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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The Proms 2013
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
Are you listening and/or watching? Have you seen them in person? We just missed them last time we were in London a few years ago because we did not know you could buy tickets on the day!
Listening to The Planets and earlier I saw a couple of videos of Tristan und Isolde arias and a duet as a link from my e-mail.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
I'm watching / listening on I-player catch-up. But not this week because there's nothing I'm interested in.
The only Prom I've ever attended was a late night one by the Kings Singers, which I enjoyed very much although it was hard to keep awake.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
I don't expect to be going to any Proms this year, and I haven't heard much either. I thought Nobuyuki Tsujii's performance of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto was lovely - rather less aggressive than it can sometimes sound. And I did listen to the Ring Cycle, which was awesome. Beyond awesome. In fact, so far beyond awesome that from where it was, you can't even see awesome any more.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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marzipan
Shipmate
# 9442
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Posted
I love the Proms but I keep forgetting to listen this year!
My family always used to watch the Last Night every year (TV on mute as our radio had better sound quality - I wonder if that still syncs properly now things are digital)
Not living in London, I've only actually been three times - twice in the arena, once in the gallery. If it's a busy prom there's more space to sit down in the gallery (and nobody can spy on you) but you don't get such a good view.
I just love that you can go to see decent live music for a fiver. Sir Kevin, queuing up on the day is all part of the fun!
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formerly cheesymarzipan.
Now containing 50% less cheese
Posts: 917 | From: nowhere in particular | Registered: May 2005
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kaytee
Shipmate
# 3482
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Posted
I convinced my boss to let me take 7 Mondays off work so that I can attend all the Chamber Music proms at Cadogan Hall. I think my favourite so far was the first one, with Vilde Frang on violin, although TenThing (brass ensemble) was a lot of fun.
They're filming them all this year, and the videos are available here.
A lot of Proms and related programmes are being shown on BBC4 - 3 or 4 a week. I started recording them all, but don't have time to watch them!
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'Lying is a vital survival skill – and a terrible habit.' ~ The Doctor
Posts: 152 | From: Hertfordshire, UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
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Posted
Time was you could find me propping up the rail in the Arena thirty or forty times a season. But that was then- now I get to about half a dozen each year, and each time I sit down I wonder who is going to have to help me up again.
I went to the BBC Phil's effort on Tuesday (prom 31), but concluded regretfully that the time to reappraise Korngold as a Great Composer has not yet come. At the end of the second movement, in particular, you felt that with one gigantic bound, Errol Flynn was free- and there was still twenty minutes left. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
I like to listen to the Proms on the radio. Yesterday the Lutoslawski piano concerto was extraordinarily beautiful. I'd never heard it before.
I'm planning to listen again online this weekend.
I've just been listening to Mitsuko Uchida playing Beethoven superbly. But the second half is Berlioz so I'm going out to water the garden instead.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Hugal
Shipmate
# 2734
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Posted
I watched the Beethoven/Symphany Fantastique on the telly last night. Uchida was very expressive in the Beethoven Concerto, very very expressive. I like Fantastique. I studied it with the OU. Apparently the conductor was supposed to be the best conductor in the world.
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I have never done this trick in these trousers before.
Posts: 1887 | From: london | Registered: Apr 2002
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
It's odd, but Mitsuko Uchida has never been on my radar till a couple of months ago, when I heard a recording of her playing a couple of Mozart sonatas. I thought her playing of the Beethoven last night was just gorgeous. (But I too found other things to do during the Berlioz. I'm not a big fan.)
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Time was you could find me propping up the rail in the Arena thirty or forty times a season. But that was then- now I get to about half a dozen each year, and each time I sit down I wonder who is going to have to help me up again.
Me too. I loved going to the Proms when I lived in the balmy south. (Well ... Reading.) My favourite spot was a couple of yards back from the rail, halfway along on the violins side. This might be a case of "if you can remember the 1980s, you weren't there", but didn't they used to have a fountain in the middle of the arena, with coloured lights?
These days, I'm no longer in the balmy south, and 200 miles is a bit far to go for a concert, even a very good one.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
This might be a case of "if you can remember the 1980s, you weren't there", but didn't they used to have a fountain in the middle of the arena, with coloured lights?
