Prom 56 - 26.08.17: The Bohemian Reformation

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Saturday 26 August 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Unknown: Hussite Chorale 'Ktož jsú Boži bojovníci' (You Who Are Warriors of God)
Bedrich Smetana: Má vlast – Tábor
Bedrich Smetana: Má vlast – Blaník
Bohuslav Martinu: Field Mass
Antonín Dvořák: Hussite Overture
Lets Janáček: The Excursions of Mr Brouček – Song of the Hussites
Josef Suk: Prague

Svatopluk Sem baritone
BBC Singers (men's voices)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jakub Hrůša conductor

Rising star conductor Jakub Hrůša presents an all-Czech concert with the BBC SO and the BBC Singers. Smetana's evocative tone-poem Ma vlast sits alongside Martinů's Field Mass - written in 1939 at the start of World War Two and written for outdoor performance - and Suk's Prague. This is music of protest, anger and national pride.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm saying absolutely nothing.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm saying absolutely nothing.

Well, thank god it isn't the Bohemian Rhapsody! - though no doubt we'll get a symphonic orchestral live remix of the same in some future Queen celebration at the Proms!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well, thank god it isn't the Bohemian Rhapsody! - though no doubt we'll get a symphonic orchestral live remix of the same in some future Queen celebration at the Proms!

[bluestateprommer]

I'm saying absolutely nothing.

Not sure why not, as this actually is a really fine program that would have been completely up Jiri Belohlavek's street. Sadly, we can't get JB, but we get one of the new generation of Czech conductors, and a JB pupil on the podium at that. Since the Martinu was written for outdoor performance, it will be interesting to hear how it fills the RAH cavern. Suk's tone poem Prague marks a Proms first performance.

[BBMmk2]

Not sure why not, as this actually is a really fine program that would have been completely up Jiri Belohlavek's street. Sadly, we can't get JB, but we get one of the new generation of Czech conductors, and a JB pupil on the podium at that. Since the Martinu was written for outdoor performance, it will be interesting to hear how it fills the RAH cavern. Suk's tone poem Prague marks a Proms first performance.

I'm inclined to agree with you there, Bluestate! They were saying I think on Radio 3 Breakfast, that JH is the natural successor to Behlohlavek.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I suspect Alpie's non-comment was a response to the Beeb blurb, rather than the content of the programme. ("Smetana's Tone Poem Ma Vlast" itself is non-comment-worthy.)

[jean]

No, it'll be self-censorship where the BBC Singers are concerned.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

No, it'll be self-censorship where the BBC Singers are concerned.

Oh! Of course! I'd overlooked their involvement.

[bluestateprommer]

Very strong start to this Prom, with a full-bodied 'Ktož jsú Boži bojovníci' from the men of the BBC Singers, very, very nicely done. Solid work from the BBC SO and JH in the Siamese-twinned finale of Má vlast, with a smooth applause-free transition from the choir to the BBC SO. The last two tone poems are certainly the most bombastic and least subtle of the set, but from what I can tell, JH tried to play down the bombast, and took them at a pace to allow the music to breathe, rather than pushing any tempi.

Hearing the final two tone poems of the Smetana put me back in mind of the July 2011 Prom with JB and the BBC SO, with the first-ever complete Má vlast at the Proms. Was anyone else here, besides me, in the RAH for that?

Nice discussion just now between Ian Skelly and Aleš Březina. of the Bohuslav Martinu Institute, on the Martinu Field Mass now.

(BTW, for EA, one can use [sic] to comment discreetly on any factual errors in the PR blurbs.)

PS: The Field Mass just finished. Words from of the Forumites' tributes to JB came to mind of this interpretation; never spectacular, but always sound. However, special praise for baritone Svatopluk Sem, obviously at home in the language and idiom. The BBC Singers' men acquitted themselves well here also, as did the selected musicians of the BBC SO.

The interval feature, with Jan Smaczny and Gavin Plumley, and Louise Fryer (good to have her back on the air - although, getting way and perhaps inappropriately off-topic, I notice a slightly halting quality in her speaking voice now. Was she ill recently?) is airing now, and is very good so far, well worth re-visiting later or tuning in now.

