Proms on Afternoon Concert 10 (07.08.20): BBC Concert Orchestra - Bax, Finzi, Elgar

[bluestateprommer]

"Penny Gore with great Prom concerts from recent years by BBC orchestras and choirs - today Nigel Kennedy plays Elgar's Violin Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

2.00pm
Bax: The Garden of Fand
Finzi: Intimations of Immortality (Proms premiere)
with Andrew Kennedy (tenor)
BBC Symphony Chorus
2.55pm
Elgar: Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61
Nigel Kennedy (violin)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor: Paul Daniel"

From 2008 Proms, Prom 2, 19 July 2008

BBC R3 programme page: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lfl3

[bluestateprommer]

Caught up (finally) with this retrospective 2008 all-British Prom, though somewhat out of sequence, as I had to track down the Wordsworth texts to give the Finzi full and fair attention. Thus I listened in the order:
1. Bax
2. Elgar
3. JSB encore and additional BBC CO material
4. Finzi

Solid reading from Paul Daniel and the BBC CO to start the concert. With the Elgar, I admit that I'm not really up on the whole "Nige" / "Kennedy" / whatever persona and history (wikipedia to the rescue later, perhaps), but from what I can tell just from the music-making here, NK serves the music admirably, with his crisply paced entry matching PD's rather brisk opening, for one. I haven't heard either of NK's recordings of the concerto, but generally from what I can tell here, he doesn't over-sentimentalize or dawdle, and keeps things moving along.

The revelation was the Finzi Intimations of Immortality, a work that I've read about and heard about, but can't recall ever hearing in some form, except maybe on a recording decades ago. For one, I wasn't expecting, or didn't remember, the Walton-esque musical style in Stanzas 3 and 10 (the latter a partial reprise of the former, to be sure). Very fine work from Andrew Kennedy and the BBC Symphony Chorus. A few blips in the heat of the moment from the BBC CO, but no matter in the grand scheme of things, with PD guiding the proceedings well.