Yes, it lasted until a year or two ago, but the onward march of the TV broadcasts meant that it was forever needing to be taken down to make way for a camera platform, so it was at last done away with. Just when I am getting to the age when joining the 'fountain dwellers' in the chairs around the periphery would be a welcome relief!
The fountain had to be switched off before the start of each concert, and there were a few notorious occasions when someone forgot, and the opening bars were accompanied by mysterious (to the radio listener) tinkling noises ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
And I did listen to the Ring Cycle, which was awesome. Beyond awesome. In fact, so far beyond awesome that from where it was, you can't even see awesome any more.
It was indeed. I was there, listening to it from the Gallery for which I had a weekly pass*. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
And watching Barenboim conduct was delightful. (Though being up in the Gallery meant I spent a fair amount of the time flat on my back, which is a brilliant way to listen to live music.)
*New thing this year. Before you could get season or half-season passes and some weekends had passes. Weekly seems a very good idea.
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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moonlitdoor
Shipmate
# 11707
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Posted
I tried to attend the Beethoven/Berlioz concert, but we did not get in. We were about 5 from the front of the gallery queue when they said it was full, with at least 100 people behind us.
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We've evolved to being strange monkeys, but in the next life he'll help us be something more worthwhile - Gwai
Posts: 2210 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006
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Badger Lady
Shipmate
# 13453
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Posted
I'm a big proms fan. Mostly a gallery girl but can be tempted to venture into the arena.
I've been to a few this year including the late night gospel prom (good but suffered from over amplification and a poor sound balance) and the naturally seven 'beat boxing' prom (awesome).
Missing the Wagner marathon but caught up with some of it via iplayer.
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
I went to the BBC Phil's effort on Tuesday (prom 31), but concluded regretfully that the time to reappraise Korngold as a Great Composer has not yet come.
I was at this one too! The Bruch was sublime - the opening almost dripped from Ms Frang's fingers. Alas the Korngold! All I can say is that when works are 'rarely performed' its often for good reason.
Posts: 340 | From: London | Registered: Feb 2008
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Very pacy performance of the Beethoven 9 tonight I thought. Very marked variations in tempo in the choral section. I'm not sure it quite works.
ETA: closing bars struck me as practically G&S...
[ 11. August 2013, 20:41: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
It seems to be the modern way to go faster and faster to show how clever / talented the performer is. And, IMHO, it doesn't work. I can think of numerous instances over the past couple of years, but the main one that springs to mind was Cameron Carpenter's performance in last year's Proms. Very clever, very fast, but lost something rather significant in subtlety of interpretation in the process.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Out of curiosity, watched some of the Urban Proms on television last night and was glad I hadn't gone to see it in person. Quite unimpressed. Looking forward to listening to some more traditional stuff as and when I can fit it in - next weekend is the one I'd meant to go to (Dvorak, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and Strauss) but you really have to book pretty much as soon as ticket sales start, not leave it too late.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Quinquireme
Shipmate
# 17384
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Posted
Went to Gotterdammerung with my sister who is a Wagner fan. As a performing orchestral musician, I have to say there were a few moments where Barenboim seemed to give a very dodgy beat (and I observed characteristic reactions from the players); however as an Occasion it was unforgettable. From where we were sitting, Hagan and Gutrune were hard to hear against the orchestra but I'm sure the Beeb engineers dealt with that.
Posts: 56 | From: SE London | Registered: Oct 2012
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Badger Lady:
I'm a big proms fan. Mostly a gallery girl <snip>
Ooh, me too. Maybe a mini shipmeet up there one day?
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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Badger Lady
Shipmate
# 13453
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Yangtze:
quote:
Originally posted by Badger Lady:
I'm a big proms fan. Mostly a gallery girl <snip>
Ooh, me too. Maybe a mini shipmeet up there one day?
Ooo yes. That sounds a marvellous plan!
quote:
Originally posted by Quinquireme:
. As a performing orchestral musician, I have to say there were a few moments where Barenboim seemed to give a very dodgy beat (and I observed characteristic reactions from the players); <snip>
I've seen Valery Gergiev conduct a few times at the proms. How anyone follows his beat is a mystery to me!
