Proms 2019 your highlight concerts

[Edgy 2]

There’s also a third concert with music by Weinberg, at Cadogan Hall. String quartet no 7 on 2nd September played by the Silesian String Quartet at 1pm.

I hadn’t spotted that,thanks.

[Petrushka]

“Look, we could have ignored Henry Wood this year and we are not doing as much Berlioz [who died 150 years ago] as other people. The problem is that if an anniversary is in March, people are sick of it by the time you get to the summer.”

Feeble indeed.

Not feeble at all. Sums up pretty much how I feel about these Prom anniversary-fests, most of which have been done to death in recent years. Full marks to Pickard, say I!

[teamsaint]

Not feeble at all. Sums up pretty much how I feel about these Prom anniversary-fests, most of which have been done to death in recent years. Full marks to Pickard, say I!

I think its a feeble excuse,because it just wouldn’t apply if it was one that they ( he) did want to celebrate, which they frequently do.
If they make a decision to not programme around anniversaries, then fair enough, and perhaps that would actually be a good move, if the available time was used creatively. But he isn’t saying that, as far as I can see.

[Keraulophone]

21 more years until I can reasonably expect another Gade symphony while living in a city where he once was on par with Mendelssohn

Under-appreciated in his own city:

‘The Symphony No.1 in C minor Op.5 "Paa Sjølunds fagre Sletter" was written in 1842 and is quite an achievement for a young composer (he was twenty-five when he completed it). He submitted the work to the Copenhagen Musical Society for performance but the work failed to win the Society’s approval. A friend of Gade offered it to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra where it attracted Mendelssohn’s attention. Mendelssohn conducted the first performance in Leipzig to great acclaim, and Gade was invited to conduct a second performance, with similar success. Gade’s models were Spohr and – more importantly, I think – Mendelssohn. This first symphony is remarkably assured in its handling of the basic material stated at the outset of the first movement, actually from an earlier song composed in 1840 beginning with the words Paa Sjølunds fagre Sletter ("On Zealand’s fair plains"). Many other motifs are related to this simple, almost folk-like opening phrase, which is the mark of a born symphonist. The music unfolds effortlessly and resourcefully without a dull moment. It is full of arresting ideas handled throughout with mastery and superbly scored. A quite ambitious and undoubtedly successful first essay in symphonic thinking.’ - Hubert Culot, reviewing the recording by Danish National SO / Christopher Hogwood in Musicweb International.

I have fond memories of learning some of Gade’s Fantaiestücke for clarinet and piano back in the mists of schooldays. Looking forward, then, to 2040 - if I survive all the intervening anniversaries.

[Barbirollians]

Under-appreciated in his own city:

‘The Symphony No.1 in C minor Op.5 "Paa Sjølunds fagre Sletter" was written in 1842 and is quite an achievement for a young composer (he was twenty-five when he completed it). He submitted the work to the Copenhagen Musical Society for performance but the work failed to win the Society’s approval. A friend of Gade offered it to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra where it attracted Mendelssohn’s attention. Mendelssohn conducted the first performance in Leipzig to great acclaim, and Gade was invited to conduct a second performance, with similar success. Gade’s models were Spohr and – more importantly, I think – Mendelssohn. This first symphony is remarkably assured in its handling of the basic material stated at the outset of the first movement, actually from an earlier song composed in 1840 beginning with the words Paa Sjølunds fagre Sletter ("On Zealand’s fair plains"). Many other motifs are related to this simple, almost folk-like opening phrase, which is the mark of a born symphonist. The music unfolds effortlessly and resourcefully without a dull moment. It is full of arresting ideas handled throughout with mastery and superbly scored. A quite ambitious and undoubtedly successful first essay in symphonic thinking.’ - Hubert Culot, reviewing the recording by Danish National SO / Christopher Hogwood in Musicweb International.

I have fond memories of learning some of Gade’s Fantaiestücke for clarinet and piano back in the mists of schooldays. Looking forward, then, to 2040 - if I survive all the intervening anniversaries.

Remarkably , not a note of Crusell has ever been played at the Proms - not even his popular and charming Second Clarinet Concerto.

