Prom 30 (27.08.21) - Charlotte Bray, Walton & Arnold

[mrbouffant]

I'm no fan of 1 either.
I think my preferred order is 2, 7, 5, 8, 4, 3, 9, 6, 1

[Serial_Apologist]

I have always rather struggled with Arnold especially his First Symphony which I really dislike . Must give this a listen.

The rapid stylistic shifts can disconcert - comparisons with Mahler don't really hold: one feels they all were genuinely integrated in his case, whereas one senses the raised V sign with Arnold. If there is to be an Arnold revival (if that's an appropriate word for it) the criticalia will probably have to present him as a proto-postmodernist.

[King_Ouf_I]

I was resisting adding my 3d-worth as I couldn’t believe how strong my reaction to this concert was, but having read comments from others that matched mine, I’ve decided to write my own. There have been a handful of Proms in my almost 50 years of attendance that are unforgettable (eg Abbado Mahler 9, Wand Bruckner 8, Solti Damnation of Faust) and I will add this one to the list. I rather liked the Foulds - short and brash maybe, but effective, and the BBCSO made a great sound. The Walton was, from my seat, the finest I’ve heard live. Ridout is a communicator par-excellence, his tone not harsh to my ear at all, and Oramo conducted with complete control and sympathy with the score.

OK, the Bray piece was new, so I will have to relisten before I come to a real conclusion, but it was attractive to the ear, and the orchestra seemed to enjoy playing it.

The Arnold symphony had me sobbing behind my face mask more than once. Oramo’s reading was a model of control and communication. Yes, there were a few fluffs, but in the context of such a strongly committed performance, I can forgive those easily. At the end I was too moved to give the ovation it deserved, or I’d still be there applauding now.

I can now die a happy man!

[Serial_Apologist]

I was resisting adding my 3d-worth as I couldn’t believe how strong my reaction to this concert was, but having read comments from others that matched mine, I’ve decided to write my own. There have been a handful of Proms in my almost 50 years of attendance that are unforgettable (eg Abbado Mahler 9, Wand Bruckner 8, Solti Damnation of Faust) and I will add this one to the list. I rather liked the Foulds - short and brash maybe, but effective, and the BBCSO made a great sound. The Walton was, from my seat, the finest I’ve heard live. Ridout is a communicator par-excellence, his tone not harsh to my ear at all, and Oramo conducted with complete control and sympathy with the score.

OK, the Bray piece was new, so I will have to relisten before I come to a real conclusion, but it was attractive to the ear, and the orchestra seemed to enjoy playing it.

The Arnold symphony had me sobbing behind my face mask more than once. Oramo’s reading was a model of control and communication. Yes, there were a few fluffs, but in the context of such a strongly committed performance, I can forgive those easily. At the end I was too moved to give the ovation it deserved, or I’d still be there applauding now.

I can now die a happy man!

Too soon - you've only posted 22 times!

[edashtav]

I was resisting adding my 3d-worth as I couldn’t believe how strong my reaction to this concert was, but having read comments from others that matched mine, I’ve decided to write my own. There have been a handful of Proms in my almost 50 years of attendance that are unforgettable (eg Abbado Mahler 9, Wand Bruckner 8, Solti Damnation of Faust) and I will add this one to the list. I rather liked the Foulds - short and brash maybe, but effective, and the BBCSO made a great sound. The Walton was, from my seat, the finest I’ve heard live. Ridout is a communicator par-excellence, his tone not harsh to my ear at all, and Oramo conducted with complete control and sympathy with the score.

OK, the Bray piece was new, so I will have to relisten before I come to a real conclusion, but it was attractive to the ear, and the orchestra seemed to enjoy playing it.

The Arnold symphony had me sobbing behind my face mask more than once. Oramo’s reading was a model of control and communication. Yes, there were a few fluffs, but in the context of such a strongly committed performance, I can forgive those easily. At the end I was too moved to give the ovation it deserved, or I’d still be there applauding now.

I can now die a happy man!

Charlotte Bray’s piece in song form (aba’) was gentle and delicate, which at first seemed a strange evocation of Icebergs which I’ve always imagined as huge, jagged giants slowed down by their massive hidden submerged hulks. Of course, Charlotte was not being naively pictorial. In the ‘a’ section, high wind intruments showed their fragility as warmth turned ice into showers of drips. I enjoyed Charlotte’s precision, economy, and fine ear for sonorities. Short measure but much better to be succinct and leave an audience wanting more than …

I heard Malcolm conduct the first performance of his fifth symphony and was present in Symphony Hall this summer when the CBSO under Michael Seal’s direction revived the work in a colourful, hard-hitting performance. I don’t want to compare that performance directly with Sakari Oramo’s wonderfully perceptive interpretation this evening. Both, in their differing ways were distinctive, distinguished and, I believe, unforgettable. Crowning achievements in this Malcolm Arnold Centenary year.

Thank you one and all… but most of all thank you Malcolm for writing a work that is so transparent and brilliantly scored but which poses such profound questions about the human condition.