Posts: 340 | From: London | Registered: Feb 2008
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Quinquireme:
Went to Gotterdammerung with my sister who is a Wagner fan. As a performing orchestral musician, I have to say there were a few moments where Barenboim seemed to give a very dodgy beat (and I observed characteristic reactions from the players); however as an Occasion it was unforgettable. From where we were sitting, Hagan and Gutrune were hard to hear against the orchestra but I'm sure the Beeb engineers dealt with that.
I've never seen Barenboim conduct live, but I've seen him many times on tv and DVDs. His style is incredible: sometimes he'll just stop, and let the orchestra get on with it, and then start again a couple of bars later when the sound needs some shaping. But I can imagine he'd be very frustrating to work for - you look up from your desk to get the beat and he's just standing there seemingly enjoying the music for a moment. But he still gets my vote for Best Living Wagner Conductor.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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moonlitdoor
Shipmate
# 11707
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Posted
I think rarely performed pieces can be interesting. At last year's Proms I heard 'These things shall be' by John Ireland, which was completely unfamiliar to me, and I enjoyed it.
I love Korngold's violin concerto, it's a pity his symphony was not so good.
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We've evolved to being strange monkeys, but in the next life he'll help us be something more worthwhile - Gwai
Posts: 2210 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006
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kaytee
Shipmate
# 3482
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Posted
I heard Holst's Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda yesterday, not something I've come across before, but rather lovely.
Also Harrison Birtwistle's Moth Requiem, which is the kind of thing I like to hear live - I like my music a bit spiky - but not the sort of thing I would buy to listen to at home.
Birtwistle seems like a bit of a character. He introduced the piece by telling how a mysterious noise in his friend's house turned out to be a moth trapped inside the piano. When presenter Petroc Trelawney asked if the flute and harp parts represented the fluttering moth wings, he said, 'No, it just represents music!'. So then all the way through the piece I was thinking how the trilling flute and the low harp strings sounded *exactly* how you would imagine a moth trapped inside a piano would sound.
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'Lying is a vital survival skill – and a terrible habit.' ~ The Doctor
Posts: 152 | From: Hertfordshire, UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
I often listen to the Proms when I am reading a book. A couple of years ago I had the privilege of working for my favourite orchestra, The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in a technical capacity. I must look up the schedule if I am off work any day this week.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Originally posted by kaytee:
quote:
Birtwistle seems like a bit of a character.
Ace bloke. I liked the way he was so realistic in the interview about his (inevitably) approaching death. Of course the presenter couldn't deal with that, either.
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Playing catch-up and enjoying the Fri 9 Aug late night concert: Sir John Elliot Gardiner conducting lesser well known music by Bach (Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists). First class!
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
The one tonight should be a corker as well - Taverner and Gesualdo (Tallis Scholars). I might even stay up to watch that one live.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Sorry for additional post - I meant Listen. Radio 3.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gextvedde
Shipmate
# 11084
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
Are you listening and/or watching? Have you seen them in person? We just missed them last time we were in London a few years ago because we did not know you could buy tickets on the day!
Listening to The Planets and earlier I saw a couple of videos of Tristan und Isolde arias and a duet as a link from my e-mail.
I was fortunate enough to be at the Planets which was glorious although it did mean sitting through a hideous piano concerto by Lutoslawski first. It was so bad I started counting the lines on my palm, I have 97!
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"We must learn to see that our temperament is a gift of God, a talent with which we must trade until he comes" Thomas Merton
Posts: 293 | From: The Twilight Zone, near the M25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
Mars is my favourite - it just as exciting as Ride of the Valkyries!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Gextvedde
Shipmate
# 11084
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Posted
Mars is spectacular. When the theme came in at the end with all guns blazing I had to stop my self from jumping up and down! For pure beauty I'd have to go with Saturn. The way Holst weaves those strange transcendent themes together...
I was glad to be sitting right near the harps as I noticed lots of parts I hadn't heard before.
Posts: 293 | From: The Twilight Zone, near the M25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668
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Posted
It's ages since I could get to a prom, but surely there can never be another like Sir Malcolm Sargent's last one in 1966. When the singing began, he turned his back to the orchestra and conducted us, draped in the toilet paper that was being thrown, with a look of complete bliss on his face. Flash Harry's last prom - unforgettable.
