and mandolin parts? And I didn't arppreciate his barrage of comment as soon as the audience broke into applause. The viewer/listener really does need a few moments to rejoin the real world after 80 dizzying minutes of Mahler. A good 30-40 seconds of just audience applause does the job.

Alas, TS is quite young and will be the BBC's go-to contemporary music presenter for some time to come. We've got him for decades to come.