Prom 9 (6.08.21) - The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Stravinsky

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Friday 6 August 2021
Royal Albert Hall

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat mater
Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella


Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Tim Mead, counter-tenor
Benjamin Hulett, tenor
Simon Shibambu, bass-baritone
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Can a composer reuse the past and at the same time move in a forward direction? It’s the question that goes to the heart of Igor Stravinsky’s music - works that often take their inspiration from historical models but remain defiantly, distinctively modern. Conductor Martyn Brabbins joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to mark the 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s death with a concert pairing the composer’s ballet Pulcinella – a witty, charming take on Baroque dance and commedia dell’arte – with the heart-rending Stabat mater by Pergolesi, whose music inspired it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Bump

[jayne lee wilson]

Utterly gorgeous Pergolesi Stabat Mater from the BBC Scottish Baroque and Martyn Brabbins, who drew a sound of vibrato-lite precision and purity from his strings.
Swooningly seductive vocals from two perfectly matched soloists, soaringly operatic where apt, touchingly sensitive when hushed. Flushed cheeks and racing hearts in the sacristi.......
The singers were naturally balanced with the orchestra, though on the live webcast I found them a little fierce on peaks. Some on-the-fly upsampling helped here...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Tremendous performance of a superb score following that beautiful Stabat Mater earlier. Also a good interval feature with a expert whose somewhat eccentric unpolished style I very much warm to.

[LMcD]

Utterly gorgeous Pergolesi Stabat Mater from the BBC Scottish Baroque and Martyn Brabbins, who drew a sound of vibrato-lite precision and purity from his strings.
Swooningly seductive vocals from two perfectly matched soloists, soaringly operatic where apt, touchingly sensitive when hushed. Flushed cheeks and racing hearts in the sacristi.......
The singers were naturally balanced with the orchestra, though on the live webcast I found them a little fierce on peaks. Some on-the-fly upsampling helped a bit...

Was ist das, bitte?

[jayne lee wilson]

Was ist das, bitte?

To upsample is to use a higher audio samples-per-second rate than the native one, i.e. the one being broadcast, which for the AAC stream is 48khz. I've noticed before that 96khz can subtly calm any subjectively perceived treble excesses, very useful if you're as hypersensitive to upper vocal reaches as I am, especially with operatic styles. But in some cases it can sound a little too smooth.

On-the-fly....switching while the music is running, rather than using the preset/native one.

[Westfield999]

To upsample is to use a higher audio samples-per-second rate than the native one, i.e. the one being broadcast, which for the AAC stream is 48khz. I've noticed before that 96khz can subtly calm any subjectively perceived treble excesses, very useful if you're as hypersensitive to upper vocal reaches as I am, especially with operatic styles. But in some cases it can sound a little too smooth.

On-the-fly....switching while the music is running, rather than using the preset/native one.

Is there somewhere an idiot's guide to "AAC stream is 48khz" and the like? I assume it's got something to do with the sensation that I have, whether on BBC4 heard live through my satellite dish, or on iPlayer streamed on the internet, that the digitised sound has been wrung through a narrow bandwidth graphic equalizer and had a lot of the life squeezed out if it! I'd be really interested to understand it all better

[Bryn]

Is there somewhere an idiot's guide to "AAC stream is 48khz" and the like? I assume it's got something to do with the sensation that I have, whether on BBC4 heard live through my satellite dish, or on iPlayer streamed on the internet, that the digitised sound has been wrung through a narrow bandwidth graphic equalizer and had a lot of the life squeezed out if it! I'd be really interested to understand it all better

Potential can of worms to open there. AAC stands for Advanced Audio CODEC* (CODEC itself standing for COder/DECoder and referring to the particular mode of digital representation of a given signal). Commonly encountered CODECs are mp3, FLAC, mp4 etc. From the audio point of view, AAC (which comes on two main 'flavours', LC (Low Complexity, mainly used with higher data rates) and HE (High Efficiency, mainly used for lower data rates). DAB uses mp2 (a forerunner of mp3 which is less efficient than mp3 but has greater error correction properties, so is better suited to broadcasting). There is also DAB+, which is not (yet?) used in the U.K.. That uses HE-AAC as its CODEC. The 48kHz relates to the sampling rate employed in the capture of the audio. CDs use a sample rate of 44.1 kHz, whereas 48 kHz is the standard rate for DVDs, etc. Basically, the higher the sample rate, the more accurate the reconversion to analogue for listening (there is, of course, more to it than that). All this, and more, is easily found via Internet searches.

* Also given as "Advanced Audio Coding".