[Demetrius]

Under-appreciated in his own city:

Gade’s models were Spohr and – more importantly, I think – Mendelssohn. - Hubert Culot

And Mendelssohn took in turn from Gade. I have fond memories of listening to a discussion were one person took pains to show of how Gade just copied Mendelssohn, giving an example (which I sadly can't remember :( ). As it turned out, the Gade piece in question predated the Mendelssohn one (So an early Gade piece, quite possibly the first symphony, and a late Mendelssohn one).

[Keraulophone]

one person took pains to show of how Gade just copied Mendelssohn, giving an example (which I sadly can't remember :( ). As it turned out, the Gade piece in question predated the Mendelssohn one

Good for Gade!

[Norrette]

I usually only attend one or two each year (am a stalls sitter and the journey is a bit of a pain)

My must have is:

Shostakovich 10th
Rachmaninov's Bells (never heard it live)

I also have the
Organ concert - Latry (Daytime on a Sunday)
Beethoven 7.

I'll probably drop the Beethoven, does anyone have an opinion on the Latry?

Aram Khachaturian Gayane – Sabre Dance (transcr. Kiviniemi)(3 mins)
Manuel de Falla El amor brujo – Ritual fire dance (transcr. Latry)(5 mins)
Ludwig van Beethoven Adagio in F major (for mechanical clock)(5 mins)
Johann Sebastian Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Eugène Gigout Air célèbre de la Pentecôte(3 mins)
Franz Liszt Prelude and Fugue on the name BACH, S 260(14 mins)(arr. Guillou)
Charles‐Marie Widor Bach's Memento – No. 4: Marche du veilleur de nuit(4 mins)
Camille Saint‐Saëns Danse macabre (arr. Lemare)(8 mins)

Norrette

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm surprised by the negativity here, now that I've got the Proms Guide itself.... first weekend is stronger than usual with the Janacek Mass (with the terrific Cannellakis directing) and the Smetana Ma Vlast (complete! For which relief...and with Bamberg SO/Hrusa, a real treat..))....

Across the first two weeks we have Mozart/Ben-Haim/Schoenberg/Schumann (Prom 7), Brahms 1 (prom 9), and the second weekend brings us the Messiaen Canyons, then Prom 14 with Haydn's Creation, Beethoven 2/DSCH 10 with Jansons (Prom 15)... not to mention a number of fascinating-looking Proms Premieres.......Prom 20 has the almost never-heard original Sibelius 5th...(only ever one recording allowed to date, shame they didn't program the original Violin Concerto too...come on there's still time!)....Prom 22 with DSCH 11, Rach's Isle of the Dead and another premiere...

Excellent visiting orchestras too. As a dedicated Home-Concert-Hall listener, it doesn't look too bad at all.....
(These Proms threads are a little confusing.... lowlights, highlights.... agreeing with some, debating with others........well ,you've gotta post them somewhere...so I doubled up....)

[Barbirollians]

I am going to see the VPO ! Both concerts - haven't seen Perahia play for far too long and I have never seen Haitink conduct - hope he stays fit and well for September.

[Pulcinella]

I'm certainly looking forward to the opening night's Glagolitic Mass, which the brochure tells us will be the final 1928 version.

Any enthusiasm for a pre-Prom thread under Recordings in discussion, or (possibly better) as the first of our 2019 Summer BaL sequence, the timing of which would then chime nicely?
I'm happy to compile a list (from the Presto site) of available recordings, but a quick glance through suggests that not many say which version is being performed.
I must get round to reading at least some of the Cambridge Music Handbook (by Paul Wingfield) on the piece too.

[Pulcinella]

I'm certainly looking forward to the opening night's Glagolitic Mass, which the brochure tells us will be the final 1928 version.

Any enthusiasm for a pre-Prom thread under Recordings in discussion, or (possibly better) as the first of our 2019 Summer BaL sequence, the timing of which would then chime nicely?
I'm happy to compile a list (from the Presto site) of available recordings, but a quick glance through suggests that not many say which version is being performed.
I must get round to reading at least some of the Cambridge Music Handbook (by Paul Wingfield) on the piece too.

There's a 'real' BaL, on 8 June 2019!

[Edgy 2]

There's a 'real' BaL, on 8 June 2019!

I'd rather read ours than listen to the twaffle that passes for a 'real' one