Prom 7 (22.07.20) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - 7.30.p.m.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The sparkling overture from Rossini’s opera Semiramide opens this Prom given by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, led by Italian maestro Riccardo Chailly. Flexing his Beethoven muscles, Chailly gives his unique reading of the composer’s First Symphony – a work later captured as part of a complete cycle, recorded with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester from 2007 to 2009.

Rounding off the programme is Prokofiev’s striking Third Symphony. Written in 1928, it was a direct and spirited reaction to the disappointment Prokofiev experienced with his opera The Fiery Angel, whose first performance, accepted by Bruno Walter for Berlin, had been summarily and indefinitely postponed. Though the second act was given in a concert in Paris conducted by Koussevitzky in June 1928, the opera as a whole was not seen until 1954. Prokofiev rescued some of the material by developing it symphonically; the result is a work of great drama and intensity.


Rossini: Semiramide – overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3 in C minor

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

(From BBC Proms 1990, 11 September)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I didn't know about the symphony was derived from a opera.

[bluestateprommer]

Just heard this Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra 1990 Prom, a first hearing for me. On the whole, a solid, well-played Prom, but not one that (pardon the pun) set me particularly on fire, at least in the 3 main works. The Semiramide Overture is my own favorite of all the Rossini overtures, so I'm always happy to hear it, and I might give it another go in a few days. RC's reading of LvB 1 was definitely in the more 'big band', "old school" tradition, before what I understand to be his Ferrari-like charge through the symphonies with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (which I've not heard). I'd watched a few months back (scary thought, that) the Bavarian State Opera video of The Fiery Angel, so it was curious to hear the passages that got reworked into the Symphony No. 3.

I remember the Q-Disc boxed set of Chailly and the KCO, with a performance of LvB 2, and the notes mentioned that Chailly conducted very few Beethoven symphonies with the KCO. So I looked up the Concertgebouw Orchestra's archive, and sure enough, he only ever conducted 1, 2 and 7 with the KCO. But what also emerged from the KCO's archive of that 1990 Prom was the presence of 2 encores, Dvorak & Shostakovich. This information is missing from the Proms' own archive. But to add to the complications, the KCO's own archive missed the 2nd encore, of the other Dvorak Slavonic Dance encore from that Prom, which made for a total of 3 encores. All 3 encores are archived now in the Forum Calendar (the one internet locale that captures all 3, as of now), and interestingly, this seemed to be the liveliest part of the concert.

[Petrushka]

Agree with most of that. I was at their Prom the night before and heard this one live on R3 in 1990. I can think of a few other RCO/Chailly Proms that would have been better suited to appear in this year's sequence (Chailly's 1988 debut Prom with the RCO for one and a 1995 Mahler 1 for another) but the real problem with these repeats is the lack of the original presentation announcements which kills the atmosphere stone dead.

Is it too late for the BBC to rethink this last point?

[hmvman]

but the real problem with these repeats is the lack of the original presentation announcements which kills the atmosphere stone dead.

Is it too late for the BBC to rethink this last point?

I don't know, but could there be contractual problems with the original presenters?

[kernelbogey]

Agree with most of that. I was at their Prom the night before and heard this one live on R3 in 1990. I can think of a few other RCO/Chailly Proms that would have been better suited to appear in this year's sequence (Chailly's 1988 debut Prom with the RCO for one and a 1995 Mahler 1 for another) but the real problem with these repeats is the lack of the original presentation announcements which kills the atmosphere stone dead.

Is it too late for the BBC to rethink this last point?

I'm guessing that those cut-glass accents (Peter Barker et al) would be considered 'off-putting' to the audience R3 is now trying to attract.

FWIW, I disagree with your 'stone dead': I'm listening in for the music.

[Petrushka]

I'm guessing that those cut-glass accents (Peter Barker et al) would be considered 'off-putting' to the audience R3 is now trying to attract.

FWIW, I disagree with your 'stone dead': I'm listening in for the music.

There was speculation in another post that there might have been contractual problems in using the original presenters though I'm not sure what that could mean.

I'm listening in for the music, too, but I was expecting/hoping that we could have had the repeats broadcast exactly as they were on the night so we could feel as if we were being transported back in time to re-live the experience. The atmosphere in the hall is unique and a vital part of the Proms which does come across when listening at home. That immersive experience is rudely shattered when the applause is faded out and the modern day presenter intervenes. I can recognise that the original presentation may be too topical today (details of where the orchestra have been/are going for example) but again that's part of the experience immersing oneself back into time.

