Prom 67 - 3.09.17: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Pablo Heras-Casado

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00 Sunday 3 September 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Felix Mendelssohn: Overture 'The Hebrides' ('Fingal's Cave')
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No 5 in D major 'Reformation'

Isabelle Faust violin
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Pablo Heras‐Casado conductor

The dynamic Freiburg Baroque Orchestra brings authentic period-instrument colour to three of Mendelssohn's best-loved orchestral works in a Proms matinee directed by rising young conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.

Violinist Isabelle Faust makes her second appearance this season, as soloist in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto - the composer's last completed orchestral work, and perhaps the loveliest of all the Romantic violin concertos.

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation continues to be marked with Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony, whose final movement quotes movingly from Luther's chorale 'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott', while the concert opens with the composer's glorious overture The Hebrides, inspired by a visit to Fingal's Cave on the Scottish Isle of Staffa.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto - the composer's last completed orchestral work, and perhaps the loveliest of all the Romantic violin concertos.

There you have it.

Everything is fantastic.

[Pulcinella]

There you have it.

Everything is fantastic.

Good ploy to correctly attribute the 'blurb' to the BBC, Alpie!

[Bryn]

Running a bit late for this. 'Pre booked' this morning but printer went on strike for half an hour. Should make it with ease but not with a good spot in the Arena.

[Pianorak]

Did anyone listen to Faust/Melnikov yesterday? -
1130
Franck
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Isabelle Faust (violin)
Alexander Melnikov (piano).

[Bryn]

Delightfully irony to have Wagner as an encore in an otherwise all Mendelssohn concert.

[pastoralguy]

Did anyone listen to Faust/Melnikov yesterday? -
1130
Franck
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Isabelle Faust (violin)
Alexander Melnikov (piano).

I bought the cd the day it came out and it's well worth hearing including, as it does, Chausson's oddly titled 'Concerto for Violin, piano and string quartet'. A wonderful piece that's only recently getting the exposure it deserves.

[BBMmk2]

I bought the cd the day it came out and it's well worth hearing including, as it does, Chausson's oddly titled 'Concerto for Violin, piano and string quartet'. A wonderful piece that's only recently getting the exposure it deserves.

Details please, DG!

I am surprised there hasn't been more comments about his prom. Very good it was too.

Must have a look and see if these artists have recorded the composer's symphonies, if anything like this is to go by!

PG, is the CD worth getting as it only has 4 stars on amazon.

[jayne lee wilson]

Well, 13:00 hrs is a just a little early for ears or head to be in gear for music (not to mention the Italian Grand Prix running at the same time, at least I can turn the volume down on that one & still enjoy it, well, once I've relished the engines' haleine at the start...) but last night after the Haydn/Mahler Prom R3 played the wonderful Schumann Piano Trio No.1 in the Faust/Melnikov/Queyras recording, one of the 3-disc series with the Schumann Concertos and Piano Trios, with Heras-Casado conducting Freiburg Baroque... it's a marvellous set, beautifully recorded. For me it was the best music all night, Prom notwithstanding... I carried on and played the other Schumann Trios as well! Marvellous music.

They've followed up with a recent 24/96 release of this very same Mendelssohn programme, and again it's an outstanding album. Faust plays her "Sleeping Beauty" Stradivarius with an extreme, vibrato-less purity and the orchestral response is wonderfully fresh, dynamic and alive. How all this might come across in the RAH, I look forward to hearing about.....

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=heras-casado+mendelssohn&i=boutique

[pastoralguy]

Details please, DG!

I am surprised there hasn't been more comments about his prom. Very good it was too.

Must have a look and see if these artists have recorded the composer's symphonies, if anything like this is to go by!

PG, is the CD worth getting as it only has 4 stars on amazon.

There are 4 Amazon reviews, 3 of which are 5* reviews. The 4th is some numpty saying the disc doesn't play so he's given the recording, which he's not heard, 1*!

I'd certainly recommend it and I've played it a few times. The Franck is a good performance which avoids the somewhat overwrought interpretations that have been foisted on it over the years. I'd certainly recommend it.

[Pianorak]

I bought the cd the day it came out and it's well worth hearing . . .

Just wondering whether the great restraint by both artists (in the Franck) was for the benefit of Faust's gut-string Stradivarius. Some magnificent playing, but all a bit too sotto voce for my taste.

[pastoralguy]

Just wondering whether the great restraint by both artists (in the Franck) was for the benefit of Faust's gut-string Stradivarius. Some magnificent playing, but all a bit too sotto voce for my taste.

I'd certainly agree it's not a big 'heart on sleeve' performance but it has the virtue, imho, of subtlety. (And speaking as a violinist who has shed much Bow hair, rosin and splinters in this piece it's a virtue not to be ignored!)

[BBMmk2]

There are 4 Amazon reviews, 3 of which are 5* reviews. The 4th is some numpty saying the disc doesn't play so he's given the recording, which he's not heard, 1*!

I'd certainly recommend it and I've played it a few times. The Franck is a good performance which avoids the somewhat overwrought interpretations that have been foisted on it over the years. I'd certainly recommend it.

Thank you, PG and PR!

[pastoralguy]

Thank you, PG and PR!

Do you know the Chausson, bbm? If not, you're in for a treat!

[BBMmk2]

Do you know the Chausson, bbm? If not, you're in for a treat!

Yes, I do! It's a work that should be better known. I already have a recording of it, on Chandos Records.