[doversoul1]

Very strong end too, I thought. And the interval talk/discussion was most interesting. It was so packed with information that I definitely need to listen again to take it all in. I too thought Louise Fryer’s voice was somewhat uneven.

Svatopluk Sem: baritone. What a voice!

[Petrushka]

This was a most enjoyable Prom in highly impressive sound as heard via Freeview. The Dvorak, Janacek and Suk pieces were entirely new to me and the last named was spectacular with a thrilling contribution at the end from the RAH organ that shook the rafters. I see that Belohlavek and the BBC SO have recorded Suk's Prague for Chandos and that's just gone down on the wish list.

[edashtav]

Duties allowed me only to hear the second part of this concert. Once again the BBC SO covered itself with glory, their playing under the excellent Jakob Hrusa was taut, colourful, flexible, sensitively balanced and nicely inflected. The Hussite overture was turned from a pièce d'occasion to an interesting and clearly structured work. Thank goodness that the Janacek was such an idiosyncratic arrangement of the Hussite's song because I was suffering from what might be termed a touch of the Constant Lamberts.

Oh dear, my syndrome deepened as the orchestra plunged into Suk's Prague: if a theme is getting on your nerves then the last thing you want is for that tune to be blasted out repeatedly and augmented in a manner owing a lot to Wagner and Mahler. The final irritation that sent me crazy was amplification by means of the RAH organ. I know some Boarders rate this piece. I don't! However, I salute the performance that missed no opportunity to rub salt into my wounds.

An unusual but clever programme. It should have carried a BBC mental health warning!
I may not be back for more torture.

[doversoul1]

Duties allowed me only to hear the second part of this concert. Once again the BBC SO covered itself with glory, their playing under the excellent Jakob Hrusa was taut, colourful, flexible, sensitively balanced and nicely inflected. The Hussite overture was turned from a pièce d'occasion to an interesting and clearly structured work. Thank goodness that the Janacek was such an idiosyncratic arrangement of the Hussite's song because I was suffering from what might be termed a touch of the Constant Lamberts.

Oh dear, my syndrome deepened as the orchestra plunged into Suk's Prague: if a theme is getting on your nerves then the last thing you want is for that tune to be blasted out repeatedly and augmented in a manner owing a lot to Wagner and Mahler. The final irritation that sent me crazy was amplification by means of the RAH organ. I know some Boarders rate this piece. I don't! However, I salute the performance that missed no opportunity to rub salt into my wounds.

An unusual but clever programme. It should have carried a BBC mental health warning!
I may not be back for more torture.

One man’s meat is etc.. It looks as if the work and the performance had the intended effect

I hope your duties are not over-stressful and you have appropriate help.

[Ferretfancy]

Duties allowed me only to hear the second part of this concert. Once again the BBC SO covered itself with glory, their playing under the excellent Jakob Hrusa was taut, colourful, flexible, sensitively balanced and nicely inflected. The Hussite overture was turned from a pièce d'occasion to an interesting and clearly structured work. Thank goodness that the Janacek was such an idiosyncratic arrangement of the Hussite's song because I was suffering from what might be termed a touch of the Constant Lamberts.

Oh dear, my syndrome deepened as the orchestra plunged into Suk's Prague: if a theme is getting on your nerves then the last thing you want is for that tune to be blasted out repeatedly and augmented in a manner owing a lot to Wagner and Mahler. The final irritation that sent me crazy was amplification by means of the RAH organ. I know some Boarders rate this piece. I don't! However, I salute the performance that missed no opportunity to rub salt into my wounds.

An unusual but clever programme. It should have carried a BBC mental health warning!
I may not be back for more torture.

Im not quite sure about torture, but standing in the Arena last night was certainly uncomfortable. Planning an evening with compositions derived from a simple and rather banal musical idea may have looked great in the planning, but sounded tiresome in the execution. I couldn't help thinking that if that was the best idea John Huss came up with it's hardly surprising that he was burned at the stake.

Is there a more rubbishy piece than Tabor, by the way?

All that off my chest, I must say that the performances sounded great with the BBC SO on their best form, and I loved the Martinu Field Mass which was probably the best composition on offer