Proms 72 & 73 - Symphonie fantastique - 12.09.19

[kernelbogey]

Matthew Baynton came over very actory on the radio - hard to balance the needs of the hall with the radio microphone I guess.

There was a touch of Blue Peter about the venture - although Georgia Mann was fairly impressed by the lighting, masks etc.

[kernelbogey]

What, here at the R3 forum?

March to the scaffold... witches' sabbath...

[Stanfordian]

As an aside. It's strange how we (I) react to different works.

The Symphonie-fantastique is probably one of the most frequent works I see programmed. It's certainly the work I have seen the most in actual concert. There is only the 'March to the Scaffold' movement that I can bear to hear. I avoid the work like the plague now.

On the other hand I have heard Ravel's Bolero almost as many times in concert and although I wouldn't listen to a recording of it I love to see it performed in concert.

[Paulie55]

What is the point.....

I enjoyed the Aurora from memory performance. The Berlioz acting I found a tad annoying....

....of playing from memory? What is the orchestra trying to prove? The whole conception seems utterly ridiculous. As an orchestral musician with over 40 years' experience, I would NEVER want to play from memory, especially if it leads to an epic fail by a number of the musicians.

[John Wright]

Watching on BBC4 now, seeing how much the musicians have to move around, music stands could not be handled, so playing from memory was a necessity?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

....of playing from memory? What is the orchestra trying to prove? The whole conception seems utterly ridiculous. As an orchestral musician with over 40 years' experience, I would NEVER want to play from memory, especially if it leads to an epic fail by a number of the musicians.

I completely agree. I acknowledge that memorising music means you really do know it, but that doesn’t mean an aid memoir should be prohibited for reasons of public or vanity. Furthermore, forcing all but the cellists to play standing is going to preclude some players, and it’s an ordeal for players of certain instruments.

[rodney_h_d]

What's the point ...

....of playing from memory? What is the orchestra trying to prove? The whole conception seems utterly ridiculous. As an orchestral musician with over 40 years' experience, I would NEVER want to play from memory, especially if it leads to an epic fail by a number of the musicians.

Thanks for that! Good to hear it from a professional musician. I've never seen the point either since hearing their Mozart 40 in 2014.

[richardfinegold]

As an aside. It's strange how we (I) react to different works.

The Symphonie-fantastique is probably one of the most frequent works I see programmed. It's certainly the work I have seen the most in actual concert. There is only the 'March to the Scaffold' movement that I can bear to hear. I avoid the work like the plague now.

On the other hand I have heard Ravel's Bolero almost as many times in concert and although I wouldn't listen to a recording of it I love to see it performed in concert.

That reminds me that when I started dating my ex wife, whom I introduced to Classical Music, by sheer chance the SF was on the program at the first three concerts we attended. She thought that it was mandatory to include it at was surprised when we began to attend concerts that didn’t include it.
Paray/Detroit on Mercury remains my favorite recording

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Actors seem to manage performing from memory without being accused of "vanity" or providing gimmicks. The only criterion is the quality of the resulting performances - and, in the five* Proms events that the Aurora Orchestra have given that I've heard, these have been excellent. They could perform standing on their heads if that would lead to such good performances.

(* - I didn't listen to the Berlioz - I don't want the theatrical interruptions. Berlioz' Music with spoken dialogue and acting? Do Lelio!)

[jayne lee wilson]

Playing from memory is a very considered approach for the Aurora.... (site can be slow-to-load, patience now...)

https://www.auroraorchestra.com/our-work/by-heart/

Excellent article here from Stephen Johnson....

http://www.classical-music.com/article/musical-memory-why-are-orchestras-learning-symphonies-heart

[teamsaint]

I think Tom and Jess enjoyed it.

A lot.

[kernelbogey]

A lot.

[BBMmk2]

I must catch up with this. I hear it was very good?

[jonfan]

This concert needed to be seen. It's easy to see how radio listeners became annoyed with all the stops and starts when what was wanted was just the music flowing on from one movement to another. Brilliantly done choreography, lighting and additional text that were at the service of the composer and his music. Memorising allowed freedom of movement about the stage. Awesome performance with superb conducting. Nicholas Collon is fast becoming a National Musical Treasure alongside John Wilson. The chest is filling up!

[David-G]

This concert needed to be seen. It's easy to see how radio listeners became annoyed with all the stops and starts when what was wanted was just the music flowing on from one movement to another. Brilliantly done choreography, lighting and additional text that were at the service of the composer and his music. Memorising allowed freedom of movement about the stage. Awesome performance with superb conducting. Nicholas Collon is fast becoming a National Musical Treasure alongside John Wilson. The chest is filling up!

Yes. I was in the Arena and I agree 100%. People on this board are grumpy! The "theatrical interruptions" were simply an introduction to the circumstances of the work's composition, and an explanation of it's programme in relation to Berlioz himself - not a bad thing for a fresh audience. The performance was in fact highly theatrical - but the theatricality was not so much with the "actory additions", as with the orchestra itself. The masks that the musicians wore in the last movement were a stunning effect - a Witches' Sabbath indeed. The rearrangement of the musicians in the different movements was highly effective and could not possibly have been achieved if there were music stands. The whole thing was terrific.