Proms on Afternoon Concert 11 (17.08.20): BBC SSO - Debussy/Dutilleux/Ravel/MacMillan

[bluestateprommer]

"Penny Gore presents great BBC Prom concerts from recent years by BBC orchestras and choirs - today the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with music by Debussy, Dutilleux, Ravel and MacMillan.

From a Prom in 2011, the ensemble, under the baton of Donald Runnicles, performs Debussy's Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune; Dutilleux's Tout un monde lointain with cellist Lynn Harrell as soloist; Ravel's Boléro and also his complete score for the ballet Daphnis and Chloe.

Then Jerzy Maksymiuk takes to the rostrum to conduct the ensemble for the world premiere, in a Prom from 1990, of James MacMillan's The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, a piece for large symphonic orchestra.

2.00pm
Debussy: Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune
Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain
with Lynn Harrell (cello)
Ravel: Boléro
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe (complete)

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
Conductor: Donald Runnicles

3.55pm
James MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (world premiere)

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Jerzy Maksymiuk

4.20pm
William Walton: Spitfire Prelude and Fugue

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Conductor: Tadaaki Otaka"

BBC R3 programme page: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lsmy

Past Forum thread on Prom 26, 2011: http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...(French-music)

[cloughie]

Tuned in to Daphnis thus afternoon - what a wonderful work complete Daphnis is - and what a great performance by Runnicles and the BBCSSO.

[alywin]

Oh blast, I missed a complete Daphnis? :( Will have to catch up on it on BBCS. Yuck.

[Bryn]

Oh blast, I missed a complete Daphnis? :( Will have to catch up on it on BBCS. Yuck.

Why "Yuck"? Is it the lack of synchronicity with other listeners? The audio quality of Radio 3 via BBC Sounds is sans pareil as far as radio listening is concerned.

[cloughie]

Why "Yuck"? Is it the lack of synchronicity with other listeners? The audio quality of Radio 3 via BBC Sounds is sans pareil as far as radio listening is concerned.

That depends on what you play it through!

[Cockney Sparrow]

That depends on what you play it through!

As ever ?

[alywin]

Why "Yuck"? Is it the lack of synchronicity with other listeners? The audio quality of Radio 3 via BBC Sounds is sans pareil as far as radio listening is concerned.

Not on my laptop :(

[Bryn]

Not on my laptop :(

Time to learn how to get the best out of it, perhaps. It's not difficult.

[bluestateprommer]

Finally caught up with this Afternoon Concert Proms rebroadcast, not too long before the deadline. Mostly a revisit, since I did hear the 2011 Prom on iPlayer at the time. I'd forgotten how brisk DR's Boléro was, as other commenters in the original thread noted at the time. It clocks in at about 13:23. The timing of Koussevitzky's recording of Boléro is 13:25, per Philip Clark's Gramophone article. Maybe that has something to do with how brisk DR took it, as kind of a "salute" to Koussevitzky. Or perhaps at such a brisk pace at the outset, it reduces the risk of unintended acceleration .

Terrific to hear Lynn Harrell one more time from this concert (plus the JSB encore), tinged with the sadness of knowing that he's gone. Solid Debussy opener, and a fine D&C indeed, as noted.

The buried gem comes late in the game, so to speak, with the 1990 world premiere of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, and with the nice touch of Penny Gore speaking with Sir JM just before the music (albeit with a technical glitch on the communication in the process - the joys of live radio). Granted that this was only my 2nd hearing of the work (following the BBC SSO's Prom last summer), it's great to hear how well the 1990 premiere went.