Unsung heroes : Kirill Petrenko Berliner Philharmoniker Proms London

Unsung Heroes : the Berlin Philharmonic on the move (photo: Roger Thomas)

Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker, Proms 66 and 68 at the Royal Albert Hall (plus another at the Cadogan Hall today).  An opportunity to ponder how the music business works.   From the media hype, you'd think Petrenko was a discovery. He's even being hailed as  the next Carlos Kleiber, which is a curious non-compliment if you actually know how screwed up Kleiber was.   From the hype, you'd also think he was unknown, which says more about the media than about the man himself. He was Chief at the Komische Oper in Berlin fifteen years ago and Chief at the Bayerisches Staatsoper and a regular at Bayreuth - hardly low profile.  In many circles, he was so unknown that many confused him with Vassily Petrenko and even Mikhail Petrenko, the singer.   You can't really blame audiences, since he hadn't recorded much and was, at the time his appointment was announced, almost non-existent on Youtube, though that changed overnight.The orchestra itself declared that they loved himn so much that they'd been waiting years to hire him again since his two performances some time back, which is odd since they could have scheduled something.  Petrenko is good, and sometimes extremely good (read about the Munich Parsifal HERE),  but we need to assess him for himself, not by the media image.
The same goes for any speculation about what the Petrenko era in Berlin might mean.  Just as in any business, chiefs are chosen for what they can do to develop the brand. Karajan made the Berlin Phil tops in the recording industry, Abbado's non-dictatorial style developed them as musicians, and created the panoply of assocuated orchestras.  Rattle's gifts as commincator opened up community-oriented outreach.   Though it's not unusual for the Berliner Philharmoniker to choose wild cards, as Karajan, Abbado and Rattle were in their time,  what matters is to think where the orchestra might be heading in future. Thus the photo above. Who are the unsung heroes who make an orchesatra move?  Not just the truck drivers but the organization as a whole, musicians, management and support systems, not just the star at the helm.
Petrenko's two Proms in London exactly replicated recent concerts in Berlin, the first of which was in April, the second on 24th August. (both available on the Digital Concert Hall).  The main difference is Yuja Wang's evening gown, a perfectly good reason to enjoy watching.  On Saturday I was at Prom 66 for Franz Schmidt's Symphony no 4 in C major, (1933) new to the BBC Proms perhaps but again, hardly unknown.  Indeed, Britain is one of the Franz Schmidt hot spots, since his friend, Hans Keller, was extremely influential in British music circles.  Schmidt's reputation has been plagued by trying to fit him into pigeonholes.  Listen to the interval talk on BBC Radio 3 where Eric Levi and Nigel Simeone, who know what they are talking about, demolish notions about Schmidt's place in music history.   If music is good on its own terms it doesn't matter what box it falls into: judging anything by arbitrary assumptions gets in the way of real listening.  Schmidt is not Mahler, nor Bruckner, he's himself.  That said, Schmidt's Fourth reminds me a bit of Berg's Violin Concerto, not because both were written in memory of a dead woman, but for their chromatic inventiveness.
The long, expansive lines seem to quiver, as if seeking out resolution from unnswerable questions. The lone trumpet  sings, plaintively, but with dignity, quiet percussion behind it, like footsteps in a funeral procession.  The theme is taken up and developed by solo cello,  the strings and winds behind it rising ever upward. The lines are expansively extended, as if the composer didn't want the thread to end, but is cut short by a fast-paced section, which briskly sweeps away what has gone before.  Now the instruments rush forth in tight, angular staccato, ending in flaring crescendo.  The cor anglais sings a long, mournful line, taken up and expanded by the strings and other winds, on this occasion sounding warm and somewhat serene, Then a last big surge in the orchestra before the trumpet re-appeared, ending with poignant suddeness.   Before Schmidt's Fourth, a rather straightfoward account of Paul Dukas's ballet La Péri, which could have been both wackier and lusher, and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no 3 with Yuja Wang, which was great good fun: a party piece before the funeral.
Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker rested up for the day while Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra did Mahler Symphony no 3 in the afternoon.  Please read my review of that HERE. Their Monday Prom, Prom 69, with Shostakovich Symphony no 4 which was even better! Pity it was paired with  a lesser work by Bernstein, though well played, with soloist Baiba Skride.  It's a pity that the BBC's obsession with tickbox themes has resulted in more Bernstein than anything else, espcially if you include the often uninformed commentary from presenters who seemed to be spouting party line.  But back to Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker for Prom 68 with Beethoven Symphony no 7 and Richard Strauss Don Juan on Sunday  night.  Utterly solid and reliable : an orchestra like the Berlin Philharmonic does not do anything less, ever.   Nothing wrong with that per se, but nothing revelatory either.  So one does wonder what lies ahead. 

