Prom 1 (30.07.21) - First Night of the Proms 2021

[Bryn]

Just noticed this, I had no idea that Wally Stott - such a familiar name to people of my generation - became Angela Morley. There's an interesting Wiki article about her.

I have just realised how clumsily I wrote the message to which you responded. It was the need to identify as male that I was regarding as good to be no longer required, not Angel Morley herself (under whichever name). Goon but not forgotten, one might say.

[edashtav]

Quite likely. From where I was (telly sound only) he was actually quite restrained; the new - or should I say latest - BBCSO principal trumpet is Philip Cobb, formerly of the LSO, where he carried on that band's tradition of brass band cornet-style vibrato - not the BBCSO sound we've been used to. He comes from a line of distinguished Salvation Army cornettists. However, I'm not sure his dad or grandad ever wore an alice-band on TV!

I’m amused at the pendulum swings of taste and critical opinion. A time there was when we in the ‘West’ excoriated ‘Red’ orchestras with words such as “vibrato-laden brass sound typical of Soviet orchestras”. After a mighty effort, ‘we’ won and post-Soviet Russian brass players are far less wobbly. But, here comes the Counter Revolution…

[Ein Heldenleben]

I’m amused at the pendulum swings of taste and critical opinion. A time there was when we in the ‘West’ excoriated ‘Red’ orchestras with words such as “vibrato-laden brass sound typical of Soviet orchestras”. After a mighty effort, ‘we’ won and post-Soviet Russian brass players are far less wobbly. But, here comes the Counter Revolution…

Wasn’t that more to do with French Horn vibrato? - that is a real divider of opinion . Another is the Reginald Kell/Jack Brymer sound vs Thea King et al.

[oddoneout]

I’m amused at the pendulum swings of taste and critical opinion. A time there was when we in the ‘West’ excoriated ‘Red’ orchestras with words such as “vibrato-laden brass sound typical of Soviet orchestras”. After a mighty effort, ‘we’ won and post-Soviet Russian brass players are far less wobbly. But, here comes the Counter Revolution…

Aka online shopping?

[LMcD]

Aka online shopping?

... or conveyor belt sushi.

[edashtav]

Wasn’t that more to do with French Horn vibrato? - that is a real divider of opinion . Another is the Reginald Kell/Jack Brymer sound vs Thea King et al.

Not only, but also … Russian Horns were not Frenchies, they were more akin to war , wobbly German ones.

Argh! Clarinetist is, and then there’s sweet ‘n. sour oboes!

Oh dear, what a can of worms!

[ocarina]

The Poulenc for me was a curate’s egg: wonderful JSB flourishes with a pinch of Buxtehude on top but the two slower sections found Daniel wanting both in choice of registration and melodic shaping.
P.S. Daniel: it’s a piece written to be played by a Princess in her Salon not a warhorse to be bigged up on the RAH’s turgid mammoth. Less is more in Poulenc.

I disagree with much of this, to the extent that I wondered if we had listened to the same performance! I have definitely just caught up with the first half of the first night on bbc i player though. That organ may be capable of warhorse effects but I found the registration subtle and sensitive, evoking incense, Princess’s salon and much in between (including baroque rhetoric, we agree on that). Most noticeable for me was the soloist’s sensitivity and coordination in ensemble work, which would have been remarkable from any soloist; all the more from one manning a machine at some physical remove from the orchestra.

[Westfield999]

I know that RVW sanctioned this arrangement of the Serenade to Music, but it can only work if the soloists are capable of chameleon-like changes in tone colouring to reflect the four different parts for each voice. It worked well for the contralto (don't see many of them these days!) and the tenor; fairly well for the bass baritone, but, very sadly, the bookends of the piece, the soaring pure soprano at the beginning and the end - perhaps a vocal equivalent of the violin in the Lark Ascending? - was given to a singer who couldnt deliver it... heavy, laboured and therefore needing to break up the flow with intrusive breathing. Not her fault at all, and she certainly demonstrated her quality in the James McM. Just a case of poor soloist selection. Actually, wouldn't it have been so much nicer to have given the RVW to the BBC Singers to sing in its original version, which would have been a celebration of all that they offer, and would probably have delivered a far more cohesive performance given the distance issues, while giving the excellent singers some exposure as soloists? I didn't care for the performance of the Sibelius very much, or for the conducting style throughout, but I suppose that's a matter of taste.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Actually, wouldn't it have been so much nicer to have given the RVW to the BBC Singers to sing in its original version, which would have been a celebration of all that they offer, and would probably have delivered a far more cohesive performance given the distance issues, while giving the excellent singers some exposure as soloists?

Although my general distaste for the BBC Singers is well-known, I do agree that in this instance handing it over to the BBCS for the singing of Serenade to Music would have been a great idea. Everyone in the group is a soloist (which is why they aren’t so promising as a choir). S to M was originally written for soloists, so let’s give the BBC Singers something that really works for them.

[Cockney Sparrow]

..... very sadly, the bookends of the piece, the soaring pure soprano at the beginning and the end - perhaps a vocal equivalent of the violin in the Lark Ascending? - was given to a singer who couldnt deliver it... heavy, laboured and therefore needing to break up the flow with intrusive breathing. ………

Yes – as was said by posters here on the night

The vibrato was considerable – to my ears - one’s response to vibrato is very individual. Other members here felt the same….But yes – I listened again and very much agree with you here:

Not her fault at all, and she certainly demonstrated her quality in the James McM. Just a case of poor soloist selection.

– I thought her contribution in the Mc Millan showed her strengths, I didn’t notice the vibrato there, if it was present.

Actually, wouldn't it have been so much nicer to have given the RVW to the BBC Singers to sing in its original version, which would have been a celebration of all that they offer, and would probably have delivered a far more cohesive performance given the distance issues, .

That option hadn’t occurred to me. I’ve been a firm BBC Singers sceptic for many a year, but whether RAH acoustic + inspired mic placement/balance/mixing (etc) – or a genuine change in the nature of the Singers as a vocal group, I did think on the night they made a good, bravura sound, without sounding as usual - like the collection of “soloists fighting it out”- of former decades.

……. while giving the excellent singers some exposure as soloists?

Now, let’s not get carried away on the showing of one evening in the acoustic of the RAH….. But I will try to cast my scepticism aside on subsequent broadcasts. (Mind you, I think it’s a real handicap putting up with Maida Vale for recordings - judging by the dreary sound of BBCSO and Singers' broadcasts).