Prom 9: Strauss, Brahms & Broström - 25.07.19

[Zucchini]

More from me later I hope....

What for ...

[pastoralguy]

What for ...

Interesting comments...!

[DracoM]

Tobias Broström's two-trumpet concerto - loved it. What soloists too!

[edashtav]

Don’t think I’ve ever heard so much woodwind detail in a Brahms symphony . A great night for the reeds with some wonderful oboe playing...great to hear the rasping Kontra faggot throughout - you hardly ever hear it in the concert hall.
Thought Stenz was so spot on with the tempi in the final movement. Got the big tune exactly right - so often it’s not quite ma non troppo enough. One tiny point - I would have loved more of a pp in the Adagio and perhaps the doubling horn slightly drowned the violin solo . But all in all an absolutely lovely performance

A wonderful performance.

[jonfan]

A storm has temporarily crashed my WiFi connection; can’t wait to catch up on this concert after all these superlative comments. The excessive heat didn’t seem to affect the musicians?

[jayne lee wilson]

***
PROM 9/II. BRAHMS SYMPHONY 1. BBCNOW/MARKUS STENZ

What I loved about this Brahms was its fluidity, its unpredictability, always questing, moving on; the rubato was wide but always followed, or emphasised, the passing moods.

A steady intro, but a very swift, even impulsive allegro: quite a contrast! No exposition repeat in (i) but again this felt true to the sheer drive and momentum (always light on its feet but punchy) of this reading.
(If like me you’d prefer to have the da capo, Stenz showed perfectly how to creatively justify its omission).
At the leadback and into the reprise, the tempo variabile was daringly slow-to-fast almost in a Mengelbergian 1940s RCOA manner, and mercurially so through the coda; an intensely dramatic effect, brilliantly done here.

Lovely classical/romantic balance for the andante: fine inner detail, warm but poised and clear, naturally flowing, beautifully but unaffectedly phrased.
Breezy nonchalant allegretto, lovely inner-part clarity again (horns & bassoons a special joy, as throughout) an impulsive (that word again) trio with HIPPs-ish winds colourfully & individually prominent. No MOR complacency or interpretative routine anywhere tonight.

Very soft pizzicato into the finale, excitable dynamics & volatile pulse. Stenz increased the tempo gradually through the allegro, which I much prefer to the sudden “great leap forward” we often hear at the animato; very quick after this into the development, with wonderful rollicking horns….!

The coda began at speed but slowed down very grandly for a stunning trombone-led climax (I know some dislike this effect; highly rhetorical, but tonight, almost unbearably splendid, wonderfully well-earned by the volatile, impulsive interpretative context; for me, in this of all works, it’s a case of “not what you do but…”).
And what a blaze it was - moderating into the final affirmation to the finish. No let down of under-powered brasses or tutti here - wonderful rhythmic weight and impact to the very end.

(R3 aac webcast sound of marvellously soft pps & unfettered dynamic brilliance…Thrilling stuff! If tonight’s finale didn’t get you out of your chair nothing will! Credit too for the calm, authoritative presentation by Nicola Heywood-Thomas.)

[gedsmk]

I’ll have to give it another listen! Perfectly done first three movements but the finale felt a bit like a series of events, and the final blaze seemed rather contrived, perhaps overly rehearsed (?) Or to fit organically in the way it might from Karajan, Barenboim or Blomstedt.