Andris Nelsons Mahler 3 Boston Symphony Orchestra Prom London

With Prom 67, Andris Nelsons returned to the Royal Albert Hall, London with part of his old band, the CBSO Chorus and CBSO Youth Chorus, and  his current band, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in a superb performance of Mahler Symphony no 3 in D minor.  Like all organizations whose strength is the people within, orchestras need motivation and leadership.  The BSO sounds transformed since their last visit to London in 2015 (please read more here), and infinitely more alive than their previous visit eleven years ago. The brass and celli in particular sound rejuvenated.   Warming up for this Prom, I'd been listening to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra where Nelsons is now Chief Conductor, marvelling how the brass there sounds golden and resonant, rarely "brassy".  There's a lot of brass in Mahler 3 but it's not a symphony where brassiness or flash exists for its own sake. Nelsons understood why the brass sections matter and how they contribute to the whole symphony in context.  In any case, bringing some of the Leipzig glow to any other orchestra is quite an achievement.

This was an excellent Mahler 3 because it was sensitive, respecting the subtitles which Mahler used as a kind of scaffolding as he built the symphony.  Notice those titles : "What the Flowers in the Meadow tell me", "What the Animals in the Forest tell me" and "What the Angels tell me". Flowers, animals and angels can't speak:  you have to listen on a much deeper level to understand.  Thus Mahler withdrew the "scaffolding" so audiences would have to pay proper attention.  In a world where muzak values are replacing music values, this is even more pertinent.

The first movement in itself is as long as some entire symphonies, but Nelsons understands the inner structure, which progresses in peaks and planes. Again and again, trumpets lead forward, percussion marking emphatic endings, yet the second theme emerged quietly, heralded by muffled timpani.  Very airy-sounding violin and woodwind figures lit the way for the return of the "march" theme, where trombones added darker colours.  Yet quieter details mattered, like the hushed diminuendo before the whirlwind of woodwinds,  livening the brisk marching pace.  Now,  sassy, sweeping brass made joyous entry.  "Pan awakes", revealing vast panoramas full of promise. The horn call, though, was more restrained, appropriately, for in the mountains, horns are designed to reach over long distances. Thus the solo violin, gentle pizzicato, and harps suggesting perhaps the human world beneath the horizon.  A well shaped "wild descent", and a moment to reflect before the next "peak"  where percussion and brass interacted : a march though not a funeral march other than in the sense of marking the end of the first stage in this journey.   Thus the muted "marching" celli and strings, and the expansive flourish that followed. 

After this invigorating first movement, the sweetness and delicacy of the second made complete sense.  Again and again in Mahler images of meadows in summer recur as symbols of happiness, won after struggle or remembered during struggle. Mahler was a man who hiked and biked and knew the rhythms.  A nice perky start to the third movement, the woodwinds imitating birdsong, a direct quote from the Wunderhorn song Ablösung im Sommer ("Kuckuck ist tod!") . The posthorn, heard from afar, might evoke many things, such as distance, or the inevitable change of time.  Yet no lingering, Nelsons keeping the pace exuberant, so the return of the distant posthorn felt  suitably poignant, the orchestra an afterglow before the finale, where the brass led a hurtling climax.

This set the mood for the mysterioso movement.  "O Mensch, gibt ach !" sang Susan Graham.  "What Man tells me", might be an eternal cycle of suffering and rebirth. "Tiefe, tiefe Ewigkeit!".  Graham's timbre is lighter than many others, some of whom bring out the Herculean Earth Mother depth in the song, but this works well with this more lively interpretation of the symphony, introducing the glorious highlight of the fifth movement.  Excellent interplay between the voices of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and Youth Chorus, and Miss Graham, which reflects to some extent the interplay between brass and percussion in the first movement.  The Youth Chorus’s voices were exceptionally fresh, the bimm bamm's ringing with angelic purity.

Whatever the final movement may signify, its long lines stretch into the distance : the strings and brass doing what the post horn did earlier but now present directly within the orchestra.  The jaunty march at the beginning of the symphony gives way to what might seem serenity, but may be  more complex.  Again the brass lead the orchestra into crescendo, suggesting that the march remains, operating as a pulse behind the swathes of orchestral colour.   The brass again called forth, percussion crashing : a wonderful moment of near silence from which the solo voice of the violin sang clean and clear.  The finale an anthem of confidence, repeating like the march that went before, and ending with emphatic timpani-led tutti.

