Prom 6 - 18.07.17: Nicola Benedetti plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1

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  • Eine Alpensinfonie
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 20570

    Prom 6 - 18.07.17: Nicola Benedetti plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1

    19:00 Tuesday 18 July 2017
    Royal Albert Hall

    Dmitri Shostakovich: October
    Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor
    Jean Sibelius : Symphony No 2 in D major


    Nicola Benedetti violin
    BBC National Orchestra of Wales
    Thomas Søndergård conductor

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti joins Thomas Søndergård and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as they continue their exploration of music by Shostakovich and Sibelius. Here they pair the latter's stirring Second Symphony - adopted as a potent symbol of nationalism and resistance by the people of Finland - with Shostakovich's symphonic poem October, a work whose subversive musical message sees the composer at his most pointedly political.

    Shostakovich dedicated his First Violin Concerto to the celebrated violinist David Oistrakh, who praised its solo part as 'Shakespearean', and the concerto's demonic Scherzo gives its soloist plenty of opportunity for virtuosity.
    Last edited by Eine Alpensinfonie; 14-07-17, 17:21.
  • Eine Alpensinfonie
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 20570

    #2
    I hope I am right in assuming "October" has nothing to do with the same composer's 2nd symphony?

    Comment

    • bluestateprommer
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 3009

      #3
      Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
      I hope I am right in assuming "October" has nothing to do with the same composer's 2nd symphony?
      You are correct; the two are totally separate beasts. DSCH's Symphony No. 2 requires a chorus, for one; no chorus needed for the symphonic poem.

      Comment

      • pastoralguy
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 7759

        #4
        Fantastic playing from young Nicola. BRAVO!

        Comment

        • Petrushka
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 12250

          #5
          Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
          Fantastic playing from young Nicola. BRAVO!
          Wholeheartedly seconded!
          "The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard Haitink

          Comment

          • Alison
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 6455

            #6
            She's improved a lot in my book, Pasty?

            Comment

            • bluestateprommer
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 3009

              #7
              Quite a contrast of the two DSCH works here. October is definitely far from top-drawer DSCH, where he does seem to recycle his standard orchestral tics for a 'public consumption' work (the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution - well, duh). I had the same kind of reaction as with his Symphony No. 12, namely that this would be great music for Battleship Potemkin, written decades after the actual film. But then:

              Originally posted by pastoralguy View Post
              Fantastic playing from young Nicola. BRAVO!
              NB did do very well in this fiendishly difficult concerto, but for me, somehow, in the finale, she really set the hall on fire, all the more remarkable given the massive solo cadenza just before (and indeed, everything before, and how physically and mentally demanding it must have been for her). It's almost as if she held back just a bit of energy in reserve, and then unleashed it all in the finale. Little wonder that she said that ideally, there shouldn't be an encore after DSCH VC 1. But she obliged, very nicely indeed (the arranger's name also archived in the Calendar).

              Comment

              • pastoralguy
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 7759

                #8
                Originally posted by Alison View Post
                She's improved a lot in my book, Pasty?
                Oh yes. I first heard her as a 14 year old playing the Mendelssohn. (I loaned her an A string when she broke one during the rehearsal!)

                It's been great to see her rise and rise and develop as a violinist and an artist. Of course she's nearly 30 now so she's past the 'youngster' phase but I can still hear her playing getting better every time I hear her. (She plays a lot with the RSNO here in Scotland).

                And, she's a genuinely lovely person with a passion for teaching. We in Scotland are extremely proud of her!

                Comment

                • edashtav
                  Full Member
                  • Jul 2012
                  • 3670

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Alison View Post
                  She's improved a lot in my book, Pasty?
                  And in mine, I was pleasantly surprised although I must admit to being shocked.

                  Comment

                  • teamsaint
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 25209

                    #10
                    It came over brilliantly in the car, if that is anything to go by.
                    Which it probably isn't.
                    But it did anyway.
                    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                    I am not a number, I am a free man.

                    Comment

                    • Goon525
                      Full Member
                      • Feb 2014
                      • 598

                      #11
                      I managed to miss it, not realising it was a 19.00 start. I thought that only happened when there was a late evening concert - which there isn't tonight. I know it was my incompetence, but any idea why there was an early start tonight?

                      Comment

                      • Bryn
                        Banned
                        • Mar 2007
                        • 24688

                        #12
                        Maybe so the BBCNOW musicians can get back to Cardiff tonight.

                        Comment

                        • Barbirollians
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 11686

                          #13
                          A sound but not a thrilling Sibelius 2 so far for me .

                          Comment

                          • Bryn
                            Banned
                            • Mar 2007
                            • 24688

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                            A sound but not a thrilling Sibelius 2 so far for me .
                            Well, for those familiar with the old RPO/Barbirolli, the bar is set so high.

                            Comment

                            • bluestateprommer
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 3009

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post
                              A sound but not a thrilling Sibelius 2 so far for me .
                              My reaction is the same, now that it has just completed. Given that, as mentioned in the other BBC NOW/TS Prom thread, this is par for the course for my listening experiences of his work with them on iPlayer, I dialed my expectations accordingly. But if the newcomers in the audience enjoyed it (and if the RAH was indeed essentially packed out, there must have been some newbies), rather than the diehards among us, all to the good. Also, full marks again to tonight's audience, like last night's, for not applauding between the movements. (There may have been one or two desultory attempts, but perhaps those folks figured it out quickly.)

                              For Goon525, I've been caught out several times as a transatlantic listener for forgetting 7 PM start times (shame on me, especially as keeper of the Proms Forum calendar). One other reason for 7 PM starts could be also for people who need to take trains to the suburbs to get home at a reasonable hour.

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