Yet another just-before-the-30-day-deadline Proms catch-up here, especially given some of the negative comments posted here and in the 'lowlight' discussion thread. To be honest, I can see where the unfavorable reactions come from. First, though, the best part, namely the Qigang Chen work, which was a nice and fresh discovery, which the Shanghai SO played well, and Long Yu did fine with it. The Mozart was nothing special in the 1st 2 movements, but then I had to remind myself that Eric Lu is but 21. The finale came off rather better by comparison.
I admit to an extremely soft spot for Rachmaninov's op. 45, i.e. it's my very favorite Rachmaninov work, so I always look forward to hearing it, either Memorex or (much less frequently, of course) live. However, Long Yu's reading was probably the least pleasurable that I've experienced, not least because of the horrible muffed entry from the wind section shortly after the start of the 2nd movement. I'm surprised that no one else seems to have noted it, either here or elsewhere, because that moment shockingly hit like a train-wreck. Given pg's blistering assessment of Long Yu from experiencing him live at the EIF, I'm inclined at a distance to blame the conductor and not the orchestra musicians for that muffed entry. The orchestra's sound also had a very hard edge, even granted that this is very late Rachmaninov and not the Rachmaninov of the Symphony No. 2. But some "Philadelphia Sound" warmth is definitely called for even in op. 45, and that is not what Long Yu provided. OTOH, as with his pre-encore 'speech' from 5 years back with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, his address to the audience in charmingly fractured English was endearing, and the orchestra clearly kicked back and had a good time with the mash-up of "Jasmine Flower" and "Hey Jude". I guess they figured that if they already had a saxophonist for the Rachmaninov, may as well make the most of it. "Hey Jude" wasn't subtle, in their Boston Pops moment (you guys would say BBC Concert Orchestra moment), but at least for those few minutes at the end, a splendid time was had by all in the RAH.
It was rather droll to hear Andrew McGregor do a Spoonerism on the conductor's name several times (i.e. "Yong Lu"), but also mildly disconcerting in his interval discussion with 3 of the Shanghai SO musicians when his rather exuberant English questions seemed to overwhelm the two native Chinese musicians, i.e. I think that AM didn't realize that their English wasn't quite as sophisticated as he's used to. It was the American musician among the three who rushed in to fill the 'dead air' and give his colleagues time to formulate answers. On the charming side, when AM asked for highlights from their summer tour (excluding The Proms, natch), it was cute when each of them came up with a different city and hall.
I admit to an extremely soft spot for Rachmaninov's op. 45, i.e. it's my very favorite Rachmaninov work, so I always look forward to hearing it, either Memorex or (much less frequently, of course) live. However, Long Yu's reading was probably the least pleasurable that I've experienced, not least because of the horrible muffed entry from the wind section shortly after the start of the 2nd movement. I'm surprised that no one else seems to have noted it, either here or elsewhere, because that moment shockingly hit like a train-wreck. Given pg's blistering assessment of Long Yu from experiencing him live at the EIF, I'm inclined at a distance to blame the conductor and not the orchestra musicians for that muffed entry. The orchestra's sound also had a very hard edge, even granted that this is very late Rachmaninov and not the Rachmaninov of the Symphony No. 2. But some "Philadelphia Sound" warmth is definitely called for even in op. 45, and that is not what Long Yu provided. OTOH, as with his pre-encore 'speech' from 5 years back with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, his address to the audience in charmingly fractured English was endearing, and the orchestra clearly kicked back and had a good time with the mash-up of "Jasmine Flower" and "Hey Jude". I guess they figured that if they already had a saxophonist for the Rachmaninov, may as well make the most of it. "Hey Jude" wasn't subtle, in their Boston Pops moment (you guys would say BBC Concert Orchestra moment), but at least for those few minutes at the end, a splendid time was had by all in the RAH.
It was rather droll to hear Andrew McGregor do a Spoonerism on the conductor's name several times (i.e. "Yong Lu"), but also mildly disconcerting in his interval discussion with 3 of the Shanghai SO musicians when his rather exuberant English questions seemed to overwhelm the two native Chinese musicians, i.e. I think that AM didn't realize that their English wasn't quite as sophisticated as he's used to. It was the American musician among the three who rushed in to fill the 'dead air' and give his colleagues time to formulate answers. On the charming side, when AM asked for highlights from their summer tour (excluding The Proms, natch), it was cute when each of them came up with a different city and hall.
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