And here is the finest review I've read anywhere in years ! Marc Bridle, the best in the business ! Please follow THIS LINK

Iván Fischer Enescu Bartók Mahler 4 Prom 54

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, BBC Prom 54 at the Royal Albert Hall, with Enescu, Bartók and Mahler with Anna Lucia Richter as soloist.  A provocative start to the programme with just the first movement (of 4) from George Enescu's Suite for Orchestra op 9 (1903), marked "Prélude à l'unisson".  Though the movement itself is short (9 minutes) it contains within itself the themes which the following movements will develop, returning in the end to a recapitulation of the beginning.  It is cyclic, and also an exercise in unison, the instruments in balance, suggesting a serene sense of natural order.  Fischer's choice was inspired, since it enhanced the impact of  Mahler's Symphony no 4 in G major to come, creating another mini-cycle, utterly appropriate given that Mahler's Fourth deals with the continuation of life on a different plane.   Fischer moved seamlessly from Enescu to Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936).  Patterns, again in the structure, where tranquility is balanced by staccato liveliness.  Good definition of the sub-sections in each movement, emphasizing the inventive variety : particularly attractive balances between the two groups of strings,  the darker voices contrasting well with the brightness of piano and celeste, and pounding percussion.  Bartók is in the lifeblood of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, founded by Fischer in 1983.  Arguably few ensembles do Bartók with as much idiomatic flair as this conductor and this orchestra, but even by their very high standards, this was a superb performance. Fischer was suffering from an eye disorder, but his powers were not diminished.
Plenty of gusto in Fischer's Mahler Symphony no 4, too, taking off with exuberant energy. The sleigh bells aren't there just as folksy decoration.  No cars in Mahler's time, so if you wanted horsepower,  horses were where it was at.  Trains might have been faster, but horses are living creatures, a significant image in a symphony which deals with life and physical enjoyment.

Furthermore, speed alone isn't important, since Mahler marked it "Bedächtig, nicht eilen" not mad rush but orderly but unstoppable progression.  A sleigh ride is a journey,  rather like the cyle of life and death. Thus the transition to the restrained second movement, elegantly defined.   At first the solo violin sings alone, then is joined by other instruments. Again, the symphony in essence.  Everyone dies alone, but hopefully becomes part of a heavenly community.   Some conductors bright out the  malevolence in the violin part, evoking the medieval dance of death.   In this case, however, the malevolence was understated, the violin, as a friend put it,morelike a village fiddler.  That's not a problem, given that many listeners conceive that this is a "happy" symphony, which iut isn't, really.  On the other hand, Fischer marked the chills in the strings so they felt like cold, cutting winds (sleigh-ride imagery again), and also the circular figures that follow, again emphazing cyclic change.  Gradually the movement subsides before the sudden blast of sound, underlined by timpani and brass, that marks what might be the transitional moment, whatever it might signify.  Richness and serenity returned,  clean, high-pitched vibrations emanating into the distance.

No break before the final movement, enphasizing the coherence of the symphony as a whole.  Anna Lucia Richter has a nice, pure tone, but also the sensuality that inspires the child's vison of a heaven full of nice things to eat.  Some commentators have wondered why the child is so decidedly un-spiritual, and questioned the images of killing.  The text, however, derived from oral traditions recorded in Des Knaben Wunderhorn (the book not the song collection), whose audiences would have made connections between the slain lamb and Christ offering himself as sacrifice, and to the children sacrificed in St Ursula's crusade.  In any case, the idea of famine and death can be a metaphor for artistic edeavour : an idea not lost on Mahler who connected Das himmlisches Leben with Das irdisches Leben.  I first heard Richter when she was only 21, singing Hugo Wolf with Christoph Prégardien who has a thing for nurturing young singers.  She had the pure tone that works well with Wolf, but also a feel for the wilder edges of Mörike's poetry. These talents paid off well in this symphony, where a similar dichotomy exists. Richter has come a long way and is now well established. She used to specialize in Mozart, and probably always will, so it was fitting that her encore was Mozart Laudate Dominum, with members of the Budapest Festival Orchestra singing behind her. 

Thomas Dausgaard Proms : Nørgård Wagner Strauss Mozart Mahler

Per Nørgård

Proms 50 and 51 with Thomas Dausgaard conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The first presented Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with Mahler Symphony no 5, a programme with no discernible musical logic, produced efficiently but without much committment.  It was interesting to hear the basset clarinet in the Mozart, played by Annelien Van Wauwe, once you got used to the lower, more austere timbre, but why not pair it with something that complemented it better ? If you're going to make a statement, do it properly. But I guess Dausgaard has do do what BBC Proms management wants, and this year, music is the least of their priorities.

