Prom 74 - Beethoven Night 12.09.19

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Friday 13 September 2019
Royal Albert Hall

George Frideric Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks (arr. Manze)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Aria ‘Ah! perfido’
Johann Sebastian Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537, Op 86 (orch. Edward Elgar)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio – overture; Fidelio – ‘Abscheulicher! … Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern’
Symphony No 5 in C minor

Elizabeth Watts soprano
NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Manze conductor

Proms founder-conductor Henry Wood’s tradition of composer-themed nights continues here with Beethoven.
The composer’s revolutionary Fifth Symphony provides the climax of a programme that also includes music from his dramatic ‘rescue’ opera Fidelio.
Bach’s music was a passion shared by Beethoven and Wood, and is represented here by Elgar’s orchestration of the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor for organ.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Tradition once was that Beethoven 9 was performed on the the penultimate night.

[Alison]

Tradition once was that Beethoven 9 was performed on the the penultimate night.

A good tradition I’d say.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Yes and year after year Radio Three announcers described it as the “Everest of Symphonies “....

[mrbouffant]

Poor Andrew Manze. Never got to complete his cycle of RVW symphonies which was trailed a few years ago after his memorable prom of 4, 5 and 6....

[jayne lee wilson]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=manze+vaughan+williams&i=popular&crid=T7EU2QL0VDC5&sprefix=manze+%2Caps%2C142&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_6

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=vaughn+williams+symphonies++manze&i=boutique

[LMcD]

Poor Andrew Manze. Never got to complete his cycle of RVW symphonies which was trailed a few years ago after his memorable prom of 4, 5 and 6....

That Prom was something really special, wasn't it? At least he's completed his recordings of the symphonies with the RLPO on Onyx. It would be interesting to compare this cycle with that by the same orchestra under Vernon Handley.

[jayne lee wilson]

Probably hear the Fireworks, then return for Part Two......

But will Manze:

Do the 5th Symphony (Optional ) repeats in both scherzo and finale;
Just the finale;
Just the scherzo (unlikely);
Or neither....? (Hope not....I want it all and I want it now!)

[jayne lee wilson]

What splendid Handel! End-of-term Party Time!

Great Band. I just get the feeling that the Beethoven 5th might be special....back soon...!

[Bryn]

What splendid Handel! End-of-term Party Time!

Great Band. I just get the feeling that the Beethoven 5th might be special....back soon...!

Watts the matter?

[jayne lee wilson]

Watts the matter?

Don't do sopranos much. And 20 minutes is rarely long enough to keep Cats and Hedgehogs happy. And I can listen to some of Any Questions while I do that....

[jayne lee wilson]

Well, that was a bit strange wasn't it?

Beethoven 5th....

(i) Tense, coiled strength and energy; plenty in reserve. Good.
(ii) Lovely pure string tone, elegant clarity of line.
(iii) Greater power, increasing pent-up tension.... but no repeat. This always feels and sounds wrong - plain wrong - to me; just too short, the fierce scherzo not given space to fully express its mood, the transition to the finale beginning far too soon. It's just better with it in, structurally and emotionally, whatever a given conductor concludes from the ambiguous documentary evidence.

(iv) Not the most lightning-bolt of grand annunciations was it?.... And a disconcertingly restrained exposition. Ah, I thought, he's saving it for the repeat....
Which we got, a little stronger, but still oddly fussy in its moulded phrasing and punctiliously shaded dynamics. After which we carried on observing, as it were from a distance, the same precise, careful manner....

So disappointing, when I'd hoped that this would be a memorable farewell to the symphonic substance of the Proms this year.

[bluestateprommer]

But will Manze:

Do the 5th Symphony (Optional ) repeats in both scherzo and finale;
Just the finale;
Just the scherzo (unlikely);
Or neither....? (Hope not....I want it all and I want it now!)

The answer, of a short, is kind of 'none of the above', in that AM took the 1st movement and 4th movement repeats. Not in the scherzo; unlikely, as you said, but the NDR Radiophilharmonie and AM did have that Handel (by way of Sir Hamilton Harty) encore up their collective sleeves (archived in the Forum Calendar, natch). Overall, AM's LvB 5 was OK; nothing earth-shattering, although I did note the odd idiosyncrasy on some chords (softer where I expected louder, in most performances).

I got interrupted in the midst of "Ah! Perfido", so have to revisit that later. On balance, from what I did hear (the beginning and the whole of the 2nd half), this was a solid Prom, with just a few dodgy moments of intonation (brass and winds), if not exactly one to take the breath away, for the Next-to-Last Night. Elizabeth Watts did well, at least in the Fidelio aria that I heard from start to finish. The NDR Radiophilharmonie sounds like a solid, smooth ensemble. And full marks to the crowd for not applauding between the movements of Beethoven 5.

[Darkbloom]

The difference between Elizabeth Watts and Elena Stikina, from the other night, was striking. Stikhina had stage presence to burn and a soprano with a real cutting-edge. Watts, on the other hand, has a rather small voice and no discernible charisma at all.

[David-G]

The difference between Elizabeth Watts and Elena Stikina, from the other night, was striking. Stikhina had stage presence to burn and a soprano with a real cutting-edge. Watts, on the other hand, has a rather small voice and no discernible charisma at all.

Well, I was in the front Arena and thought Watts was terrific, both in her singing and in her inhabitation of the character. I was impressed.