Prom 50 - 21.08.17: Beethoven, Stravinsky and Gerald Barry

[Braunschlag]

, perhaps surprisingly, it was the 1977 Karajan that I longed to hear immediately after this Prom had finished!

Comes as no surprise to me :)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Comes as no surprise to me :)

- it's the first time I've ever wanted to hear another performance of the work immediately after.

[Maclintick]

Anyone care to address Tony's point about missing bars?

Yes, I think Mirga's truncation of these bars was mistaken & puzzling, & that the succeeding string articulations of the main theme, at least from my position in 'O' stalls, were verging on inaudible. Curiously, on I-Player, there was less of a problem, so maybe it's a question of RAH acoustics. Overall, I enjoyed her interpretation, & from my position in the hall the trumpets sounded perfectly integrated into the orchestral texture. Leonora 3 was outstanding, as was the CBSO's accompaniment to the Stravinsky concerto, tho' I have reservations re Leila Josefowicz's playing of the solo part. Too much stamping & aggressive scraping, IMHO.

A further point. There are 2 Mirgas -- one balletic, batonless, & score-less, practically levitating on the podium -- the other version, which we witnessed in the Stravinsky & in Abrahamsen's "Let Me Tell You" at the RAH last year, is a rhythmically-solid, formidably-focussed, stick-wielding technician. I admire both of them.

Oh, & the Barry "Canada" -- Anyone else tired of ironic, unamusing berserking & jesting ? I’m put in mind of Captain Spaulding’s estimation of Chico's character Ravelli in Animal Crackers -- “Ravelli may look like an idiot & talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you — he really IS an idiot”

A bizarre & nonsensical commission ostensibly celebrating 150 years of Canadian independence. Presumably Canadian composers weren't considered ? Also an astonishing waste of the wonderful Allan Clayton’s time…

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes, I think Mirga's truncation of these bars was mistaken & puzzling

... especially as she re-instated the fermata at the start of the Development section. (No Expo repeat in the Finale, either )

[jonfan]

This is the performance from M G-T and the CBSO I want to hear again and again at the moment. Karajan can be consigned to his box with an occasional outing to remind me how things used to be in the '60's. This LVB5 sounded fresh and excitingly new as the day it was first performed. Having watched M G-T I thought every move meant something to the players; no wasted gesture; nothing routine. The suggestion that the CBSO played well despite the conductor and speeded up to get back to Birmingham faster is insulting. After all they chose her and what a superb choice as well. Good luck to them.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'll have to go and listen again to the Beethoven after all this discussion. I enjoyed it at the time but I think the criticisms are pretty valid. With standard rep perhaps there's a tendency to over-value self-consciously eye-catching performances simply because they offer something different.

Well, was it so different? There are many exciting performances of the work taken at a cracking pace that work really well without sounding rushed as this one did. I think the brusque dismissal of the written pauses may have had something to do with this. They are in the score and should not be glossed over.

[Barbirollians]

Well I enjoyed the Beethoven and the Stravinsky - the Gerald Barry piece I thought was execrable . Indeed, if it was based on his horror of being stuck in airports being stuck in one with "Canada" playing would surely have recommended a new circle of hell to Dante.