Prom 12: Beethoven, Shostakovich & Rachmaninov - 23.07.18

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Monday
ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Ludwig van Beethoven: Overture 'Coriolan'
Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major
Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Andrew Norman: Spiral - UK première

Alisa Weilerstein cello
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Karina Canellakis conductor

Following her exciting Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra last year, rising young American conductor Karina Canellakis returns to direct the orchestra in two 20th-century Russian masterpieces. Although composed just three years before his death, Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances pulse with exhilarating rhythmic energy, while Shostakovich's much-loved First Cello Concerto features Alisa Weilerstein in the solo part originally composed for the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Violence and tenderness battle in Beethoven's Coriolan overture, and the UK premiere of a new work by American composer Andrew Norman completes the programme.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The title "Spiral" was evidently not known when the Proms listings went to press, yet it isn't actually the premiere.

Strange, perhaps? No.

'On June 14-16, the Berlin Philharmonic, under the direction of Sir. Simon Rattle, performs the world premiere of Andrew Norman's Spiral, a work that was commissioned to celebrate Sir Simon's final season with the orchestra. Andrew Norman notes:
'"Spiral is a short piece that traces the transformations of a small number of instrumental gestures as they orbit each other in ever-contracting circles...the idea of a "spiral-shaped" orchestra piece is something I've been thinking about for a while. Some of the musical ideas and gestures in this piece were definitely inspired by my experiences of and with Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic (namely their unique physical energy and precision), but the idea of a spiral is not directly connected to them."'

[edashtav]

According to Andrew Norman’s publisher: Schott, we can expect a six-minute piece.
“Among the most talented and original of young American composers...master of a uniquely dazzling and mercurial style. – The New Yorker

Andrew Norman (b. 1979) is a Los Angeles-based composer of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. Norman's work draws on an eclectic mix of sounds and notational practices from both the avant-garde and classical traditions. He is increasingly interested in story-telling in music, and specifically in the ways non-linear, narrative-scrambling techniques from other time-based media like movies and video games might intersect with traditional symphonick forms. His distinctive, often fragmented and highly energetic voice has been cited in The New York Times for its “daring juxtapositions and dazzling colors,” in the Boston Globe for its “staggering imagination,” and in the Los Angeles Times for its “audacious” spirit and “Chaplinesque” wit.”

I’m interested that Norman takes nourishment from the “avant-garde tradition” as I’ve always thought that avant-garde composers seek to distance themselves from tradition. I’m looking forward to this well-balanced PROM.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I’m interested that Norman takes nourishment from the “avant-garde tradition” as I’ve always thought that avant-garde composers seek to distance themselves from tradition. I’m looking forward to this well-balanced PROM.

I don't think that even Mr Norman's best friends would be so generous as to describe him as "an avant-garde composer", ed. The clue here, I think, is in the ubiquitous word "eclectic": often meaning "having no individual voice of his own, nicks superficial bits and pieces from those who do".

[Bryn]

I don't think that even Mr Norman's best friends would be so generous as to describe him as "an avant-garde composer", ed. The clue here, I think, is in the ubiquitous word "eclectic": often meaning "having no individual voice of his own, nicks superficial bits and pieces from those who do".

Your characterization certainly fits my impression on listening to Unstuck, via YouTube.

[BBMmk2]

Looking forward to this.

[bluestateprommer]

Looking forward to this.

As am I; KC did a good job at her Prom last year with the BBC SO, plus Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances is (are?) my very favorite Rachmaninov work. Unfortunately, I have to catch the 2nd half later, as I have a meeting during the 2nd half of this Prom. (Some colleagues have absolutely no couth in scheduling meetings during my Proms listening time at work .) The R3 concerts with KC at the helm have all sounded very good. I still remember that at her CBSO appearance, she somehow kept the audience from prematurely applauding during the final tam-tam echo.

Very fine, crisp reading of the Beethoven from KC and the BBC SO just now, which perhaps shows some influence from Nikolaus Harnoncourt, in the tight and trimmed (but not completely non-existent) vibrato, for one. Some interesting reading, for those with time to feed this link into Google Translator:

https://www.srf.ch/kultur/musik/weltklasse-sommerkonzerte/are-you-kidding-eine-junge-dirigentin-vertritt-harnoncourt

Part 2: well, Alisa W. really went for the hell-for-leather approach in the 1st and 3rd movements in the DSCH just now. I'd actually recently heard Sheku Kanneh-Mason's new recording with the CBSO and MG-T, and AW seemed to take the exact opposite approach, in a manner of speaking. She almost seemed deliberately to "uglify" her sound, as if to go for the full "coded protest" approach, especially in the outer movements and the accelerating past of the solo cadenza. She seemed to skip, or gloss over, some high notes that I'm used to hearing from other recordings and live performances. KC and the BBC SO (not quite a name for a rock band, but close) did keep up with her, if by the skin of their teeth. AW's isn't an interpretation that I'd want to hear every day, but if nothing else, she deserves credit for taking risks and not "playing it safe". (No offense to SK-M, but he is much more of the latter in his recording.) The JSB encore was a clear emotional and sonic contrast, to state the incredibly obvious.

PS: From the start of the pre-Proms talk during the interval, it's good to hear that Louise Fryer is still in action and back at The Proms, although her voice seems a bit halting in rhythm.

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, magnificent Coriolan - richly sonorous yet sharply-cut, very dynamic and with remarkable attention to detail. Excellent.

