Prom 45 (10.09.21) - Bach's Goldberg Variations

[jayne lee wilson]

How big was the choir for the Mozart Requiem concert?

Count them for yourself.....

https://www.facebook.com/nycgbmusic/photos/a.10150123213912159/10159237427702159/

[Padraig]

19:30 Friday 10 September 2021
Royal Albert Hall

JS Bach: Goldberg Variations

Pavel Kolesnikov, piano

‘Is it a coded message, an exercise in numerology? Is it a glorious attempt to marry old and new, or is it a nocturnal, private, fanciful tale?’ Russian-born Pavel Kolesnikov asked these questions and more when he took up the challenge of deciphering one of the undeniable peaks of the piano repertoire, Bach’s ‘Goldberg’ Variations. And, going by the judgement of The Guardian, which declared that Kolesnikov’s recent recording of the work ‘stands alone’ – the Russian-born pianist has found some answers. Bach’s beguiling sequence of a gentle Aria followed by 30 miniature variations was designed ‘for the refreshment of the spirits’, a mindful mix from the 18th century.

Thanks E A. Looking forward to this performance.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Count them for yourself.....
https://www.facebook.com/nycgbmusic/...9237427702159/

If someone who's easy with facebook would oblige.... I'm not reading their privacy options which don't look and I don't expect to be straightforward. (Should I ever give them authority to ransack my data, it will be quite a detailed matter to weigh up....}

[jayne lee wilson]

The first solo piano recital at the Proms took place in 1997 - Evgeny Kissin. Schiff played the Bach Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2, in the 2017 and 2018 Proms respectively....

[jayne lee wilson]

If someone who's easy with facebook would oblige.... I'm not reading their privacy options which don't look and I don't expect to be straightforward. (Should I ever give them authority to ransack my data, it will be quite a detailed matter to weigh up....}

I search facebook for stuff all the time. My own account there has long been dormant. But no-one ever, er, "ransacked my data", whether I was active or not....(why not just turn on private browsing, block tracking & cookies etc....)
The Proms have their own pages....

https://www.facebook.com/theproms/

Nice picture of Arcangelo here on BBC Twitter courtesy Matthew Rose....

https://twitter.com/roseandfriends/status/1436093081745596416/photo/1

....very useful resources....

[Cockney Sparrow]

I search facebook for stuff all the time. My own account there has long been dormant. But no-one ever, er, "ransacked my data", whether I was active or not....(why not just turn on private browsing, block tracking & cookies etc....)

Thanks for the other links, I'll have a look at Twitter. Although I'm not a user, I'll try accessing by web browser on my mobile.

ON EDIT: So - 34 in the chorus.

[jayne lee wilson]

Its become the cool new 19:30 catchphrase hasn't it?

"While we wait for the last few stragglers to take their seats....."

[Ein Heldenleben]

Lovely performance this . But in reference to the St Matthew Passion thread and our collective minute dissection of the RAH acoustic he could literally be playing this on the piano on my living room it is so closely miked.

[Barbirollians]

Lovely performance this . But in reference to the St Matthew Passion thread and our collective minute dissection of the RAH acoustic he could literally be playing this on the piano on my living room it is so closely miked.

He can come and play my piano as wonderfully as this whenever he likes

[Ein Heldenleben]

He can come and play my piano as wonderfully as this whenever he likes

I could not agree more . This is greatness…

[gedsmk]

I could not agree more . This is greatness…

Not for me, I’m afraid. Wayward accents, dynamics, pedal thumps. Very bizarre approach, and a stuck sustaining pedal at the end. Not one I’ll be revisiting. I’ll stick to Perahia, thank you.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Some deliciously inauthentic pedalling near the end. The dynamic gradation - it’s almost impossible to work out how he does it. Is it a tiny bit too pianistic? almost over the top ? Not for me…. That counter melody in the bass in the final restatement - Id never heard it before. It’s magical.
One moment you are gasping at the virtuosity - the next moved by the sheer beauty. I had my doubts about this as a penultimate last night but it seems to fit so wonderfully in this extraordinary season which I , for one , will not forget in a hurry.

[jayne lee wilson]

What were those faint voices, somewhere in the left-channel, audible during the final aria...? Very strange....

Perhaps I was All Passion Spent after last night's wonders (which, somewhat unexpectedly came to mean a lot to me) but I found it hard to stay involved tonight...the brain or the heart just couldn't go any further.....

I shouldn't have been distracted by the mobile phone near the end (ah, the sweet return of familiar Proms friends...), but....and the voices...? Hmm.....

Mozart K563 just playing on R3 now..... I feel involved again..... so it goes.....

[Ein Heldenleben]

What were those faint voices, somewhere in the left-channel, audible during the final aria...? Very strange....

Perhaps I was All Passion Spent after last night's wonders (which, somewhat unexpectedly came to mean a lot to me) but I found it hard to stay involved tonight...the brain or the heart just couldn't go any further.....

I shouldn't have been distracted by the mobile phone near the end (ah, the sweet return of familiar Proms friends...), but....and the voices...? Hmm.....

Mozart K563 just playing on R3 now..... I feel involved again..... so it goes.....

Didn’t hear them and yet I’m sitting massively off axis next to the LHS speaker . I did hear someone falling over or what sounded like it . Suspect someone fainted…

[bluestateprommer]

Interesting to hear Ian Skelly note that PK was still over in Germany this morning, after some concerts there, plus a post-concert drive to the airport prior to hopping it over the Channel. With that in mind, some slightly off moments become more understandable.

To my tin amateur ear, this was a good Goldbergs. Maybe not to my taste in every single moment, but that's OK. I'm not a pianist and will never be one, and thus will never try to play this work even just for me. This may not be a performance for the ages, but it's a performance for the moment, to a live audience in the RAH, and PK delivered the goods.