Prom 17 - 27.07.17: Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Royal Albert Hall

Mark Simpson: The Immortal London première
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 6 in B minor, 'Pathétique'

Christopher Purves baritone
London Voices
Crouch End Festival Chorus
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena conductor

Life and death collide in a concert that explores what lies beyond the limits of human existence. In his passionate Sixth Symphony, which Tchaikovsky described as 'the best thing I ever composed or shall compose', he re-imagined what the symphony could be, daring to face death with uncertainty. The BBC Philharmonic's Composer in Association, a former BBC Young Musician winner and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Mark Simpson, also looks to the afterlife in his critically acclaimed oratorio 'The Immortal'. Inspired by Victorian seances, he conjures up eerie visions of a world beyond.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Perhaps my favourite symphony, but I dread hearing it at the Proms.

[pastoralguy]

I remember hearing the LSO play it many years ago under Antonio Pappano at the Barbican. How many times must the LSO have played the 'Pathétique'? Well, I've rarely heard such committed playing from a top class orchestra!

[cloughie]

Perhaps my favourite symphony, [B] but I dread hearing it at the Proms.[B]

Is that because of the fear of manual audience interruption between the third and fourth movements?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is that because of the fear of manual audience interruption between the third and fourth movements?

How did you ever guess?

It'll probably happen between the earlier movements too, and during the ppppp bit in the the first movement.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

How did you ever guess?

It'll probably happen between the earlier movements too, and during the ppppp bit in the the first movement.

And of course some berk will crash in at the end with a "bravo!", whatever the quality of the performance.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

And of course some berk will crash in at the end with a "bravo!", whatever the quality of the performance.

That particular habit has, thankfully, diminished in recent years.

[edashtav]

Is Mark Simpson's Oratorio The Immortal his Belshazzar' s Feast? Both are of similar length, feature a baritone soloist, and made an immediate impact at their first performance. The Walton glitters and concerns a worldly ruler perplexed by the supernatural hand which identifies his faults and predicts his doom. The people who inhabit The Immortal may, or may not have "reached the other side": it is the audience who are challenged from the thoughts from beyond intermingled with tragedy in life on Earth. Simpson approaches his task with a similar cocky self-confidence to young Willy Walton confronting Belshazzar. The composers' idioms are 80 years apart but both can fill a big acoustic with blazing colours and each knows how to build an almighty climax followed by a silence, or a silence still resonating with what has been cut off in its prime. Christopher Purves's presence was ubiquitous and commanded the tale, unlike Walton's baritone who appears in typical Oratorio fashion in recitative and aria. London Voices provided an amplified semi-chorus, much of it parlando in style. They were excellent, as was Chorus. The performance was well supported by the BBCPO and its conductor, Juanjo Mena, was far more involved and dynamic than I found him a few nights ago in Beethoven's Fidelio. Spectacular-yes; disturbing -certainly;.profound- I shall retain an open mind until I'm on top of the score. Whatever: a fine choice for this year's Proms.

Tchaikovsky s Sixth Symphony:
What an unassuming, almost legato opening! I was relieved when the woodwind fluttered in until I realised they were insubstantial and ethereal, as if they were playing in a candyfloss scherzo by Mendelssohn. I suppose that Mena was sketching an existence before the life-changing event precipitated by brass and churning strings. Suddenly a volte-face and a surge of electricity. For me, an extreme reading, but one that may be justified by the symphony's development. […] time is passing and in march time and the delightfully lyrical remains centre-stage. So far, this is the Pathetique Ballet, starring graceful swans. I'm worried lest contrast, when it comes, will be too little, too late.

My word this hedonistic march is brisk and oblivious to the world beyond, as are the idiots who applaud it! The finale starts in fairly no-nonsense style. Gosh is this going to be Pathetique-lite, a Pathe newsreel gloss on tragedy? Oops, the main bassoon needs to tune up. The strings are playing their doom-laden descending phrase as if they are bystanders rather than participants. I'm not criticising the orchestra's execution, just the direction. Tchaikovsky is not a matter of fact composer, he's a man of acute sensibility and passion, a man fearing the ultimate unknown. An interesting interpretation, well prepared, but ultimately for this listener a disappointment.

[jayne lee wilson]

Too late and too busy to hear any of this one, so - grateful for the vivid report Ed, thanks.

[Beef Oven!]

That particular habit has, thankfully, diminished in recent years.

Not in my experience of gig-going. What concerts have you been to that support your assertion?

[kernelbogey]

And of course some berk will crash in at the end with a "bravo!", whatever the quality of the performance.

I tuned in late; there was applause of a kind at the end of III, but somehow this time it didn't bother me.

The berk was out on his horse somewhere after a fox or two so no interruption of that kind.

I was not listening in the best of circumstances but it sounded to me as though the coda wound its way downward to silence as though, yes, death was in contemplation....

And Maestro Mena held a long, profoundly magical silence at the end.