Dausgaard's second Prom was far more rewarding,  revealing signs of a genuine musical mind behind the programme, pairing Wagner (Parsifal Prelude to Act One), Richard Strauss (Vier letzte Lieder) and Per Nørgård's Symphony no 3.  Although Nørgård is one of the most important modern Danish composers, and one of Dausgaard's specialities, his idiom is idiosyncratic and may perhaps seem to be beyond the kind of audience the BBC seems hell bent on placating, at the expense of developing musical awareness.  All the more reason to let a conductor who knows what he's doing present a programe that helps even those new to new music to appreciate what Nørgård might be about.

Parsifal meant so much to Wagner that he created a Festival around it.  Far more than just another drama, it deals with metaphysical concepts, expressed through highly sophisticated  music.   Thus the value of listening to it as a "pure" orchestral creation. Dausgaard shaped it so it evolved gradually,  refined textures leading into the famous brass fanfares (which incidentally seem to pop up in Mahler's First) and flowing back.  Mysterious yet also clean confident clarity.  Of course Nørgård isn't copying Wagner, but you might intuit where he's heading.  The connection to Richard Strauss is not "the great war", this year's tick box obsession with the Proms team.  The Vier letzte Lieder were Strauss's last works : the culmination of a lifetime's experience both musical and personal.  Like Parsifal, the Vier letzte Lieder deal with abstract ideas with a spiritual, but not specific dimension.  Thus the attention paid to orchestral textures and subtle transitions, and almost mystical atmosphere. Dausgaard let the final notes dissipate, evaporating into silence.  Whether Strauss is contemplating death or an unknown future, the music does not end with the last sounds.  Generally, I like Malin Byström but on this occadsion her vibrato was a bit lush, not to a fault, but not as attuned to what was happening in the orchestra.

Per Nørgård's Symphony no 3 (1972-75) is abstract "pure" sound based on a technique described as "infinity series" creating movement through shifting chromatic and diatonic scales, weaving intricate patterns, evolving and ever-changing. Like water, it flows and adapts to different situations.  Although Nørgård is unique, his concepts aren't all that far from other composers. Think Debussy La Mer, or Boulez Dérives I and II growing and morphing like an organic life form or Gerard Grisey and the "spectralists" finding infinite colour in micro tonality, and of course Hans Abrahamsen of whom I've written a lot on this site.  Dausgaard shapes Nørgård’s long shimmering planes of sound so they seem to unfurl and rotate. The strings elide, solo violin giving direction. Brasses add forward thrust, while delicate sounds create a sense of tintinnabulation: sounds blending into the inaudible.  In the second movement, the Allegretto, new patterns emerge ; sharper, more fragmented sounds, the London Voices and the National Youth Chamber Choir singing syllables which eventually stretch into near-melody. Sometimes the fragments come like a sudden shock then blend into chorale. Yet this is also "beautiful" music in the sense that the colours and textures generate something in the listener's imagination, even on a subliminal level.  Complex music doesn't have to be "difficult".  Dausgaard shows how it can be presented in proper musical context.

No leaden boots - Rattle's Ravel Prom

Sir Simon Rattle's all-Ravel BBC Prom 48 was a highlight of the season. Rattle's Ravel is highly individual, alert to whimsy and adventure in the music.  Sparkling performances from the London Symphony orchestra.  Such animation and vivacity is of the essence in Ravel’s Ma M ère l’Oye, heard here in its full ballet version, rather than the better known suite.  Agility and fleetness of foot - no room here for leaden boots !  Magdalena Kožená joined her husband and his new orchestra in Shéhérazade, and later was part of the team in L’enfant et les Sortilèges.  The dimensions of the Royal Albert Hall are too vast for diaphanous magic, so I stayed home and listened to the broadcast, but my friends were present.  Here is Claire Seymour's review in Opera Today : Please read it in full.  Anyone can write, but not everyone can write well, mixing knowledge with analysis, bringing the experience to life. Listening link HERE

Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem - Prom 41 Gardner, Elgar, Boulanger

Prom 41 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Edward Gardner conducting the BBCSO in Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem, Elgar's Cello Concerto (Jean-Guihen Queyras) and Lili Boulanger .   Extremely perceptive performances that revealed deep insight, far more profound than the ostensible  "1918" theme   Neither Boulanger nor Elgar had direct experience of war, but, like all decent people with any conscience, they cared about what was happening around them, and could address the human impact of war.

