Prom 1: First Night of the Proms - 13.07.18

[bluestateprommer]

The last-minute addition to the First Night, Oliver Knussen's Flourish with Fireworks, just finished, to launch this season; classy tribute and addition.

BTW, 85 or so minutes isn't bad for program length; Mahler 8, for example.

[Bryn]

The last-minute addition to the First Night, Oliver Knussen's Flourish with Fireworks, just finished, to launch this season; classy tribute and addition.

BTW, 85 or so minutes isn't bad for program length; Mahler 8, for example.

I waited for the BBC2 broadcast. Slipshod audio edit to dead air following the applause for the Knussen. Must catch the Radio 3 iPlayer offering, later.

Good to hear the individual movements of The Planets get the applause they deserve.

[Boilk]

On paper at least, it's bizarre that the 52-minute The Planets is BEFORE the interval and the Meredith premiere is the lone 22-minute piece AFTER the interval. A rare instance of not putting a commissioned premiere in the middle of the musical sandwich to keep bums on seats until the end. I guess the logistical reasons (visuals) necessitated this shift from norms.

Two questions perhaps for Proms afficionados:
1. Is this the shortest ever 2nd half of a Proms concert?
2. Is this the only time a Proms performance of The Planets has NOT been programmed as the closing work?

And well done BBC powers-that-be for inserting the Knussen piece. A near certainty somewhere in the season, but didn't expect it to happen on the opening night.

[bluestateprommer]

I waited for the BBC2 broadcast. Slipshod audio edit to dead air following the applause for the Knussen. Must catch the Radio 3 iPlayer offering, later.

Good to hear the individual movements of The Planets get the applause they deserve.

But not between the final 3 movements (thank goodness), as Oramo had a discreet brief pause after each before launching into "Uranus" and "Neptune". Applause after "Mars" and "Jupiter" is quite understandable, because of the visceral volume, although given that "Mars" evokes the idea of the mindless destruction that war entails, applauding that idea seems in poor taste. Plus, applause after "Venus" and "Mercury" spoils the mood, IMHO. Anyway....

The first half of this First Night was, overall, good. Not the greatest-ever interpretation of Holst's "Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra", in so far as such a thing exists, but it was all right. I'm sure the newbies in the audience who haven't heard the work live were happy. I hadn't hear RVW's TtUR in a good while. Nice touch during the interval to have a clip from Nadia Boulanger talking with Bernard Keeffe.

[edashtav]

What a marvellous idea to preface this Prom with the late, much-lamented Olly Knussen's Flourish with Fireworks, a typically effervescent, pointillist explosion of colour and energy.
Towards The Unknown Region isn't a masterpiece but it is a work that fits into the RAH as a hand in a glove, and when RVW's inspiration fails and he has no recourse except to return from an unknown region back to the earthbound Parry-suffused opening, the added colour and depth of the organ adds a welcome finality.

Holst's Planets received a cool and metrically exact performance from Sakari Oramo and his BBC SO. I followed it with a score and was shaken but not stirred. Let me exemplify: the slithery contrasting figure to the brutal march in Mars, I would characterise as frightened men crawling under bombardment but I failed to hear their fear. A tad too clinical yet there was wonderful ending to Neptune.

If the RVW was the English composer before Ravel took the thickening from his scoring, this Holst was an interpretation informed by a good knowledge of the French master

[BBMmk2]

I would have thought the programme should’ve e been thus
Oliver Knussen
Vaughan Williams
Anne Meredith

Interval

Gustav Holst.

Has a sense of a more cohesiveness about it.

But what an evening though! Very good throughput!

[Bryn]

I would have thought the programme should’ve e been thus
Oliver Knussen
Anne Meredith

Interval

Gustav Holst.

Has a sense of a more cohesiveness about it.

But what an evening though! Very good throughput!

So no RVW, eh?

[Alison]

Quite enjoying the light show but little substance to the Meredith.

[BBMmk2]

I would have thought the programme should’ve e been thus
Oliver Knussen
Vaughan Williams
Anne Meredith

Interval

Gustav Holst.

Has a sense of a more cohesiveness about it.

But what an evening though! Very good throughput!

Amended. How could I forget!

[Petrushka]

Quite enjoying the light show but little substance to the Meredith.

That just about sums it up for me too.

[hmvman]

Good to hear the individual movements of The Planets get the applause they deserve.

An enjoyable First Night for me, apart from grumpiness over the inter-movement applause. But, hey, this is the Proms and grumpiness over inter-movement applause is a regular feature and all part of the fun of the season - together with people who find it impossible to stifle coughs and sneezes during the music.

[Barbirollians]

An enjoyable First Night for me, apart from grumpiness over the inter-movement applause. But, hey, this is the Proms and grumpiness over inter-movement applause is a regular feature and all part of the fun of the season - together with people who find it impossible to stifle coughs and sneezes during the music.

That first night programme was never going to be able to compete with Nadal-v-Djokovic

[Bryn]

An enjoyable First Night for me, apart from grumpiness over the inter-movement applause. But, hey, this is the Proms and grumpiness over inter-movement applause is a regular feature and all part of the fun of the season - together with people who find it impossible to stifle coughs and sneezes during the music.

No grumpiness from me. Check back, I have a history of supporting the audience members' right to express their approval thus. O.K., I tend not to do it myself, but I am also quite at home with not applauding a perfromance I do not think up to par.

[LMcD]

That first night programme was never going to be able to compete with Nadal-v-Djokovic

I recorded the Prom. Nadal and Djokovic are serving up (sorry ....) the perfect antidote to the longueurs of the earlier 'slugfest'.

[Constantbee]

Quite enjoying the light show but little substance to the Meredith.

The combination didn't work for me, I'm afraid. Might watch it again with the sound turned down and something else on.

Whatever shall we do when we run out of WW1 centenaries next year There's always Scapa Flow to commemorate, I suppose. The Versailles Treaty? The Peace Day Riots? Withdrawal of British troops from Archangel even ... ?

The Knussen was a tasteful addition to the programme.