Prom 6: The Rite of Spring - 22.07.19

[Wychwood]

Hannah French is gabbling away, quite unlike other times I've heard her on radio 3 - so I assume anxiety - but it reminds me how these multi-person chats are so much less satisfying than the old Proms Interval Talks. Even with the volume turned right down I find her voice exhausting.

Yes, rather naughty to call this a "talk", for those of us with long and fond memories!

[kernelbogey]

Somehow that Rite did not light up this household. I couldn't put my finger on it as I listened.... The nearest I can get is that it sounded clinical rather than debauched. All the right notes and in the right order... but something vital was missing, Yes, vitality.

[kernelbogey]

There are so many nutters around in this country right now it could have been about any number of things.

[bluestateprommer]

Hannah French is gabbling away, quite unlike other times I've heard her on radio 3 - so I assume anxiety - but it reminds me how these multi-person chats are so much less satisfying than the old Proms Interval Talks. Even with the volume turned right down I find her voice exhausting.

True that HF was on overdrive, but I put it as much to enthusiasm as much as anxiety. Also, in the studio, you don't have a few hundred people watching you in real time. If I get useful information, which she did provide, I can forgive the anxiety a bit.

Not the greatest rendition of The Rite ever, if there is such a thing, but it was good. The opening bassoon threatened to go slightly off the rails, but he did manage to hold on. Some fractional slips and near-slips, but I do have to remind myself that these aren't professionals, these are students, even if high-caliber students.

The Oliver Knussen encore (archived in the Forum Calendar, natch) was a really nice move on multiple levels, in addition to honoring Knussen himself, namely the connection to Stravinsky, as well as to Michael Tilson Thomas in MTT's 75th birthday year (and after he just had a cardiac operation at that).

[teamsaint]

Somehow that Rite did not light up this household. I couldn't put my finger on it as I listened.... The nearest I can get is that it sounded clinical rather than debauched. All the right notes and in the right order... but something vital was missing, Yes, vitality.

Pretty much how I heard the Britten, KB, which I though was really dull, surprisingly so with with JE playing.

[Darkbloom]

Somehow that Rite did not light up this household. I couldn't put my finger on it as I listened.... The nearest I can get is that it sounded clinical rather than debauched. All the right notes and in the right order... but something vital was missing, Yes, vitality.

That was my impression too but that's often the case these days, it can feel very superficial when you want them to really dig in. I felt it livened up towards the end though.

[DracoM]

Is that a result of it now being so much a part of many concert programmes and no longer the thrilling revolution it once was?

[Bryn]

Is that a result of it now being so much a part of many concert programmes and no longer the thrilling revolution it once was?

I don't think so. I have listened to many gripping performances of it in the fairly recent past, some recorded and some as broadcasts. Thre most recent I attended in concert was:

[LeMartinPecheur]

There are so many nutters around in this country right now it could have been about any number of things.

And at least as many issues to scream about!

[jayne lee wilson]

Pretty much how I heard the Britten, KB, which I though was really dull, surprisingly so with with JE playing.

I think that's a little unfair....As I said above, I already heard the last part twice, and it is a supreme, intense, wonderful performance in fine sound.....
Maybe listen again, if your time allows.....?

It really is one of those that sounds better the more you hear of it (but I thought this from the first tutti really...)...

(Please, people, don't be too hard on the guy who cried out.... with the original moaning sounds, it reminded me of some cerebral palsy sufferers I've encountered, including one or two in concert halls. It did not sound completely wilful. Go easy now.)

(BTW - Those woods & fields were lovely in the dusk....!)

[edashtav]

Orchestral and soloistic beauty, flair and power in a fine rendition of the Britten Violin Concerto.
With such quality on offer it is a shame that they're playing that old thing again(**) in Part Two.... so I'm off to those bohemian woods and fields again while daylight allows....
(AAC webcast sound fine, good, natural soloist/orchestral balance).


...but something drew me back... - I just encored the whole cadenza and finale...such imaginative solo playing, Gardner a perfect accompanist, the "dancing" variation, so wonderfully contrasted among the anguish and yearning for release...

....Ehnes maintaining concentration and tonal focus through those strange sounds from the inner spaces of the RAH - a human wailing, a distortedly musical imitation of the solo line, then cries of defiance fading into the distance....
It became a part of the event - a response to the work and of the work. The long drawn out coda was breathtakingly played and breathlessly attended.

Stunning, compelling performance of a great violin concerto, so intensely referential of the Sinfonia da Requiem. Several seconds of reverential silence at the close, and no wonder.
Now I can go for my rural promenade...

(** ...In the Proms context of course. No disrespect to Stravinsky's masterpiece...)

Ooh , I do like James Ehnes, he's such an enthusiastic and generous performer. I loved the Spanish colours he found in Britten's first movement, evidence of the impact of the Spanish Civil War on the composer. Excellent performance.

I started the Rite but it failed to grip me so I dealt with our rubbish bins.

[teamsaint]

I think that's a little unfair....As I said above, I already heard the last part twice, and it is a supreme, wonderful performance in fine sound.....
Maybe listen again, if your time allows.....?

It really is one of those that sounds better the more you hear of it (but I thought this from the first tutti really...)...

(Please, people, don't be too hard on the guy who cried out.... with the original moaning sounds, it reminded me of some cerebral palsy sufferers I've encountered, including one or two in concert halls. It did not sound completely wilful. Go easy now.)

(BTW - Those woods & fields were lovely in the dusk....!)

Unfortunately, for me the final movement was also dogged by Fawley level quantities of gurgling oil on DAB,by which time the lack of intensity of any kind had led me to a state of tea making.
The whole thing not helped by DAB sound that seemed to lend a real and unfortunate distance to the whole thing.

But, always happy to try again, if I can raise the enthusiasm in a busy working week.

[jonfan]

Somehow that Rite did not light up this household. I couldn't put my finger on it as I listened.... The nearest I can get is that it sounded clinical rather than debauched. All the right notes and in the right order... but something vital was missing, Yes, vitality.

I wonder if they’d played it many times together before tonight’s performance, considering the Atlantic separates them. A stunning young persons’ performance of the Rite was the NYO of GB a few years ago which clearly benefitted by having several public performances before their Prom.

[Darkbloom]

Is that a result of it now being so much a part of many concert programmes and no longer the thrilling revolution it once was?

I used to think that it was impossible to hear a bland performance of The Rite but the Proms VPO/Mehta effort dispelled that illusion over a decade ago. Maybe it's just the nature of performance that there will be (certainly these days, with the increasingly high standard of musicianship) many good performances of a given work but few great ones. That distinction seems to matter a lot more with The Rite, though, because it's so striking and original and anything less than stunning doesn't really do.

[kernelbogey]

[...] Please, people, don't be too hard on the guy who cried out.... with the original moaning sounds, it reminded me of some cerebral palsy sufferers I've encountered, including one or two in concert halls. It did not sound completely wilful. Go easy now. [...]

Thanks, Jayne, for finding words that eluded me in immediate response to the 'nutters' posts (15 et al). In our lifetimes people with such disabilities as Jayne mentions were incarcerated so that the rest of society wouldn't be disturbed by them. Happily we live now in a more compassionate era (at least in that regard). It is much more likely that the noise came from someone with such a chronic condition, or unwell, than from someone setting out to ruin the performance.

How many seconds of your listening were invaded...?