Prom 7: Schumann, Schoenberg & Mozart - 23.07.19

[Edgy 2]

I note with dismay that no Great English, or British, symphonies feature in this Proms' Season.

How has this been allowed to happen though ?

[cloughie]

How has this been allowed to happen though ?

They probably haven’t had anniversaries!

[cloughie]

I enjoyed the Schumann 4,certainly didn’t sound like a routine run through to me.
Sarah Walker even said it was a very exciting performance and she said the liberties Mr Wellber took with the score really worked (I too don’t really know what he meant by that in his talk).
Yes there was a least one horrible moment for the oboe player in the slow movement,which was a shame.

Having listened to the afternoon repeat and watched it on BBC4 last night I find little to complain about the Schumann 4 performance - lively enough - some people on this thread seem unduly critical - maybe the heat is getting to them! Thanks also to SW for her knowledge and proper presentation!

[AjAjAjH]

I watched the repeat this afternoon. Irritating, patronising presenter. Did we really need to know in every other sentence that Maestro Welber was the new Principal Conductor of the BBC Phil and is it the presenter's job to tell us how good the performances were? Surely that's for the listeners decide.

[cloughie]

I watched the repeat this afternoon. Irritating, patronising presenter. Did we really need to know in every other sentence that Maestro Welber was the new Principal Conductor of the BBC Phil and is it the presenter's job to tell us how good the performances were? Surely that's for the listeners decide.

....so did you decide and did you enjoy the Schumann? If you find SW irritating (I did not!), but if you did then avoid the others, most of them have very irritating in their dna!...or even their contract if they are in the 35 to 54 age group! Be very afraid!

[cloughie]

I watched the repeat this afternoon. Irritating, patronising presenter. Did we really need to know in every other sentence that Maestro Welber was the new Principal Conductor of the BBC Phil and is it the presenter's job to tell us how good the performances were? Surely that's for the listeners decide.

....so did you decide and did you enjoy the Schumann?

[Edgy 2]

Having listened to the afternoon repeat and watched it on BBC4 last night I find little to complain about the Schumann 4 performance - lively enough - some people on this thread seem unduly critical - maybe the heat is getting to them! Thanks also to SW for her knowledge and proper presentation!

Agreed,what a contrast to the cringeworthy telly presentation.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A colleague of mine in the hall tells me that the conductor's last movement rubati had audience members staring at one another in amused disbelief.

Yes - the conductor was definitely hoist with his own ritard.

To be duly critical, I found the Schumann frustrating: a very good First Movement, (with Expo repeat, bless 'em) but such dull, uninspired playing in the central two movements followed by the most self-indulgent Finale, unable to decide on a tempo, so lurching between stepping on the gas, and slamming on the brakes. Hideous. The audience seemed to like it - the heat must have got to them.

The Schönberg could have done with a little more "breathing space" in many places - I found the performance a bit one-dimensional. Quite liked the Ben-Haim, without being so thrilled by it that I'm impatient to hear it again.

[gradus]

I didn't get the impression that the orchestra were entirely convinced by their conductor but the Schumann ended in a blaze of glory so maybe their professionalism triumphed over their reservations.

[edashtav]

COE/Harnoncourt, Hanover/Goodman or ORR/JEG in the 1841....

My brilliant-value-for-money, used ORR/ JEG (1841) CD, has arrived. Many thanks, Jayne. My considerable faith in Schumann has been restored: I loved the careful phrasing, the resinous strings, wonderful balance across the orchestra , and the united feeling that Schumann's 4th is a great work that doesn't extreme measures to revive a rotting
corpse

I'm sorry but the two Proms by the BBC PO under its new Conductor have sounded experimental, work in progress, not 'done deals'.