[Constantbee]

Such a shame the hall was so sparsely attended this evening!

Well, it wasn't obvious from the broadcast. The appreciation from the audience was way out of proportion to the numbers present, then. Possibly the August Bank Holiday w/e effect.

I'd been looking forward to this and was not disappointed. The programming excellence and endurance of the performers under harsh conditions continues. Even the standard of the Proms interval talks is higher this year, imho. Very much enjoyed listening to the interval interview with Paul Harris, co-author of Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius, a fairly old biography now (2004), and one that actually predates the composer's death in 2006. Wonder what Arnold thought of the title ... A troubled but fascinating life.

[PhilipT]

If I were David Pickard (though he would never say the following, of course) .., I'd toss back at them:

"Here's your all-British programme. It's all very audience-friendly music. Will you fill the entire Albert Hall?"

Evidently not.

Back in the day when Nicholas Kenyon was doing that job his standard answer was: "We have to be sensitive to what people will come to."

I too was in the Hall for this one - that seems to make quite a few of us. The Foulds did its job - a good warm-up piece. I thought the Charlotte Bray did what it said on the tin, which is more than you can say for most new compositions. I can't remember ever hearing either the Walton or the Arnold live before, but I certainly want to do battle with my hi-fi system to hear these performances again.

[mrbouffant]

I heard Malcolm conduct the first performance of his fifth symphony.

Wow, what a privilege! Do you have any memories of that performance or the reception it received immediately afterwards?

[edashtav]

Wow, what a privilege! Do you have any memories of that performance or the reception it received immediately afterwards?

Yes, 90% of the the critics were very damning: ‘tunes’ being very out of fashion. One, whose name I have forgotten, wrote words something like “What can be said of Arnold’s new symphony? The less said, the better.”

The response in the Hall was very enthusiastic.

The best, and the most informative, review was J.F. Waterhouse in the Birmingham Post. Here is one, perceptive paragraph:

“HOW much is Mr. Arnold's new symphony worth? I thought I would have made up my mind by this time, after studying the comments of numerous colleagues and trying to make sense of my own. But I have not. I may as well confess that, like the mass of the audience but unlike (as far as I have gathered any of my colleagues) , I enjoyed the piece. I cannot understand how it is possible not to enjoy, at least while it is on, an exhibition of such immense skill and gusto. True, I was faintly pestered throughout by little nattering inner voices which kept on trying to inform me, ostensibly in the names of good taste and " objective criticism," that I had no business to be enjoying it. But these did not bother me very much, until afterwards anyway. I was much more aware, though intriguingly rather than distressingly, of a continuing uncertainty about (as I more or leas put it in my notice, how much of this symphony is cod and how much from 'the hearty heart. I now conclude that it is both at once, all the time; that Mr. Arnold dwells throughout in a blissful state of dichotomy or ambiguity. Nothing dishonest about it. The result an agreeably novel flavour.”

Later comment: I noted last night that when Sakari was asked what he liked about the work, he answered , “ Its tunes.”
Yes, Arnold loved to include a high propertion of tunes. I was no accident that he named a son ‘Edward’ after EE.

[gradus]

Looking forward to hearing the complete concert, I just managed a little Walton and the wonderful closing pages of the Arnold.

[oddoneout]

Yes, 90% of the the critics were very damning: ‘tunes’ being very out of fashion. One, whose name I have forgotten, wrote words something like “What can be said of Arnold’s new symphony? The less said, the better.”

The response in the Hall was very enthusiastic.

Sounds a bit like what happens with some films and stage shows - damned by the critics and loved by the public. The critics may be knowledgeable and are entitled to their views but critical acclaim has its limitations for those trying to make a living.
Missed the Arnold so hope to catch it when the repeat comes round.

[Ein Heldenleben]

The scoring in the slow movement of the Arnold is magisterial and the strings of the BBC symphony really surpassed themselves playing it : those pianissimos - What a lovely movement.

PS Is there a programme to the final movement ? . The plucky diatonic flutes and drums of the Brits take on alien brass and?..

[gradus]

Couldn't agree more about the slow movement, played with absolute conviction and great feeling. Altogether it was a magnificent performance and the Sounds recording is first rate too.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Couldn't agree more about the slow movement, played with absolute conviction and great feeling. Altogether it was a magnificent performance and the Sounds recording is first rate too.

So good I am now listening to it again … also found a few very informative online articles and the Novello score …

[edashtav]

Couldn't agree more about the slow movement, played with absolute conviction and great feeling. Altogether it was a magnificent performance and the Sounds recording is first rate too.

Yes, indeed, one iteration of the theme by strings was simply the finest corporate pianissimo playing that
I’ve heard in years: absolutely magical.

The sub-plot seems to revolved around lost friends and family who all died too young, some in WWII. The final collapse from glory into pity and sadness resonated for me in the ambiguity that we feel and share over our ‘glorious dead’ lost in Afghanistan.