Prom 3 - 16.07.17: Bernard Haitink conducts Mozart and Schumann

[teamsaint]

These boards never cease to amaze me - has celebrity culture taken over - lines and lines seem to be written berating a certain female announcer and now on fashion style of a female violinist - and there I was thinking this site was about Radio 3 and serious music matters.
NB particularly that this should happen on a thread headed up under the name of the much revered St (Uncle Bernie) Bernard.

A got a bit of a flea in my ear from a certain well respected board member, who gives us lots of in depth reviews, for not describing Pat Kop's outfit when I saw her play a couple of years ago.

And. just to play devil's advocate, presentation of music is part of the thing, for some folks. I mean we don't want our CDs inbrown paper sleeves or our soloists looking like punk rockers in Aston Villa shirts, do we ?

[Zucchini]

I struggle to pay attention to the music when Lorenza Borrani leads the COE. Several years ago her hair ran right down her back. more recently she's piled into a massive heap on top of her head. Not sure I like that.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I struggle to pay attention to the music when Lorenza Borrani leads the COE. A several years ago her hair ran right down her back. more recently she's piled into a massive heap on top of her head. Not sure I like that.

I just wish that I could!

[teamsaint]

I just wish that I could!

Have you asked her nicely ? It may be a job that could use a little help....

( I think the producer/director whatever may have been a fan of the flute....)

[pastoralguy]

And the lady on the inside of desk 4 in the first violins...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Have you asked her nicely ? It may be a job that could use a little help....

[Once Was 4]

Have you asked her nicely ? It may be a job that could use a little help....

( I think the producer/director whatever may have been a fan of the flute....)

Was anybody disturbed by the balletic activity of a lot of the woodwind? Yes, these instruments, as with all instruments, need a lot of physical activity and people cannot sit stock still; but that got ridiculous. In my younger days there was a very fine British woodwind player (a frequent broadcaster as a soloist) who lost a lot of orchestral work because she moved around like that - other players could not abide having to sit next to that person.

But a fine orchestra and a joy to listen to - I shut my eyes!

[edashtav]

I watched the Schumann on BBC#4, yesterday. Schumann's one of my favourite, romantic composers. The playing and interpretation of his Second Symphony was sublime, in fact the finest performance since I heard Abbado and the Lucerne in Mozart's Haffner Symphony live in the RFH during October, 2011. I was transfixed and delighted with the cameras' attention on BH and his minimalist beat. So economical & precise, often so small, yet replete with tension and electricity. Stunning! And the encore: Scherzo from MSND: A dream of an encore, pointillism rules, O.K.?

Oh dear, I've just read the appreciative post#20 penned by Jayne Lee Wilson. I can't ignore her caveats:

"I missed that so-essentially Schumannesque mood-swinging, almost manic volatility - of shifting textures, pace and dynamic, and the psychological landscape-in-sound that can create."

O dear, Jayne, that is spot-on, as it identifies the characteristics that most endear Schumann's music to me. On the night, I was so taken with positive aspects of Haitink's interpretation that I failed to notice the manic elephant went missing from his alcove. This is not the first occasion that you've floored me with superior knowledge of 21st century performing practice. I thought I was in the 7th Heaven but only God and his Angels have achieved that exulted status. I'll downgrade myself, and, meanwhile, express my joy at ascending to the 5th heaven whilst starting to look forward to joining you in the 6th, via some hard listening graft!

[Hornspieler]

I struggle to pay attention to the music when Lorenza Borrani leads the COE. Several years ago her hair ran right down her back. more recently she's piled into a massive heap on top of her head. Not sure I like that.

What do you want? A concert performance or a photograph?

This, and many other posts on this thread are way off the subject.

In the famous words of President Harry S Truman: "...If you've got nothing to say, then don't say it!"

HS

[gradus]

Schumann is not a composer I particularly associate with Haitink which is to say I've not heard him conduct any of the symphonies before but I thought it was really well played and true to Schumann's intentions - it just felt right, something that this conductor manages with everything that I've ever heard him direct. I'd like to hear him in syms 1 and 4.

[Pulcinella]

Schumann is not a composer I particularly associate with Haitink which is to say I've not heard him conduct any of the symphonies before but I thought it was really well played and true to Schumann's intentions - it just felt right, something that this conductor manages with everything that I've ever heard him direct. I'd like to hear him in syms 1 and 4.

That might explain why he seemed to have his head in the score more than I might have expected!

[BBMmk2]

I know that a few of you Forum Members know I'm not too keen on Mozart, but in some cases, the artists performing his works, you cannot ignore. This is one of those occasions.

I love this orchestra quite a bit. I have their collection of Haydn Symphonies, with Abbado conducting. I enjoyed their Brahms proms with Haitink, a few years back. So when this prom came up, I was looking forward to it, yes despite the Mozart! Well, what a sublime concert it was! Every work, including, the Schumann, which I thought, was very good. Haitionk, I don't conducts Schumann very often but I wish he did!

[jean]

I struggle to pay attention to the music when Lorenza Borrani leads the COE...

Vasily Petrenko got into all kinds of trouble for suggesting this sort of thing might be a problem!

[cloughie]

Schumann is not a composer I particularly associate with Haitink which is to say I've not heard him conduct any of the symphonies before but I thought it was really well played and true to Schumann's intentions - it just felt right, something that this conductor manages with everything that I've ever heard him direct. I'd like to hear him in syms 1 and 4.

There is a set of the Symphonies with the Concertgebouw in the 70s. I listened to his CoE performance on iplayer and felt it was OK rather than outstanding. I would have preferred the 2nd movt quicker and the third with a bit more feeling.

[pastoralguy]

Isabelle Faust's skirt was a work of art in itself.

No sign on the internet of who provides her clothes. She does seem to go for the slightly 'off beat' look with a tendency towards trouser suits.