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Thay haif said. Quhat say thay, Lat thame say (George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal)
Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gextvedde:
For pure beauty I'd have to go with Saturn.
Tangent: My Saturn is an Americanized, LHD version of the Dursley's Vauxhall Vectra estate car - it's my lovely old surfer wagon from 2002. End tangent.
Seriously, I completely missed Holst's Saturn. I am listening to repeats of Proms off and on over the last few days. Someday, I shall return to England and see them in person. That will have to wait until we get real jobs or I finish and sell my novel for publication, like as not!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
Not really loving Nigel Kennedy's interpretation of the Four Seasons. Anyone else watching it on the BBC?
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Started to then turned it off - couldn't get on with it at all, it rendered a beautiful piece of music into something dissonant, syncopated and with few points of similarity with the original Four Seasons. Also, Mr K is too old for that kind of haircut now IMO. I don't mind experimental music but am really glad I didn't pay to go and listen to this.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533
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Posted
Agreed, a perfectly nice piece of music buggered about with, just because he can ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
ETA watching Reading festival now, enjoying it much more.
[ 23. August 2013, 20:12: Message edited by: tessaB ]
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tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye
Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
I liked the orchestra from Warsaw.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by tessaB:
Not really loving Nigel Kennedy's interpretation of the Four Seasons. Anyone else watching it on the BBC?
Loved it - fantastic musicianship, clever ideas, sense of humour, expanding on the piece, playing with it, but representing the spirit of it; just great. It's a piece I know well - I've not ever studied it (well, I'm a viola player, really), but I've bashed through the solo part on violin for fun before, and I've known it well as a piece to listen to since before I went to school, so it's nice to hear someone's reimagining of it.Wish there was a recording of it I could stick on my iPod - I'd love to listen to it more and think more about it.
I'd happily listen to it again - and it'd be a little bit different every time.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
Hated it - it was like taking a nice Regency house and then adding on lots of DIY excrescences (an oriental pagoda, a Gothic bathroom, an ultra-modern conservatory, a gazebo on the roof etc) ... the well-proportioned architecture of the piece was ruined. And it was so self-indulgent.
He would have been better just to have taken some of the themes from the Four Seasons and used them as a jumping-off point for jazz impro. and development, rather than trying to have included the whole piece.
My wife loved it ...
[ 24. August 2013, 08:06: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
He would have been better just to have taken some of the themes from the Four Seasons and used them as a jumping-off point for jazz impro. and development, rather than trying to have included the whole piece.
I thought that was what he'd done. Much of what I heard seemed to bear little resemblance to anything I knew or recognized.
What with that and the Urban Proms, I'll be reading the descriptions pretty closely for "in his own distinctive style" and "new interpretation" etc from now on.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Hated it - it was like taking a nice Regency house and then adding on lots of DIY excrescences (an oriental pagoda, a Gothic bathroom, an ultra-modern conservatory, a gazebo on the roof etc) ... the well-proportioned architecture of the piece was ruined.
Except if you do all those things to a nice regency house, it's pretty difficult to go back to how it was. Kennedy's playing with what is probably Vivaldi's best-known piece was interesting and clever, but it didn't change it permanently. You can go back to listening to the piece as written straight afterwards, and it won't have been changed at all - so even if you hated it, the piece wasn't 'ruined' by that one performance - and with all the anticipation before and discussion after this Prom, everyone knew it was going to be substantially altered, so anyone not wanting to hear Vivaldi played about with didn't need to watch it. You might get different ideas from it though, or hear new things in it, or play it differently having noticed something that the changes brought out in it.
Kennedy knows the piece well, he's shown he can play it as written, it's a piece most people would picture as being part of his repertoire, and he obviously has great fondness and reverence for the music. It's not like he came along to something he'd only superficially heard and had never developed an in-depth interpretation of in its original form, he approached it with intimate knowledge of and intelligence about the original.
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
And it was so self-indulgent.
I thought it was quite generous, and that there was a sense of corporate enterprise from the group, and solos and bits and bobs were shared around well. They were also willing to send themselves up - there were some really funny self-deprecating bits in it - it wasn't pretentious and silly.
