Prom 4 - 16.07.17: Daniel Barenboim and Staatskapelle Berlin

[Once Was 4]

Some do; some don't. The body language of performers does sometimes indicate a touch of annoyance.

I come back to my admiration of Manchester audiences - perhaps a throwback to Barbirolli's intimidation of later arrivals at concerts.
At the other end of the scale, we have the Leeds Grand Theatre audiences chatting during the overture.

At the premiere of Tony Biggin's The Gates of Greenham (RFH - 1985), a group of people, who were clearly in agreement with the lyrics, started applauding over the music.

Mind, you, my dad started talking in the middle of Die Zauberflote Overture, thinking it had finished.

Regarding LGT audiences: I remember a performance of Madama Butterfly where, when the singers finished the Love Duet, a lot of the rich people in the Dress Circle did not await the orchestral postlude but actually drowned it with their rush to be first in the queue at the bar. Sitting next to me was the Principal horn of another opera company who was there as a 'dep' and who exclaimed "the bastards" very loudly which earned him a round of applause and several thumbs up signs from the front row of the stalls. You see they are not all savages in Yorkshire. But:

I well remember the conductor Alexander Rahbari getting annoyed by people who had hung their coats over the pit rail at the Bradford Alhambra so he unceremoniously pitched them over and, for good measure, speared the foot of an audience member (which was sticking through the curtain which hung from the rail) with his baton.

Sorry, enough, you do not want to read this rubbish.

[pastoralguy]

We do! We do!!

[King_Ouf_I]

Re the BBC4 TV failure. All of the TV lights suddenly went out as did all the lights in the 2nd tier boxes. The cameras stood idle so I doubt if this will be complete on I-player. Can anyone confirm? I'm now going to have to record the radio repeat on Wednesday. This is all very disappointing and unacceptable. Whoever has got the contract for broadcasting this year (and the vans outside were unfamiliar) need to get a grip.

At last! Someone has revealed what happened. Thanks, Petrushka.

A warning to anyone looking on iPlayer for a recording of the performance: the initial (automated) upload included the 7½ minutes break in transmission, but at some point today the recording was edited, according to the on-screen caption, to 'correct' the fault. In fact, all they had done was to cut out the dead section, but nothing lost was restored. Then this evening, separate items appeared, viz the Birtwistle and the Elgar, but without (glory be!) Mr.Service's interjections, and without the encores/speech after the symphony. In this version, they have filled in the missing section using audio, presumably, from the Radio 3 recording, and stills extracted from the TV broadcast with a caption explaining the reason.

SO, if you want the WHOLE Elgar symphony, watch/download item p056rdj5, and if you want the speech/encores/Mr.Service, watch/download item b08ymnr0 and skip to about 1h 36m into the performance.

[Bryn]

I was amused by Tom Service's interview with HB. Tom was trying to get some intellectual spin from HB about the construction of Deep Time. HB returned service (erm...) with a nifty, "Let me ask you". And after a few m moments of Tom-waffle, HB said, "You describe it better than I can". Game set and match to HB.

Hmm. TS made a point about not having heard another piece using two contra-bass clarinets. Clearly he missed out on Nigel Osborne's (first) Sinfonia at the 1982 proms. I suppose that's fair enough. He would only have been about 6 years old at the time.

[Bryn]

... if you want the WHOLE Elgar symphony, watch/download item p056rdj5, and if you want the speech/encores/Mr.Service, watch/download item b08ymnr0 and skip to about 1h 36m into the performance.

Thanks for that. Those wanting to hear DB's speech and the encores will want to go to b08xywch on the Radio 3 site.

[Richard Barrett]

On the latter aspect, in last night performance some of the melodic material was written for a soprano saxophone, and I noted a kinship with the music of Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Isn't it rather the case that this composer's work has many times plundered the memorable soprano saxophone writing in The Triumph of Time, written when he was still in short trousers?

[Bryn]

Isn't it rather the case that this composer's work has many times plundered the memorable soprano saxophone writing in The Triumph of Time, written when he was still in short trousers?

Kin right!

[cloughie]

I well remember the conductor Alexander Rahbari getting annoyed by people who had hung their coats over the pit rail at the Bradford Alhambra so he unceremoniously pitched them over and, for good measure, speared the foot of an audience member (which was sticking through the curtain which hung from the rail) with his baton.

I suddenly admire another conductor - actually I picked up his Naxos Debussy CD some time ago - next to nothing from a charity shop and good performances!

[edashtav]

Isn't it rather the case that this composer's work has many times plundered the memorable soprano saxophone writing in The Triumph of Time, written when he was still in short trousers?

Your acerbic point is well made, Richard Barrett!

[peterthekeys]

I agree with your sentiments about the Birtwistle/Service interview.

Me too. So satisfying to see an interviewer put on the spot.

I'm just thankful that KD didn't get the interview engagement.

Might have been funny though

[peterthekeys]

TS made a point about not having heard another piece using two contra-bass clarinets. Clearly he missed out on Nigel Osborne's (first) Sinfonia at the 1982 proms. I suppose that's fair enough. He would only have been about 6 years old at the time.

He definitely heard a piece with a pedal clarinet - he was at the 2011 Proms performance of Brian's Gothic. I was with a contingent from the Brian Society attending the final rehearsal: TS was there, and I had quite a long chat with him (he was very enthusiastic about the Gothic, which raised him several notches in my estimation.)

[Darkbloom]

He definitely heard a piece with a pedal clarinet - he was at the 2011 Proms performance of Brian's Gothic. I was with a contingent from the Brian Society attending the final rehearsal: TS was there, and I had quite a long chat with him (he was very enthusiastic about the Gothic, which raised him several notches in my estimation.)

He was born enthusiastic, that's why I don't trust his judgement. He'd be the same, whether he was faced by the Gothic symphony or major root canal work.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

He definitely heard a piece with a pedal clarinet - he was at the 2011 Proms performance of Brian's Gothic. I was with a contingent from the Brian Society attending the final rehearsal: TS was there, and I had quite a long chat with him (he was very enthusiastic about the Gothic, which raised him several notches in my estimation.)

- in person, and in his writings, TS is a very knowledgeable and personable chap whose genuine enthusiasm for Music is to be treasured (and I don't mean "buried underground and forgotten about"); I noticed a similar character when he guest directed the 2005 Huddersfield Festival. But the "gushing idiot" persona he adopts for his concert presentations I find infuriating and alienating. And whilst I can understand why he would wish to get home as quickly as possible, I wish he'd let the final chord of a work finish before he erupts with his opinion.

[Pulcinella]

TS is a very knowledgeable and personable chap whose genuine enthusiasm for Music is to be treasured.

Our fellow member teamsaint will be very gratified to know that you hold him in such esteem, ferney!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Our fellow member teamsaint will be very gratified to know that you hold him in such esteem, ferney!