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

[Prommer]

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.

But did he not hold on to the note because the audience had begun to clap?

[Keraulophone]

But did he not hold on to the note because the audience had begun to clap?

Causation here is arguable. Applause began three seconds after the start of the final note (38'18" then 38'21"), roughly when they would have expected it to end (IMHO). Sir Thomas then milked the applause by extending the chord to over twice its usual length in his own inimitable way. It sounds as if the orchestra weren't sure how long to hang on and the chord began to die, whereupon Beecham roused them up again.

[ahinton]

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.

Fair points.

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.

Mrs Service is even younger and at least we have her work to which to look forward for decades to come!...

[Beef Oven!]

And I forgot to mention earlier, I thought the actual performance was not very good.

[Tevot]

And I forgot to mention earlier, I thought the actual performance was not very good.

Hello there Beefy,

Are you talking about the Dvorak or the Brahms? Why did it disappoint?

Kind Regards,

Tevot