Prom 30 - 7.08.17: Walton – Belshazzar’s Feast

[cloughie]

Well, since you left Yorkshire, I thought I'd better up my game for God's own county.

A year or few back I wrote a song entitled 'A Yorkshireman in Cornwall' which included the line 'They talk of God's Own County, is it here or is it there?', and I still can't decide, but on the assumption that Cornwall is a Country (and not a County) ....

[Darkbloom]

I just caught up with this. To my surprise, I found the Prokofiev the most enjoyable piece on the programme. Although I don't see the sense in performing an unknown work in the original language, it still had a spark that the Walton lacked. I keep trying with Belshazzar, but it always feels flat and uninvolving. Whether that's down to the quality of the performances I have heard, or my lack of appreciation, I'm not sure.

[Serial_Apologist]

I just caught up with this. To my surprise, I found the Prokofiev the most enjoyable piece on the programme. Although I don't see the sense in performing an unknown work in the original language, it still had a spark that the Walton lacked. I keep trying with Belshazzar, but it always feels flat and uninvolving. Whether that's down to the quality of the performances I have heard, or my lack of appreciation, I'm not sure.

I always feel that Walton "shot his bolt" by having the climactic epicentre of the work the succession of pagan gods, after which the rest comes across like some sort of protracted detumescence (pun intended). But the Prokofiev is a known work, and the Russian language I would consider intrinsic to its very nature and spirit.

[jayne lee wilson]

Performances also exist in the moment. They are a snapshot in time. Gergiev is amazing. Go and see.

Yes, Beef, absolutely....

I once entertained similar, stereotypically critical, feelings about Gergiev as those expressed in some posts above, but - with the advent of Qobuz HiFi I was able to actually listen to more of Gergiev's live recordings and take stock. Result was - wholesale revision. Listening to both his LSO Prokofiev Cycle, and the later Mariinsky readings, I would never have described them as careless or undisciplined. I may not always like the interpretational decisions themselves but they are very well played - crisp, sharp and clear - and responsive to each orchestra's individual character.
Suffice to say, I bought the CD Box of the LSO set and it ranks high among several Prokofiev Symphony Cycles I know. The intensity and fire are there, yes, but a precise orchestral response as well. As with all conductors recorded live so frequently - Toscanini, Mravinsky and Mengelberg among them - you may encounter some indiscipline and untidiness as a live by-product (though I can't perceive much of this in the Barbican Prokofiev Cycle), but this doesn't preclude thoughtful or intelligent music making, momentarily fiery or not.

[Darkbloom]

Yes, but the conductors you mention were disciplinarians to a fault. I expect most players were terrified of Mravinsky if they made a mistake, at the end of the performance. With Gergiev, he'd be out the door on route to the next gig. Lapses do seem more common with him than others. I recall a Proms Mahler 6 a few years ago when they were all over the shop in the final movement.