Prom 51 (26.08.20) Vienna Philharmonic/Bernstein

[LMcD]

Shame we did not hear more of the applause and soloists taking their bows.

The applause was cut short with what I can only describe as indecent haste!
To my ears, the Adagietto has never sounded more beautiful - just one highlight among many in what was truly a wonderful performance. 75 minutes seemed to just fly by.

[Alison]

Does anyone know when the DG recording was made in relation to this Prom?

[edashtav]

Does anyone know when the DG recording was made in relation to this Prom?

I suspect it was recorded during February 2007, a few months before the Proms performance, Alison.

[Maclintick]

Does anyone know when the DG recording was made in relation to this Prom?

Alte Oper, Frankfurt 6/7 Sept 1987 -- 3 days before their stunning Prom. Wonderful to hear it again tonight after 33 years.

[Bryn]

I suspect it was recorded during February 2007, a few months before the Proms performance, Alison.

It would be pretty miraculous if it was recorded any time after October 14, 1990.

[Nick Armstrong]

Shame we did not hear more of the applause and soloists taking their bows.

Agreed... though it went on for ages, I remember, till LB shouted that we should all go home and go to bed

[Petrushka]

They always say 'never go back' to a place that was special to you years ago for fear that it will have changed out of all recognition and the magic will have gone.

Happy to report that this legendary concert was as fantastic as it was 33 years ago and the magic was certainly there.

[edashtav]

It would be pretty miraculous if it was recorded any time after October 14, 1990.

Heaven sent!
Whoops.

[bluestateprommer]

On admittedly just one listen of this Prom, I see where both Bryn and Ed are coming from, at the slow paces of the 4th & 1st movements, in their respective comments. I don't know if LB had Ed's "old folk" metaphor in mind in particular, but in of itself, the metaphor makes total sense. Likewise, in the 4th movement, LB certainly does milk it more to the grief end of the meter, but given his past history with the work, that's understandable. For one, Bernstein conducted the 'Adagietto' at the funeral service of RFK in 1968. It's all-too-easy to imagine that such memories couldn't help but be in the back of LB's mind, even 19 years later, when he seemed really to stretch works out as much as he could (59 minute Tchaikovsky 6, anyone?). However, the stretched pace of the 1st movement made the shock of the 2nd movement and its pacing hit that much harder, so LB knew what he was doing in terms of the grand plan. I haven't heard the commercial DG recording (Maclintick's comment meshes with Edward Seckerson's comment to Ian Skelly as 'interval' guest), so I don't know how closely they dovetail. I detected a very few fractional slips from this Prom's Mahler 5 that would have been patched for commercial release (if that were a possibility, however unlikely), but in the grand scheme of things, not of importance. The Mozart Clarinet Concerto was definitely of the 'big band' "old school", kind of like comfort food, but in a good way, with Peter Schmidl in a very "chill" mood, again in a good way.

Seckerson waxed enthusiastic about this Prom as, particularly, containing the best live Mahler 5 that he's ever heard. It would seem that many in this thread, like Petrushka, share in that enthusiastic spirit. As I said, on just the one listen, I don't know if I would quite consider this concert on that exalted a level. But I would have been extremely happy to have been there, especially as I never heard Bernstein live. That might not have happened anyway, as I was in college at the time, on the East Coast, but not in NYC. In retrospect, if I could do it all over again, maybe I wish that I'd gone to college in NYC in the 1980s and been smart enough to hear Bernstein live at some point. Didn't work out that way, of course. The important thing, of course, is that the BBC dug this concert out of the archives and has shared it, and for that, much gratitude.

[gradus]

It was every bit as good as everyone said so I hope the Beeb will produce a few more from its supply of aces up the sleeve, name your choice!
For me another Mahler 5, this time Abbado and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, as wonderful as the Benstein imv.

[DracoM]

Q: why, when playing Strauss etc waltzes, does the VPO sound different from every other band?
They seem to do something like fractionally holding the 2nd or third beat in the bar before moving.

Can someone be technical and tell me?

[Simon B]

Rainer Honeck, concertmaster of the VPO (and brother of Manfred), sums it up in the NYT as:

"playing not 1-2-3, but 1-2 ... 3" https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/a...stinctive.html

He goes on to say “The thing is it’s not always the same... ...That’s the secret. Every piece is different. It comes from tradition, from feelings.”

So, the answer to your question appears to be: No!