Prom 71 - 6.09.17: Stravinsky, Britten, Prokofiev and Shostakovich

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Wednesday 6 September 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Igor Stravinsky: Funeral Song; Song of the Volga Boatmen
Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major
Benjamin Britten: Russian Funeral
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No 11 in G minor 'The Year 1905'

Alina Ibragimova violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Alina Ibragimova joins Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a Russian themed programme. The Proms pays tribute to the centenary of the Russian Revolution with Prokofiev's lyrical First Violin Concerto, composed amid the growing turmoil of 1917.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 harks back to another crisis, the failed revolution of 1905; its brooding cinematic landscapes are punctuated by bright flecks of instrumental colour. The concert opens with Stravinsky's youthful Funeral Song, lost for over a century and given its first modern performance only last year.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... though technically, Prokofiev ...

[teamsaint]

...and a slightly early start .......

[Petrushka]

Very much looking forward to being in the hall for this Prom, likely to be a season highlight for me.

It's a cleverly designed and typically thoughtful programme from Jurowski and should go down very well.

[Pulcinella]

... though technically, Prokofiev ...

???
Lost on me, I'm afraid, Alpie.

Very much looking forward to being in the hall for this Prom, likely to be a season highlight for me.

It's a cleverly designed and typically thoughtful programme from Jurowski and should go down very well.

Indeed; one that instantly appealed when the guide came out.
Sadly, tonight is opening night of our new season of residents' association film nights, so duty calls me elsewhere, and the concert does not appear to be being repeated in the afternoon next week.
So it's a 'listen again (first time)’ for me if I want to hear it.
Hope you enjoy it.

[Simon B]

Indeed, a prime example of Jurowski's intelligent programming, and probably the most enticing programme of the season to me when it was first unveiled.

In part, this is due to the LPO/Jurowski/Shostakovich 11 combination. When played with sufficient unremitting tension and disciplined fury there are few works that hold my attention to such a degree, and these qualities have been delivered by this combination numerous times - not least in Shostakovich 8 at the 2015 Proms. Personally, I've started to find Jurowski very hard work in some repertoire - I absolutely *loathed* his Mahler 8 a few months ago, though honesty compels me to note that most around me seemed to be in transports of ecstasy. So cold and objective, plus if Mahler had wanted to write an opera surely he just would have?! I digress - in tonight's sort of repertoire he can still get the LPO to play like demons, so I'm hoping this last night of my Proms will deliver some of the impact felt otherwise only in Gurrelieder and the Philharmonia Adams this year...

[Darkbloom]

Indeed, a prime example of Jurowski's intelligent programming, and probably the most enticing programme of the season to me when it was first unveiled.

In part, this is due to the LPO/Jurowski/Shostakovich 11 combination. When played with sufficient unremitting tension and disciplined fury there are few works that hold my attention to such a degree, and these qualities have been delivered by this combination numerous times - not least in Shostakovich 8 at the 2015 Proms. Personally, I've started to find Jurowski very hard work in some repertoire - I absolutely *loathed* his Mahler 8 a few months ago, though honesty compels me to note that most around me seemed to be in transports of ecstasy. So cold and objective, plus if Mahler had wanted to write an opera surely he just would have?! I digress - in tonight's sort of repertoire he can still get the LPO to play like demons, so I'm hoping this last night of my Proms will deliver some of the impact felt otherwise only in Gurrelieder and the Philharmonia Adams this year...

That's an interesting view, and I'm not being sarcastic. Whenever I hear Jurowski he sounds like one of the few we are likely to look back on as a great conductor. Can you be a bit more specific about your reservations?

[Simon B]

I think I'm just a sentimental heart on sleeve sort under a granite (or possibly limestone ;) exterior. My problem.

His clarity and no-playing-to-the-gallery approach to ultra-romantic stuff like Mahler and Strauss was invigorating at first but now I often crave a bit less intellect and more heart. Purely a matter of subjective taste I suppose.

Meanwhile, he conducted the best Tchaikovsky 5 I ever heard, by miles, and many of the other most memorable concerts I've attended. Brilliant programmer too, as tonight will hopefully demonstrate.

Really just confessions of no interest to anyone but myself, but to some degree that's what the internet appears to be for!

[Barbirollians]

Alina Ibragimova is so much more my sort of violinist in this repertoire than Pat Kop - like her Violin Sonatas recording it seems so idiomatic to my ears and all about the music and not the performer .

[Bryn]

A very frustrating evening for me. So far my Internet connection has failed three times during this Prom, losing me both the Radio 3 Concert Sound and the binaural stream. With this being such a brilliant performance of the Prokofiev it hurts even more.

[Barbirollians]

If Hyperion don't have any plans to record Alina I in these concertos they must surely have them now . Marvellous one of the very best I have ever heard .

[teamsaint]

Really just confessions of no interest to anyone but myself, but to some degree that's what the internet appears to be for!

Keep on 'fessing, SB. I haven't heard VJ live in either Mahler or Strauss, but he has to have some faults.......


Anyway, just hurtling back to Wiltshire on our new railway franchise , and I had a great time at tonights concert.

Ibragimova was sensational in the Prokofiev. Absolutely gave it everything, and a a complete range of skills and sensitivities was on show. Her rapport with VJ was extraordinary, no stone unturned in her attempts to wring everything out of the music. A performance to stay long in the memory.

The Symphony is a pretty hard one to pull off I would think, with its almost real time evocation of events. But VJ had the orchestra completely onside, in a work that demands a good shift from most of the orchestra . I'm sure, both from their musical response, and their response to each other, that this is a team with a fantastic unity, certainly one that is producing consistently outstanding results.
Many terrific performances all over the stage, principal trumpet, Cor Anglais to name but two. Very glad indeed that I was there to witness a musical epic superbly realised by a crack ensemble.

edit , anybody know what the encore was ?

[Petrushka]

Keep on 'fessing, SB. I haven't heard VJ live in either Mahler or Strauss, but he has to have some faults.......


Anyway, just hurtling back to Wiltshire on our new railway franchise , and I had a great time at tonights concert.

Ibragimova was sensational in the Prokofiev. Absolutely gave it everything, and a a complete range of skills and sensitivities was on show. Her rapport with VJ was extraordinary, no stone unturned in her attempts to wring everything out of the music. A performance to stay long in the memory.

The Symphony is a pretty hard one to pull off I would think, with its almost real time evocation of events. But VJ had the orchestra completely onside, in a work that demands a good shift from most of the orchestra . I'm sure, both from their musical response, and their response to each other, that this is a team with a fantastic unity, certainly one that is producing consistently outstanding results.
Many terrific performances all over the stage, principal trumpet, Cor Anglais to name but two. Very glad indeed that I was there to witness a musical epic superbly realised by a crack ensemble.

edit , anybody know what the encore was ?

Endorsed in every respect, ts. Absolutely stunning performance of the Shostakovich. In addition to those you rightly mention a bravo for Simon Carrington on timpani. Hardly any audience noise tonight as everyone in the hall was gripped by this enthralling 5 star performance. VJ can do no wrong in my book.

PS: I didn't know what the encore was either.

[bluestateprommer]

...anybody know what the encore was ?

The BBC Proms playlist says that AI's encore was Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 5 in G major for solo violin (L'aurore), Lento Assai - 1st movement

Unless, that is, the encore in question is a different one?

[Bryn]

The BBC Proms playlist says that AI's encore was Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 5 in G major for solo violin (L'aurore), Lento Assai - 1st movement

Unless, that is, the encore in question is a different one?

If there was one at the end, it was not broadcast.