Prom 48: Zubin Mehta conducts the Australian World Orchestra (23.08.22)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Tuesday 23 August 2022
Royal Albert Hall

Anton Webern: Passacaglia, Op. 1
Anton Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (revised version, 1928)
Claude Debussy: Ariettes oubliées (arr. Brett Dean)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D majors


Siobhan Stagg, soprano
Australian World Orchestra
Zubin Mehta, conductor

Australian musicians play in most of the world’s leading orchestras, from the Berlin Philharmonic to our own BBC orchestras. The Australian World Orchestra gathers many of them together, back home in Australia, to create a classical supergroup unlike anything on earth: the result, says conductor Zubin Mehta, ‘is one of the top ten orchestras in the world’. But hearing is believing and tonight Mehta – a household name – conducts the AWO in its Proms debut, performing music that ranges from the multicoloured expressionism of Anton Webern, to the rolling, sunlit slopes of Brahms’s expansive Second Symphony. Plus jewel-like miniatures by Debussy, exquisitely reworked by another great Australian musical export, Brett Dean.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Bumping this thread, as it's only a few hours away. Mehta often comes up with interesting programmes.

[french frank]

Bumping this thread, as it's only a few hours away. Mehta often comes up with interesting programmes.

Good BBC write-up for the orchestra!

[cloughie]

Bumping this thread, as it's only a few hours away. Mehta often comes up with interesting programmes.

At 86 firmly in the league of Senior conductors!

[Prommer]

At 86 firmly in the league of Senior conductors!

Conductor of (among others) Corelli and Nilsson in their pomp!

[Prommer]

The idea of a "British World Orchestra" comes (naughtily) to mind?

Get them all back here (S. Willis from the BPO etc), rehearse them in a disused Dagenham car factory, and then come to the Proms!

Repertoire: anything but British?

[Ein Heldenleben]

The idea of a "British World Orchestra" comes (naughtily) to mind?

Get them all back here (S. Willis from the BPO etc), rehearse them in a disused Dagenham car factory, and then come to the Proms!

Repertoire: anything but British?

Interesting -but do you think there is an orchestra’s worth of British overseas musicians ?

[Ein Heldenleben]

This Aussie soprano Siobhan Stagg , who I don’t recall hearing before , is exceptional. A lovely plaintive quality to her voice reminiscent of Frederica Von Stade….

[cloughie]

Conductor of (among others) Corelli and Nilsson in their pomp!

Not forgetting Zappa and the Mothers!

He was my introduction to Varese!

[edashtav]

This Aussie soprano Siobhan Stagg , who I don’t recall hearing before , is exceptional. A lovely plaintive quality to her voice reminiscent of Frederica Von Stade….

Spot-on, EH.

Anton Webern: Passacaglia, Op. 1
Anton Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (revised version, 1928)
Claude Debussy: Ariettes oubliées (arr. Brett Dean)

The Webern works have served as Zubin Mehta’s calling cards for more than fifty years.
The Passacaglia’s 23 variations in ten minutes is underpinned by Webern’s scrupulous writing in terms of structure which supports emotions from rapturous radiance to rage, a range that Mehta and the AWO traversed with confidence and panache. A wonderful performance from the Magical Maestro and his Festival orchestra.

The Six Pieces abstract and concentrate the Expressionism which is scarcely more than implicit in Webern’s op.1. The emotions are more personal, concentrated and intense. Is it programme music or is it far too sublimated to be reduced to six tiny stories? Whatever, Mehta’s interpretation was bejewelled and very accessible. For me stand-out performance of this Prom Season.

Debussy’s Forgotten Songs were orchestrated by Brett Dean just under a decade, or so. Brett Dean played viola in the AWO. I suppose the set of songs lasted about 15 minutes. Brett Dean is a colourist and his orchestration was a masterful recreation of musical Impressionism.The Australian mezzo-soprano, Siobhan Stagg, sounded mellow and relaxed, her voice being supported but never overwhelmed by Brett Dean’s sensitive accompaniment. It was good to see Mehta, well into his ninth decade, still championing new scores. Delightful and tender!

[cloughie]

This Aussie soprano Siobhan Stagg , who I don’t recall hearing before , is exceptional. A lovely plaintive quality to her voice reminiscent of Frederica Von Stade….

Lovely voice perfect match for Debussy!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Lovely voice perfect match for Debussy!

That was some performance and a beautiful arrangement by Brett Dean.

[edashtav]

That was some performance and a beautiful arrangement by Brett Dean.

[Bryn]

Not forgetting Zappa and the Mothers!

He was my introduction to Varese!

Since you mention Mr Zappa, let's recall that this would have been his 80th birthday. A nice tribute has appeared on YouTube:

A bootleg of the Mothers/Mehta 200 Motels concert was one of the first Zappa albums I bought (from the original Virgin Records shop above a shoe shop at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street). A couple of different ad hoc recordings of that concert can be found on YouTube.

[Damn it! How did I fall for that one? Just took the YouTube entry at face value. Zappa was actually born on 21 December 1840, so 81, 8 months and 2 days old he would have been, today.]

[Prommer]

Just joining for the Brahms 2... like what I hear so far. Slower tempi than usual but it has something.