Prom 40 (5.09.21)- Sheku Kanneh-Mason Plays Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Sunday 5 September 2021
Royal Albert Hall

Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor
Grace-Evangeline Mason: The Imagined Forest BBC co-commission with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra: world première
Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber


Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Domingo Hindoyan conductor

Former BBC Young Musician winner Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns to the Proms as the soloist in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. A new Proms commission written for the Royal Albert Hall’s 150th anniversary by former BBC Young Composer winner Grace-Evangeline Mason contrasts with two scintillating orchestral showpieces – Hindemith’s jovial reworking of themes by Weber for what was initially intended as a ballet, and Richard Strauss’s colourful take on the Spanish lothario Don Juan. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra makes its first Proms appearance under its new Chief Conductor, Domingo Hindoyan.

[Simon B]

What a joy to finally hear some proper R Strauss after 18 months of little more than that flipping Bourgeoise Gentilhomme wafting about wanly. Big tune. Full horn section. Belt it out mode = on. Glorious racket.

Hindoyan has inherited an excellent orchestra on top form, in no small part thanks to his predecessor. Promising signs on this evidence though the rhythmic precision came less from his baton than with Petrenko. They seem to like him though (or are good actors, probably a necessary skill).

[edashtav]

What a joy to finally hear some proper R Strauss after 18 months of little more than that flipping Bourgeoise Gentilhomme wafting about wanly. Big tune. Full horn section. Belt it out mode = on. Glorious racket.

Hindoyan has inherited an excellent orchestra on top form, in no small part thanks to his predecessor. Promising signs on this evidence though the rhythmic precision came less from his baton than with Petrenko. They seem to like him though (or are good actors, probably a necessary skill).

I’m with you all the way! However, I did note that one of the wind players, (I shall save his blushes), had a meagre, strangulated tone in his highest register.

I loved the way the swagger inffected the last piece, the Hindemith Metamorphoses. Hindemith, the pedant,did not rule. Instead, we had Hindemith in America, full of unbridled energy and gusto. At one point, the orchestra evoked memories of Charles Ives clashing marching bands. A High Octane Interpretation. Glorious.

[jayne lee wilson]

Could only manage Part Two (unexpected visitors from afar wore me out, just dropped by from Jersey after a decade or so, lovely people though...), but I thought the orchestra sounded gloriously full, powerful yet precise in a terrific Don Juan and a Hindemith Metamorphoses that gave us march, dance, evocation and finally the bangers, firecrackers and catherine wheels...

Hindoyan has a fascinating background and on this evidence, the RLPO have found a more-than-promising successor to the Vasilymeister....

Hindemith and Ives, Ed.?
D'you know the marvellous Pittsburgh Symphony, where that especial connection is made vividly explicit..?

****

I'm sorry you find him pedantic - not often, I hope? Surely not in the Kammermusiken anyway, or the String Quartets, the Clarinet Quintet, several other wonderfully quirky chamber works: there's an Octet, a Septet, and even.... a Trio for Viola, Heckelphone and Piano.
He creates some sublime slow movements, and Symphonia Serena encompasses humour and beauty within its spiritual generosity...what a wonderful 1st movement it has, with those classic horn calls.

Forgive my appeal, but he is a lifelong devotion of mine....the heart grows fonder on each return.

[edashtav]

[…]
Hindemith and Ives, Ed.?
D'you know the marvellous Pittsburgh Symphony, where that especial connection is made vividly explicit..?

****

I'm sorry you find him pedantic - not often, I hope? Surely not in the Kammermusiken anyway, or the String Quartets, the Clarinet Quintet, several other wonderfully quirky chamber works: there's an Octet, a Septet, and even.... a Trio for Viola, Heckelphone and Piano.
He creates some sublime slow movements, and Symphonia Serena encompasses humour and beauty within its spiritual generosity...what a wonderful 1st movement it has, with those classic horn calls.

Forgive my appeal, but he is a lifelong devotion of mine....the heart grows fonder on each return.

Fret ye not, Jayne, I’m a fully paid-up Hindemith enthusiast and, as such, delighted that his works have featured in two of the outstanding performances during this season of Proms.

Yes, I do know the Pittsburgh Symphony and, your’re right, it does contain unbuttoned moments that Ives would have been proud to have penned.

Where I differ from you is that I do admit that Hindemith did switch, sometimes,to ‘auto-control’, where his pedagogy remains in force but imagination runs low.

A friend has just given me a copy of his new book. At the head of its introduction he quotes Albert Einstein:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there will ever be to know and understand.”

[bluestateprommer]

Caught up with this Prom (kind of surprised at the lack of comments, given the marquee value of Sheku, or perhaps some thought the programming was a bit too same-old, the G-EM opener aside), where I agree that the RLPO does indeed sound in very fine shape. Expanding a bit on my comment in the LNotP thread about the Grace-Evangeline Mason work, it was a mixed bag, IMHO. The first part went well and sounded effective, in slower mode. In the middle section, however, G-EM didn't succeed in trying to write more rhythmic and faster music, where her attempt to use what I guess were the timps to push the music along sounded forced. The closing section returned to more of the slower pace of the opening, but I'm not sure how well it recovered. G-EM again does better with writing slower music, compared to comparable premieres this season from Augusta Read Thomas and Gity Razaz, who did much better at forward drive in their new pieces in other Proms. But full marks to the RLPO and DH for giving it their best, and for the warm reception given to G-EM in the hall.

Sheku had a few modestly scratchy moments in the heat of the moment during the Dvorak, but no harm done in a generally solid, straight-up reading. Nicely off-the-wall choice of encore, also 'popular' in a different way. With the Strauss, DH took a quite spacious pace in several sections, sort of on the borderline of losing the pulse, perhaps wanting to avoid sounding flashy or show-offy. Agree that the Hindemith was very well done.

From a look at the Proms performance archive, the two Hindemith works featured in this summer's season are the two that have been the most often performed at The Proms. It would indeed be nice to hear more of his music, if social distancing of the musicians in coming years permits it. Along with the "Pittsburgh" Symphony already mentioned, PH's Violin Concerto, for example, has never featured at The Proms, and deserves to be performed there.