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

[AlanE]

Lovely to see and hear the Poulenc organ concerto (on TV), though I was inevitably reminded of my first encounter with the work, as a teenager in the 1960s at Sheffield City Hall, where I sat behind the orchestra (cheapest seats) right at the back ... against the grille covering the organ pipes. My reaction to the opening chord caused quite a few titters among the audience - though I imagine Poulenc himself would have been amused!

[jayne lee wilson]

Incidentally, has the Wokeness of the BBC also infiltrated its orchestras as well? I think the male musicians were almost in a minority here but it was difficult to do a head count.

Oh poor diddums! Feeling threatened?

Where are they in a minority? Why does it matter? Take a look at the composers for this concert...

Off to watch the proudly woke F1 Qualifying now..... not too many female drivers though are there?
But at least the Grid Girls have long gone....

Care to offer your personal definition of "woke"?

JLW WOKE LOUD AND PROUD

[french frank]

Incidentally, has the Wokeness of the BBC also infiltrated its orchestras as well? I think the male musicians were almost in a minority here but it was difficult to do a head count.

Well, unless there are exactly the same number of men and women, one or the other will be in a majority. Is it 'woke' for there to be more women but 'as it should be' for there to be more men?

[Simon B]

I was thinking what a superb job the 1st trumpet did last night both as lead trumpet and leader of a socially distanced sub-band.

...which neatly articulates my thoughts at the time. He looks so different now that I wasn't sure it was Phil Cobb at first - until he started playing. The brass band heritage vibrato, the way he sings out a solo and the sheer verve are unmistakeable. His having got Maurice Murphy's old job as LSO principal trumpet at 21 tells you all you need to know really.

Maurice Murphy was indeed a product of the brass band tradition in Yorkshire, along with Rod Franks, Ian Bousefield and numerous other former LSO players. If you think the infamous video of Bernstein having an exchange of views with the BBCSO trumpet section was a bit lively, spare a thought for a guest conductor of the BBCPO at the time Maurice Murphy was principal trumpet. Under provocation he uttered "if he talks to us like that again, I'm gonna shoot the f****r!". Subject to further provocation he produced a replica Colt 45 from his trumpet case and "shot" the conductor. This story sounds apocryphal, but apparently isn't. They don't make 'em like that any more!


The BBCSO sounded rather classy and distinctive to me last night, though the combination of the strange acoustics of the RAH and the rather different distanced layout may have something to do with it. Having managed to somehow recently recruit both the co-principal timpanist and principal trumpet of the LSO into some of the most prominent positions in the orchestra is part of it. Perhaps they fancy being able to reliably pay their mortgages and not have to go on tour every 3.5 weeks - though who knows how that will pan out now? The horns sounded pretty magnificent too. More strings needed, though of course it's understood why that's not happening currently. I was grateful for those we had!

Those looking for a sort-of Nordic Bruckner approach to Sibelius 2 were out of luck (and in general I may be one). What I don't think is in much doubt is that there was nothing routine about it. The BBCSO appear to rather like Dalia Stasevska, rather as they do Sakari Oramo. No sign of Colt 45s at the ready, nor the telltale of heads down and disconnect between conductor gestures and the noise that comes from the stage. It was pretty compelling, if not an interpretation I'd choose for repeated listening.

[Bryn]

Incidentally, has the Wokeness of the BBC also infiltrated its orchestras as well? I think the male musicians were almost in a minority here but it was difficult to do a head count.

"Almost in a minority", eh. So pretty much equivalent to the world's population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sex_ratio , though in China, for instance, there is a problem of a considerable imbalance in favour of males. Hence their dropping of the 'one child' policy. Cultural sexism had led to a bias in favour of the abortion of female foetuses.

Never mind "woke", wake up to reality.

[Bryn]

Could a Host please move the off-topic messages in this thread to the First Night thread where most belong?

i.e. #13 to #16

[Nick Armstrong]

I was thinking what a superb job the 1st trumpet did last night both as lead trumpet and leader of a socially distanced sub-band . I like that sweeter slight vibrato.

My thoughts exactly. Haven’t heard it all yet but it was his trumpet-playing that struck me most

[LMcD]

Incidentally, has the Wokeness of the BBC also infiltrated its orchestras as well? I think the male musicians were almost in a minority here but it was difficult to do a head count.

Surely an orchestra with a minority of male musicians is surely no bad thing as long as the chapesses play as well as or better than the chaps? It would be nice to think that Ivy Benson is sitting up there looking on approvingly.

[Bryn]

Surely an orchestra with a minority of male musicians is surely no bad thing as long as the chapesses play as well as or better than the chaps? It would be nice to think that Ivy Benson is sitting up there looking on approvingly.

Yes, the days of Angela Morley having to call herself Wally Stott to get work have, thankfully, long gone.

[Ein Heldenleben]

...which neatly articulates my thoughts at the time. He looks so different now that I wasn't sure it was Phil Cobb at first - until he started playing. The brass band heritage vibrato, the way he sings out a solo and the sheer verve are unmistakeable. His having got Maurice Murphy's old job as LSO principal trumpet at 21 tells you all you need to know really.