Boulanger's Pour les funerailles d'un soldat is a grave processional, a far more mature piece than the miniatures she is usually represented by on programmes that stress her gender and youth, as opposed to her music.  A steady pace, drum rolls, the tolling of bells and rising frisson in the orchestra enhance the solemn choral backdrop. The strength of  Alexandre Duhamel's delivery added even more gravitas.  At the end, wordless sighs vocalized by the voices of the BBC Symphony Chorus.  This provided context for Elgar's Cello Concerto in G minor op 85 (1918-9) which, in some ways,  is am abstract funeral of sorts.  Jean-Guihen Queyras defined the first theme drawing out the richness, as if to savour it.  Gardner and the BBCSO reiterated the theme with sweeping expansiveness.  Theme and response repeat,  replicating the rising and falling figures which move like processional.  Queyras's tone was beautiful, suggesting the warmth of Elgar's vision, yet also pointedly poignant.  As so often in Elgar, confidence is undercut by an awareness that things do not remain the same forever.  Although Gardner's approach was not as full blooded as, say, Barbirolli, he conducted with refined sensitivity, which worked well with Queyras's sophisticated elegance.  The sudden changes of direction were nicely defined, enhancing the interaction between soloist and orchestra.  Though we've heard Elgar's Cello Concerto so many times, this approach was perfectly valid, and rewarding because it was slightly unusual.  For an encore, Queyras chose Dutilleux, one of the Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher, a brave choice in a place like the Royal Albert Hall where sensitive playing is usually drowned out.  But Queyras's mastery held the audience spellbound.

But the highlight of Prom 41 was, undoubtedly, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem, which Gardner approached with astonishing originality, bringing out the power in the message. Perhaps in modern times, we can better appreciate the visceral intensity.  Gardner also drew out the structural cohesion of the piece, and even brought out its cyclic qualities, which are themselves part of meaning.  Beware of over-emphasizing the use of different texts. (Think Elgar Sea Pictures, for example)  What matters is how Vaughan Williams draws together different strands of human experience into an integrated whole.  Sophie Bevan stood in the organ loft, distant but not too distant, a reminder that the organ and its restrained undertones pulse at the heart of this piece.  Bevan floated her lines so they penetrated the vastness of the hall, the exqusite purity of her tone reflected in the winds. Within moments serenity was shattered by savage chords, the pounding of timpani and the call of trumpets.  "Beat! Beat ! Drums" is a Dies Irae in all but name, the lines swirling and whipping like flames, swept by violent forces, the BBC SO and Chorus unleashing fury.

Neal Davies sang the Reconciliation, where the word “beautiful" is repeated, not only by the soloist but by the chorus. Beautiful, because "mine Enemy is dead, a man as divine as myself is dead".  This is the core "anti war" sentiment, refuting the idea that war resolves things: in death, all men are equal. Thus the deliberate phrasing, where Davies parsed the sentence with pauses. "I draw near", he continued, approaching the intimate moment of the kiss, with reverence.  A violin melody singing alone, garlanded, like the soprano was earlier, by hushed chorus.  Thus a brief repeat of the Dona Nobis Pacem, plaintive and austere with a rumble of muffled drums as the Dirge began, its quiet , relentless pace suggesting the cortege described in Walt Whitman's text.  With the four strophes, the chorus burst out defiantly. "I hear the great drums pounding...and every blow of the great convulsive drums strikes me through and through".  This is vintage Vaughan Williams in every way, with its echoes of Symphony no 3,  the tag "pastoral" more ironic than literal.  The text, also Whitman, refers to "two veterans, son and father" who die together, buried in a double grave, statistically an unlikely image in modern warfare, but one which works in metaphysical terms, underlining relentless futility, where one war engenders the next.  No words needed in the orchestral postlude, from which Davies re-emerges as the voice of the Angel of Death; the words "Dona nobis pacem" now appear almost as screams of protest.  The swirling furies of the Dies Irae return, to a text from the Book of Jeremiah."There is no balm in Gilead".

Most dramatic of all was the final section. "O Man, greatly beloved" sang Davies with fulsome affirmation, followed by orchestra and chorus in a series of quotations from the Old Testament. Gardner defined the ebb and flow, intensifying the trajectory: If all things must change, there may be resolutions beyond the grave, and from war.  Thus Dona nobis pacem rang again, clean, pure and bright, Bevan holding the last words so they seemed to vibrate into eternity.
Photos: Roger Thomas
 

Prom 17 - transcendental Parry, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Brabbins

Thunder and lightning above the Royal Albert Hall before Prom 17  with Martyn Brabbins conductingthe BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Hubert Parry, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.   Parry's Symphony no 5, the Symphonic Fantasia ,doesn't actually have much to do with the First World War, or Englishness for that matter. It's a brilliantly original work,  which should be appreciated on its own musical terms. Parry's place in British music, and European music, deserves far more attention.   The BBC's fixation with non-musical agendas reinforces cliché and shallow thinking to the detriment of the music itself.