Equally fine orchestral contribution to the DSCH, soloist good too, but co-ordination between them? It (and I) felt uneasy in the first movement especially... Weilerstein going her own way a bit too much?

Open, fresh balance on HDs, well-defined orchestral image - just how I like it (after some problems with the Mahler 8 last night)...

[jayne lee wilson]

Fabulous sound from the BBCSO in the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances (fabulous sound balance too, easily the best I’ve heard this season), Karina Canellakis really getting the most out of the space and the orchestra, reminding me of the vivid and dynamic results Salonen has achieved here with the Philharmonia.
What a difference a conductor can make.The strings had terrific depth, weight and range of colour; Kanellakis gave that poignant 1st Symphony recollection in the 1st Movement of the Dances the full technicolor treatment.
The tempo di valse truly danced between those snarling, repressed fanfares; the finale marched, charged and finally gave us all the pent-up explosiveness we’d hoped for. All the many musical characters were vividly drawn, compellingly sung. I didn't miss a Russian orchestra much tonight.

Stunning presence, immediacy and dynamic punch on the HDs feed. Why can’t more Proms sound like this? Do they tend to sound better, the smaller the audience? Or only up to a point?

I liked the Andrew Norman Spiral. Whether or not it has a distinctive voice, I enjoyed how it flowed from spareness to density, desiccated clattering to swarms and swirls of multicolour, simplicity to almost-chaos, and that mid-air, throwaway ending on tuned percussion.
(And well done audience for waiting out the final resonant fade; so we’ll forgive your over-eagerness to acclaim the Rachmaninov spilling across the tam-tam’s resounding decay; hard to resist after witnessing, first-hand, such meticulous extravagance…)

[jonfan]

Fabulous sound from the BBCSO in the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances (fabulous sound balance too, easily the best I’ve heard this season), Karina Canellakis really getting the most out of the space and the orchestra, reminding me of the vivid and dynamic results Salonen has achieved here with the Philharmonia.
What a difference a conductor can make.The strings had terrific depth, weight and range of colour; Kanellakis gave that poignant 1st Symphony recollection in the 1st Movement of the Dances the full technicolor treatment.
The tempo di valse truly danced between those snarling, repressed fanfares; the finale marched, charged and finally gave us all the pent-up explosiveness we’d hoped for. All the many musical characters were vividly drawn, compellingly sung. I didn't miss a Russian orchestra much tonight.

Stunning presence, immediacy and dynamic punch on the HDs feed. Why can’t more Proms sound like this? Do they tend to sound better, the smaller the audience? Or only up to a point?

I liked the Andrew Norman Spiral. Whether or not it has a distinctive voice, I enjoyed how it flowed from spareness to density, desiccated clattering to swirling multicolour, simplicity to almost-chaos, and that mid-air, throwaway ending on tuned percussion.
(And well done audience for waiting out the final resonant fade; so we’ll forgive your over-eagerness to acclaim the Rachmaninov spilling across the tam-tam’s resounding decay; hard to resist after witnessing, first-hand, such meticulous extravagance…)

:
Agreed. BBC SO on immaculate form in the Dances with felicitous detail in the superlative sound balance, eg the piano and the superb saxophone which lingered over its solo deliciously. I heard all this on headphones sitting outside as the clouds closed in just at the time for the Dies Irae quote.

[edashtav]

I don't think that even Mr Norman's best friends would be so generous as to describe him as "an avant-garde composer", ed. The clue here, I think, is in the ubiquitous word "eclectic": often meaning "having no individual voice of his own, nicks superficial bits and pieces from those who do".

I fear that you’re right, ferney... time will tell as I missed the live transmission stuck in a superheated Council Chamber in. planning meeting.

[Goon525]

Yes, magnificent Coriolan - richly sonorous yet sharply-cut, very dynamic and with remarkable attention to detail. Excellent.

Equally fine orchestral contribution to the DSCH, soloist good too, but co-ordination between them? It (and I) felt uneasy in the first movement especially... Weilerstein going her own way a bit too much?

Open, fresh balance on HDs, well-defined orchestral image - just how I like it (after some problems with the Mahler 8 last night)...

Jayne, with apologies if I’ve missed conversation on this subject, what’s the HDs feed you’re referring to? I thought there was no FLAC this year? Having said that, I was quite impressed with the sound, particularly the balance, listening to this concert via the 320k internet radio feed on a Linn streamer.

[Bryn]

Jayne, with apologies if I’ve missed conversation on this subject, what’s the HDs feed you’re referring to? I thought there was no FLAC this year? Having said that, I was quite impressed with the sound, particularly the balance, listening to this concert via the 320k internet radio feed on a Linn streamer.

As jlw has not yet had a chance to reply, I would mention that the BBC iPlayer team refer to the 320kbps AAC LC offering as "HD Sound", hence jlw's "HDs".

[Goon525]

Oh, thanks, Bryn. Seems strange to describe a sound quality some way below CD (though not at all bad) as
High Definition, but there you go.

[Bryn]

Oh, thanks, Bryn. Seems strange to describe a sound quality some way below CD (though not at all bad) as
High Definition, but there you go.

There was a bit of a debate about the nomenclature at the time of the launch of 'HD Sound'. What I considered to be the weasel-words explanation given was that while the use of the recognised term "High Definition Audio" could not be used, "High Definition Sound" was permissable, and made clear the improvement over the best that had been avilable previously from the BBC. Unfortunately the archived blog page re. the introduction is a bit of a mess, but for what it's worth it's here.