Prom 40: Joshua Bell & ASMF – 12.08.18

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

16:00
Royal Albert Hall

Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream – overture
Camille Saint‐Saëns: Violin Concerto No 3 in B minor
Frank Bridge: Lament
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No 4 in B flat major

Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm never quite sure of the wisdom of the conductor also being the soloist. But if it works ...

I once saw Lenny doing it with the Vienna Phil: Ravel's Piano Concerto on G. (I've probably mentioned this before.) Some of the VPO players were tapping their feet to keep in time. I wouldn't expect that to happen here though.

[bluestateprommer]

I'm never quite sure of the wisdom of the conductor also being the soloist. But if it works ...

In the Mendelssohn overture, the interpretation sounded pretty straightforward, no-nonsense, which is just fine for the Midsummer Night's Dream overture :) . JB led from the leader's chair, but for the Saint-Saens, per Kate Molleson, JB is standing in front of the ensemble, understandably enough.

PS: Very, very fine reading of Saint-Saens 3 from JB & the ASMF just now, very much in the honest, unobtrusively straightforward spirit of the Mendelssohn.

PPS: Very well done second half as well, where JB's original plan was for the Frank Bridge 'Lament' to segue directly into LvB 4, without break (or applause - unfortunately, just enough "happy clappers" nixed that idea). Beautiful playing in the Frank Bridge, and crisp, again no-nonsense reading of LvB 4 (a very, very few tiny near horn blips aside). Their Proms LvB 4 is quite in the spirit of their recording of LvB 4 and 7 a few years ago.

If you didn't catch this Prom live, it's eminently worth re-visiting on iPlayer. This could turn out to be one of the more underrated Proms of this season.

[gradus]

Heard and thoroughly enjoyed the spirited reading of Beethoven 4, first rate in every way.

[jonfan]

I travelled to London especially to hear this live and was disappointed in the standard of playing in the first half. NM would have been embarrassed as his Academy was the paragon of superb musicianship and technical perfection. The perfectly poised chords, as KM eloquently described the opening of the Mendelssohn, were ruined by a wrong note and appalling intonation on chord four. The horns looked and sounded uncomfortable throughout the whole concert. The problem was the seating of the orchestra in the traditional format for a conductor, who wasn’t there. The brass and woodwind must have felt separate from the action as they couldn’t see direction JB was giving with his bow. They might have had a better chance of good ensemble if baroque seating was used with the woodwind and brass right of stage. Mendelssohn was one of first conductors who directed things from the podium and that’s what the first half needed. Superb as JB was there was no inspiration that a conductor gives in the moment.
Beethoven much better prepared, but the NYO would have been ashamed of the first part.

[BBMmk2]

Yes. I certainly enjoyed the Beethoven better. You’re right of course Jonfan.