Parry's Symphony no 5, the  Symphonic Fantasia, is a brilliantly original work, looking forwards yet built upon Parry's very deep knowledge of his musical antecedents.   In 1883, he had written of Schumann's Symphony no 4 that it "can be felt to represent in its entirety the history of mental and emotional conditions such as may be grouped around one centre.... the conflict of impulses and desires, the different phases of thought and emotion, and the triumph or failure of the different forces which seem to be represented all give the impression of ....being perfectly consistent in their relationship to one another." 

Thus Parry's symphony - for it is a symphony in four movements (allegro, lento, scherzo and moderato) - encompasses infinite variety in tightly structured coherence. The programmatic titles, Stress, Love Play and Now, are in themselves nothing new, but Parry marks the various sub themes and developments not with conventional German or Italian terms, but with words like "brooding", "pity" and "revolt" which allow interpretive freedom.  Its open-ended, free-spirited nature welcomes new performers, inviting them in, rather than imposing on them.  This matters,  since Parry held strong humanistic and ethical views.   Please read my piece on Parry's The Soul's Ransom HERE.  Some teachers teach students what to do, while others teach students how to think for themselves.  Parry was the latter type : more self effacing than the dominant Stanford and in the long term perhaps a greater creative influence on other composers.

Though Parry in this symphony was thinking back to Schumann and Brahms, the innovative nature of this piece harks to Carl Neilsen's Symphony no 2 "The Four Temperaments", and quite possibly more. It's intricate patterns of theme, recapitulation, development and elongation show, says Jeremy Dibble, "a forward looking attitude to modern structural procedures.  For this reason alone it merits a firmer place in the canon of cyclic works, and perhaps more important still it deserves to be more widely recognized as one of the finest and most assured utterances in British symphonic literature".  If anyone can make a case for Parry as a beacon of modern British music, it would be Martyn Brabbins, whose repertoire spans the late 19th and 20th centuries.   This was a powerful performance, very clearly thought through, much more coherent than when Siniasky conducted the piece at the Proms in 2010.  While  Adrian Boult and Matthias Bamert remain invaluable, Brabbins, with his alertness to the sophisticated inventiveness in the piece,  reveals new insights.

Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending is so extraordinary that even though we've heard it a million times, it still has the power to  astonish.  It's so moving that it always works, whatever the performance. Tai Murray, a former BBC New Generation artist, is technically gifted, shaping the long lines with great charm, suggesting the fragility of the lark.  But there is more to this piece than refinement. I would have preferred more emotional engagement, bringing out the heart rending sense of Sehnsucht of really great performances. Perhaps if we hadn't heard this piece so often we might not expect so much, but how could we live without it ?   But the magic of The Lark Ascending worked yet again : the Proms audience went wild with joy.   
 
With Hubert Parry's Hear My Words, ye People (1894) the organ loft lit up. The organist was Adrian Partington,  evidently enjoying the majesty of the Royal Albert Hall organ.   Just as impressive was  the BBC National Chorus of Wales, as focussed and as precise as they were in last week's Mahler Symphony no 8. Please read more about that here.  Though Parry wrote Hear My Words,  ye People for enthusiastic amateurs, with top notch singers like these, the anthems rang out with magnificent conviction.  The soloists were Ashley Riches and Francesca Chiejina.  This isn't an overblown extravaganza, but all the better for that as it shows the intimacy of Parry's style even when writing for choir, organ and (minimal) orchestra.  Gustav Holst's Ode to Death (1919) blends voices and orchestra to create lush textures which suddenly ignite into crescendo.  returning again to ethereal harmonies "Over the treetops I float thee along, over the rising and sinking waves, come lovely and soothing death, come with joy!".  Harps and fine, bell-like tones in the orchestra suggest transcendence.  