Of course, Kennedy always looks self-consciously scruffy, with his spiky hair and his awful clothes, but that's sort of become part of the package that goes with him really over the years, so much so that you don't even notice it any more. Yeah, it's a bit stupid, but he's shown he has the musicianship and staying power to have made the transition from a young prodigy to a fat old bloke, always at the top of the game, so how he looks is pretty much sort of eye-roll and then ignore so it doesn't get in the way of the genuinely excellent musician.
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
He would have been better just to have taken some of the themes from the Four Seasons and used them as a jumping-off point for jazz impro. and development, rather than trying to have included the whole piece.
Having the whole piece gave it a context and a through-going narrative though - and if he'd only done jazz impro it would have been a very different piece. there were a lot of different styles of improvisation there, not just jazz. Also, they didn't just use the themes and bat them about, they did bits that were playing with the mood or the undercurrent of particular sections - very clever, and would do well from hearing a few more times even if just for that reason.
I thought it was good to have it within the frame of the piece - little veiled references to it happened throughout, even during the bits it seemed very far from the original, and you could always tell which bits he was referring to.
If he'd just taken the Four Seasons and used it as a jumping off point it would have greatly cheapened what he was trying to do.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
Have to say I really enjoyed it, though can see why it's not everybody's cup of tea. The performances made it seem alive; I'm not sure it would work in a studio setting, but that's kind of the point.
@luvanddaisies. Might there be a downloadable version on the BBC website? Under Radio 3 rather than tv BBC4.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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kaytee
Shipmate
# 3482
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Posted
Yesterday's chamber music concert was divine, especially the Brahms piano quintet, although I enjoyed the Maconchy as well. The Signum Quartet make a gorgeous sound. Definitely my favourite of the season.
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'Lying is a vital survival skill – and a terrible habit.' ~ The Doctor
Posts: 152 | From: Hertfordshire, UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
The symphony by Gorecki this evening has to be the dullest, most boring piece of music I've heard in years.
Not excluding songs by Graham Kendrick ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Luckily I was listening at home, so I switched off after 10 minutes and logged on here.
Pity the poor audience at the Albert Hall.....
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chamois:
The symphony by Gorecki this evening has to be the dullest, most boring piece of music I've heard in years.
Not excluding songs by Graham Kendrick
Luckily I was listening at home, so I switched off after 10 minutes and logged on here.
Pity the poor audience at the Albert Hall.....
Ooh. I've just realized. This is the concert I was invited to go to with a friend, but backed out of (thinking it sounded altogether too depressing). Sounds like it was definitely the right decision.
Meanwhile, wondering about going to the Last Night of the Proms. They're doing this on various big screens throughout the country, and my local place is offering a glass of bubbly and some canapes thrown in. Nice idea and I am thinking about it BUT I see it will feature Nigel Kennedy. After his recent rendition of the Four Seasons, I'm wary of shelling out money for any performance he would be at. How likely is he to perform whatever piece he's playing "in his own distinctive style" this time?
[ 04. September 2013, 20:23: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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kaytee
Shipmate
# 3482
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Posted
No, the Gorecki was great! We were there. It was very well received by the audience in the RAH. Perhaps it doesn't come across well on radio.
Posts: 152 | From: Hertfordshire, UK | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
My dad was a real symphony afficianado. He even had his own tuxedo which he wore when he and mother went to the LA Music Center or the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. They introduced me to opera which has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager. I now work as a stage tech for a local opera company and I have been married for thirty-five years to a classically trained opera singer.
My favourite orchestra is the Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields and I worked for them once!
Someday I hope to see the Proms in person.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by kaytee:
No, the Gorecki was great! We were there. It was very well received by the audience in the RAH. Perhaps it doesn't come across well on radio.
Another vote for the Gorecki from one who was there. It was very powerful (probably helped if you had the translation of the lyrics in front of you) and was put over well by the soprano, Ruby Hughes.
It was even good enough to make me forget the acute discomfort caused by standing for more than an hour, these days. And the heat.
[ 05. September 2013, 13:16: Message edited by: Signaller ]
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
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Graham J
Apprentice
# 505
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Posted
Thank you, Chamois and Gextvedde.
I really must listen to the extraordinarily beautiful but hideous Lutoslawski Piano Concerto as soon as I can.
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GJ
Posts: 46 | From: Örebro, Sweden | Registered: Jun 2001
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