[jayne lee wilson]

PULCINELLA (COMPLETE); SOLS., BBCSSO/BRABBINS/R3 AAC 320 LIVESTREAM.
(Excellent engineering, airy and spacious, the small ensemble once again perfectly placed, winds vividly present, the vocalists naturally so, never too close)

Sometimes all you can do it sit back and admire, and marvel, and then acclaim, and maybe have a few tears.
An outstanding Pulcinella, and if I thought early on that these songs and dances were a little too laidback, those jack-in-the-box winds and brasses were soon jumping out at me again… aha! Just Kidding! Thats the way to do it!

I was entranced; mesmerised by the instrumental interplay.
Brabbins is such a subtle and sensitive musician, alive to every bar, every shade of mood, elegy or comedy; lulling you with a caress, then letting you have it! What hilarious drunken soloists in the vivo -
Grog-artist buddies, tb and db, about to fall off their high stools……

Wonderful singing again, genuinely characterising and enacting this commedia del’amore.
With the Pergolesi so ravishingly chaste, this whole delightful evening felt to me like a glorious celebration of Music itself, and after a wonderful First Week of the Proms, my joyful tears at the end were truly from the heart….(or the bottom of a glass...).

[BBMmk2]

Utterly gorgeous Pergolesi Stabat Mater from the BBC Scottish Baroque and Martyn Brabbins, who drew a sound of vibrato-lite precision and purity from his strings.
Swooningly seductive vocals from two perfectly matched soloists, soaringly operatic where apt, touchingly sensitive when hushed. Flushed cheeks and racing hearts in the sacristi.......
The singers were naturally balanced with the orchestra, though on the live webcast I found them a little fierce on peaks. Some on-the-fly upsampling helped here...

Couldn’t agree more!

[BBMmk2]

PULCINELLA (COMPLETE); SOLS., BBCSSO/BRABBINS/R3 AAC 320 LIVESTREAM.
(Excellent engineering, airy and spacious, the small ensemble once again perfectly placed, winds vividly present, the vocalists naturally so, never too close)

Sometimes all you can do it sit back and admire, and marvel, and then acclaim, and maybe have a few tears.
An outstanding Pulcinella, and if I thought early on that these songs and dances were a little too laidback, those jack-in-the-box winds and brasses were soon jumping out at me again… aha! Just Kidding! Thats the way to do it!

I was entranced; mesmerised by the instrumental interplay.
Brabbins is such a subtle and sensitive musician, alive to every bar, every shade of mood, elegy or comedy; lulling you with a caress, then letting you have it! What hilarious drunken soloists in the vivo -
Grog-artist buddies, tb and db, about to fall off their high stools……

Wonderful singing again, genuinely characterising and enacting this commedia del’amore.
With the Pergolesi so ravishingly chaste, this whole delightful evening felt to me like a glorious celebration of Music itself, and after a wonderful First Week of the Proms, my joyful tears at the end were truly from the heart….(or the bottom of a glass...).

Utter,y so very marvellous performance.

[Ein Heldenleben]

PULCINELLA (COMPLETE); SOLS., BBCSSO/BRABBINS/R3 AAC 320 LIVESTREAM.
(Excellent engineering, airy and spacious, the small ensemble once again perfectly placed, winds vividly present, the vocalists naturally so, never too close)

Sometimes all you can do it sit back and admire, and marvel, and then acclaim, and maybe have a few tears.
An outstanding Pulcinella, and if I thought early on that these songs and dances were a little too laidback, those jack-in-the-box winds and brasses were soon jumping out at me again… aha! Just Kidding! Thats the way to do it!

I was entranced; mesmerised by the instrumental interplay.
Brabbins is such a subtle and sensitive musician, alive to every bar, every shade of mood, elegy or comedy; lulling you with a caress, then letting you have it! What hilarious drunken soloists in the vivo -
Grog-artist buddies, tb and db, about to fall off their high stools……

Wonderful singing again, genuinely characterising and enacting this commedia del’amore.
With the Pergolesi so ravishingly chaste, this whole delightful evening felt to me like a glorious celebration of Music itself, and after a wonderful First Week of the Proms, my joyful tears at the end were truly from the heart….(or the bottom of a glass...).

I wonder if Brabbins managed to secure extra rehearsal time? The precision of the playing in the Stravinsky was remarkable. You are right - it has been an outstanding first week with some very imaginative out-of - the -rut programming - and an intellectually demanding one - not much dumbing down in evidence.

[LMcD]

I wonder if Brabbins managed to secure extra rehearsal time? The precision of the playing in the Stravinsky was remarkable. You are right - it has been an outstanding first week with some very imaginative out-of - the -rut programming - and an intellectually demanding one - not much dumbing down in evidence.

For some time I've been of the view that the BBCSSO is the best of Auntie's orchestras.

[Westfield999]

For some time I've been of the view that the BBCSSO is the best of Auntie's orchestras.

I too have a very soft spot for the BBC SSO and I think we heard them at their very best in this concert.