In Vaughan Williams's Symphony no 3  the "Pastoral"  winds and bassoons murmured, as dark and impenetrable as smoke, a rather apposite image since the piece was written after RVW's experiences in the trenches, collecting bodies from fields which should have produced crops.  A  violin melody wafted upwards. Like the Lark it ascends, but its ascent seemed haunted. The natural trumpet in the second movement sounded deliberately hollow, like a trumpet blown by an ordinary soldier, perhaps not quite in tune.  A horn repeats the motif : the last Post meets the last Trumpet at the End of Time. What might the robust dances in the scherzo represent ?  Perhaps this is a threnody not only for those killed in the trenches but for an innocence that cannot return.  Francesca Chiejina’s voice materialized from high up in the balcony, which in the Royal Albert Hall is very far away indeed.  This is important because it creates a sense of distance.  Whatever the soprano might signify, the sound should be otherworldly.  That's why the song is mysterious vocalize. I don't even think it's meant to be an angel or anything quite so comforting, but a reminder that there are things  that are beyond human comprehension and distances that can never be bridged. 

But what of this Proms audience  ?  Even in the expensive seats, people were fidgetting, not paying attention, behaving as if they were at home in front of their TVs.  Some walked out, even after Hear My words, ye People and the Ode to Death.  Why weren't they paying attention to serious subjects and seriously good musicianship ?  Therein lies the danger of marketing music as consumer disposable.   Eventually audiences assume that as long as they've paid for something, they don't need to make an effort to put anything of themselves into the equation.   Maybe what we need is marketing that respects the art it is supposed to serve.  [Since writing this, I've heard from people who weren't able to attend because the Prom sold out almost immediately. All the more it's a shame that those who did get tickets didn't care enough about the music. The ones walking out after the choral pieces were cheerfully heading off to the pub. So much for the music and indeed for the subject ].

Please also read Robert Hugill in Opera Today

Ahead of Prom 17 Hubert Parry Symphony no 5

   

Hubert Parry's Symphony no 5 at Prom 17 Friday, along with Vaughan Williams and Holst.   PLease read my review HERE and Robert Hugill's HERE.  There's so much more to this programme than the usual clichés about the First World War.  Just as there's much more to Parry than Jerusalem and sound tracks to royal events. So what if Parry died in 1918 ?  What matters is his influence on British music,which runs deeeper than some expect.  For one thing, Parry was not insular, but had an outlook which embraced continental European music.  Please come back for my review of Prom 17, but some background on Parry's 5th (courtesy of Jeremy Dibble's seminal biography).

Parry's Symphony no 5 connects to Schumann's Symphony no 4 which we heard earlier this week in the 1841 version Brahms preferred.  Since Parry respected Brahms so much, when Brahms died, he wrote a private and very moving tribute.  Schumann's original "fourth" symphony was written in his glorious Liederjahre when a stream of masterpieces burst forth unstemmed. It's not the work of an immature composer, but rather of one who has so much to say that he needs to get it down quickly.    "The important fact", wrote Parry in 1883 about Schumann 4 was "the work can be felt to represent in its entirety the history of mental and emotional conditions such as may be grouped around one centre.... the conflict of impulses and desires, the different phases of thought and emotion, and the triumph or failure of the different forces which seem to be represented all give the impression of ....beingperfectly  consistent in their relationship to one another." Thus Parry's preferred title Symphonic Fantasia. 

The titles of each movement, Stress, Love, Play and Now might mean different things to different people but had symbolic significance to a composer who cared deeeply about ethical and intellectual issues. Thus the complex but highly organized patterns of theme, capitulation and development. Some themes have titles like "brooding thought", "pity" and "revolt", like leitmotivs, but are defined by subtle tonal variations.  "The elongated capitulation", writes Jeremy Dibble, "is decidedly Lisztian" and "the complex cyclic procedures"  (in Schoenberg's .... Kammersymphonie published 1912) "shows a fascinating affinity with the processes in Parry's Symphony".  Though it was unlikely that Parry knew this, it is all the more reason that it's remarkable how Parry "shows a forward looking attitude to modern structural procedures" adds Dibble. "For this reason alone it merits a firmer place in the canon of cyclic works, and perhaps more important still it deserves to be more widely recognized as one of the fineset and most assured utterances in British symphonic literature". 

Thus the real programme in Prom 17, not "greatest hits" so much as British music on the verge of a new era.  RVW's "Pastoral" isn't pastoral, and The Lark Ascending is pretty amazing, even if we've heard it a million times.  Please also read my analysis of the secret programme behind the First Night of the Proms where the BBC's obsession with non-musical themes was trumped by deeper musical undercurrents.  Please also visit the Hubert Parry Group on Facebook