Maurice Murphy was indeed a product of the brass band tradition in Yorkshire, along with Rod Franks, Ian Bousefield and numerous other former LSO players. If you think the infamous video of Bernstein having an exchange of views with the BBCSO trumpet section was a bit lively, spare a thought for a guest conductor of the BBCPO at the time Maurice Murphy was principal trumpet. Under provocation he uttered "if he talks to us like that again, I'm gonna shoot the f****r!". Subject to further provocation he produced a replica Colt 45 from his trumpet case and "shot" the conductor. This story sounds apocryphal, but apparently isn't. They don't make 'em like that any more!


The BBCSO sounded rather classy and distinctive to me last night, though the combination of the strange acoustics of the RAH and the rather different distanced layout may have something to do with it. Having managed to somehow recently recruit both the co-principal timpanist and principal trumpet of the LSO into some of the most prominent positions in the orchestra is part of it. Perhaps they fancy being able to reliably pay their mortgages and not have to go on tour every 3.5 weeks - though who knows how that will pan out now? The horns sounded pretty magnificent too. More strings needed, though of course it's understood why that's not happening currently. I was grateful for those we had!

Those looking for a sort-of Nordic Bruckner approach to Sibelius 2 were out of luck (and in general I may be one). What I don't think is in much doubt is that there was nothing routine about it. The BBCSO appear to rather like Dalia Stasevska, rather as they do Sakari Oramo. No sign of Colt 45s at the ready, nor the telltale of heads down and disconnect between conductor gestures and the noise that comes from the stage. It was pretty compelling, if not an interpretation I'd choose for repeated listening.

Do you know I think I might have heard one of his very earliest perfs for the LSO with Emmanuel Ax and Gergiev doing the Shostakovich PC with trumpet . He was sensational then and all the bar talk was of the LSO having taken on a hotshot . The BBCSO are lucky to have him…
PS great Maurice story - haven’t heard it before. Suspect he wasn’t from a Sally Army background …

[LMcD]

Guess whose DVD/HD recorder decided to record the R3 transmission NOT the BBC2/4 relay.... and I know it`s on the Iplayer but I can`t record from that!!!!!

Quite a lot of BBC Proms end up (advert-free) on YouTube, so you can still watch them after they've disappeared from iPlayer. Not the same thing as having your own recording, of course, but better than nothing!

[gradus]

The sheer joy of hearing and seeing the orchestra from the first note of VW to the last of the Sibelius made the whole thing magnificent.
The conductor and orchestra are clearly at one and the playing was tremendous.

[bluestateprommer]

Not sure what you mean here, B-SP. Do you mean that the applause at the end of the first movt. was a kind of collective aberration, corrected in favour of greater decorum later on..or what ? Whatever, I really loved the Sibelius, was OK with the RVW except for soprano wobblesomeness, but thought the McMillan really thin -- a sub-Britten re-hash...The Poulenc was glorious.

On the post-1st movement applause in Sibelius 2, the main factor in my own surprise is that it's been 2 years since Proms with audiences, so that I'd kind of forgotten about the whole applause-between-movements phenomenon that is a running feature of discussion here. With all the quarantine videos of the past 18 months, with either very limited or no audiences, the 'ABM' situation was clearly not going to be present on such videos. Thus my mild shock on hearing it again. But again, given the big picture, generally understandable.

(Now, if the 'ABM' happens at the end of the Funeral March of the 'Eroica', that really is not the appropriate reaction, IMHO. This may well happen at the NYOGB Prom coming up. But we shall see.)

Small collation of reviews of The First Night 2021:

1. Erica Jeal, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...some-surprises

2. David Nice, The Arts Desk: https://theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...onal-ecstasies

[jayne lee wilson]

[#38, LMcD: "and I'm happy to give credit to the Guardian's critic for summing up in a few words what I felt too often when (s)he, suggests that it was perhaps too 'breathlessly driven'".]

Forgive me for pointing this out L., but that is a little misleading and slightly unfair to the critic.....
Full quote from Erica Jeal's review: ....

"Was it at times too breathlessly driven for this acoustic? Perhaps, yet on its own terms Stasevska’s pacing was masterly – a coiled spring of a performance to push the current uncertainties of the music world from our minds."

...
Sunday Night's big trilogy should certainly, well, inspire much comment, shouldn't it?
Can't wait.....

[Ein Heldenleben]

Looking at the staff list the BBC Concert Orchestra has more male players than female so don’t understand the debate ? . On the night the female singers are nailing it particularly the peerless Louise Dearman. Jamie Parker in Some Enchanted Evening is singing nicely but irritatingly behind the best . Thing is Enzo Pinza , being a proper opera singer , sang it bang on the beat . Does it matter ? Not much I guess…Wish he was doing This Nearly Was mine as it’s being ever so slightly messed up as I type.
Yep the women are doing better than the men ….