Perhaps Peter Barker, Cormac Rigby, Patricia Hughes, Tony Scotland, John Holmstrom and co would have shown up their modern equivalents too much?

[Alison]

The first few Proms with Chailly and the Concertgebouw didn’t carry the same sense of occasion as the Haitink ones.

Perhaps that’s just my impression

It seemed that he grew into the job and so I agree with Pet this concert was a disappointing choice.

[Edgy 2]

There was speculation in another post that there might have been contractual problems in using the original presenters though I'm not sure what that could mean.

I'm listening in for the music, too, but I was expecting/hoping that we could have had the repeats broadcast exactly as they were on the night so we could feel as if we were being transported back in time to re-live the experience. The atmosphere in the hall is unique and a vital part of the Proms which does come across when listening at home. That immersive experience is rudely shattered when the applause is faded out and the modern day presenter intervenes. I can recognise that the original presentation may be too topical today (details of where the orchestra have been/are going for example) but again that's part of the experience immersing oneself back into time.

Perhaps Peter Barker, Cormac Rigby, Patricia Hughes, Tony Scotland, John Holmstrom and co would have shown up their modern equivalents too much?

[bluestateprommer]

Agree with most of that. I was at their Prom the night before and heard this one live on R3 in 1990. I can think of a few other RCO/Chailly Proms that would have been better suited to appear in this year's sequence (Chailly's 1988 debut Prom with the RCO for one and a 1995 Mahler 1 for another) but the real problem with these repeats is the lack of the original presentation announcements which kills the atmosphere stone dead.

Is it too late for the BBC to rethink this last point?

Given that with other archival Proms, it may not be so much a "rethink" as a judgment call as to how well a replay of past announcers might sound, or perhaps how much those particular presenters' talk added to the overall event, and seem worth hearing again. For example, the very next evening, the BRSO/Jansons Prom, there was plenty of Christopher Cook from the original relay.

While I can sympathize with those who found this particular choice of Beethoven's op. 21 rather "meh", I think that I see the reasons for the choices of the various performances, in terms of the big picture. In the most superficial sense, it's clear to see that we have with the 9 Beethoven symphonies:

* 9 different orchestras
* 9 different conductors

The choice of Chailly here did allow R3 to contact him, 30 years on (!), and to get reminiscences from him about the event. Even if there was no great profundity about Chailly being polite and saying all the right things about the Proms, the point is that we still have him around, to be polite and to say all the right things about the Proms.

Regarding the 9 choices, I also got the sense, from reading the line-up of orchestras and conductors even before hearing the actual readings (barring the ones where I have some memories already, on #3 and #5), that the Proms organizers were trying to capture a diversity of performing styles among the 9 different readings. Consider, IMHO:

#1, Chailly / Concertgebouw: pretty traditional tempi, 'big band', pre-HIPP sound
#2, Norrington / LCP: a total swing in the opposite direction, with HIPP at full cry
#3, Elder / Halle: starting to get a blend of the 2 worlds, large band with some HIPP aspects
#4, Marriner / ASMF (disclaimer; haven't heard this one yet): where my advance expectation is a chamber scale, but more "traditional" sound (but I could be totally off here)
#5, MG-T / CBSO: having heard this one back then, this is also in the blend of 2 worlds camp generally (whatever one thinks of it personally)
#6, Colin Davis / LSO: my guess is more of the old school, "big band" style (but the same disclaimer; I've not heard this one before, so I could be totally wrong)
#7, Harding / Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen: I expect this to be in the HIPP style, on a chamber scale (well, duh, given the orchestra's name), as Harding tends to follow what's trendy, or otherwise try to channel Abbado (especially) or Rattle
#8, Boyd / Manchester Camerata: likewise, I expect trimmed vibrato and a fair bit of HIPP, because Boyd once played in the COE and worked with conductors like Harnoncourt, so his adoption, unlike Harding, is based on actual orchestra playing in that style
#9, Tennstedt / LPO: here, my guess is that we end where we began, as it were, most probably with a big band, 'traditional', 'old school' style

Perhaps I'm being overly generous in my interpretation here as to why these 9 choices were made. Anyway, once I get to hearing the others down the line, we'll see.