Heavenly choruses - Mahler Symphony no 8 Prom Royal Albert Hall

Photos Roger Theomas

BBC Prom 11 Mahler Symphony no 8 in E flat major at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Thomas Søndergård conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and a huge cast. The nickname "Symphony of a Thousand" wasn't Mahler's choice but the invention of promoters eager to market it as a showpiece.  In music, quality comes before quantity, so many performances scale down the numbers for the sake of the music.  But the Royal Albert Hall was created for extravagant choral spectaculars   In this vast barn of a building, it's possible to do things with Mahler 8 that couldn't be done elsewhere.  Most of the 6000-strong audience will remember this Prom for years to come.   For starters, the Royal Albert Hall is in itself a form of theatre: the dome, the atmosphere, the sense of communal anticipation and the sheer visual impact of seeing the choristers file into their places. All eight rows of the choir stalls were packed, with another row of singers above that still. Across the entire breadth of the hall, two rows of young singers dressed in white.  And right at the heart, the Royal Albert Hall organ  so majestic that it sustain the whole powerful experience.  

With its unconventional structure and eclectic meaning, Mahler's 8th still remains perplexing for many. Why are the two parts so different ? How do they work? Nearly every good performsnce can offer insight.  Under Søndergård, the BBC NOW is at a peak  but the glory of this performance was built on the choral forces he had to hand - the BBC National Chorus of Wales (Adrian Partington, chorus master), the BBC Symphony Chorus (Neil Ferris) and the London Symphony Chorus (Simon Halsey) with the Southend Boys' Choir and Southend Girls' Choir (Roger Humphreys). Halsey was chorus master of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and of the Berlin Philharmonic before his present post, and Partington,  one of the stalwarts of the Three Choirs Festival (which starts next weekend) has conducted Mahler 8 before, at Gloucester Cathedral.  Thus the exceptional coherence in the singing : hundreds of individuals operating in unison, negotiating the swift changes with precision, keeping lines fluid and clean. In a symphony that predicates on images of illumination, this clarity is important.   Most impressive of all was the stillness these massed voices managed to achieve in the quieter passages.  Though the nickname "Symphony of a Thousand" predisposes listeners to expect overwhelming volume, the critical passages are marked by hushed refinement, the "poetical thoughts" of spiritual refinement. Hearing hundreds of voices singing quietly, tenderly and yet in unison was very moving.  They even seemed to synchronize turning their pages. 

The First Part of this symphony is based on an ancient latin hymn about the Pentecost. Divine fire descends upon the Apostles, inspiring them to go forth on their mission to spread Enlightenment.  Hence the  direct attack with which "Veni creator spiritus!" was executed , creating an aural force field n which the soloists voices were embedded.  Though the soloists -  Tamara Wilson, Camilla Nylund, Marianne Beate Kielland,  Claudia Huckle,  Joélle Harvey, Simon O'Neill, Quinn Kelsey and Morris Robinson - stand at the front of the platform where they can be heard,  they are primus inter pares - first among equals - operating as an extension of the chorus and orchestra. 

In the Second Part of this Symphony,  Mahler was inspired by Goethe's Faust, where Faust is redeemed by divine grace. The soloists are named but they operate as stages in the transformation,: they aren't acting out roles as if in an opera.  Take the names too literally and miss the esoteric spirituality, where ego is sublimated for a higher purpose.  The variety in the voice types reflects human diversity,. I liked the balance between  O'Neill's earnest fervour and Kelsey's rich tone, anchored by Robinson's bass.  These parts also operate in musical terms suggesting movement upwards and downwards, on simultaneous planes, also pertinent to meaning.  The women's voices supply the Das Ewig-wiebliche, the "Eternal Feminine". This dichotomy between male and female, creator and muse, is central to Mahler's later work.  The chorus of Blessed boys operates in parellel. "Wir werden früh entfernt von Lebenchören", They too, have been reborn by an act of faith, but how cheeky and childlike they are, like th child in Mahler Symphony no 4.
 
The vocal music in Mahler's 8th inevitably draws attention, and deservedly so. Thus the absolute importance of the silence that follows the ecstasy with which the first part ends. It represents a transition, bridging the two disparate parts, cleansing away what has gone before, settingb the scene for what is to come.  But in many ways, the whole Symphony pivots on the first part of the Second Part where the orchestra alone speaks.  Søndergård approached it with restraint, letting the detail shine.  Pizzicato figures suggest tentative footseps entering the new territory evoked by sweeping strings, called forward by horn and flutes.  The Chorus and echo repeat the pattern, marking the transition.  Throughout the symphony,  details were respected, so individual instruments like flutes, celesta and harps could be heard despite the size of the forces around them.  Some conductors achieve much more luminous purity, but Søndergård made the most of generous choral resources at his disposal, which played to the strengths of the Royal Albert Hall.  


Please read more about Mahler 8 on this site, following the labels below. Lots more Mahler, too.

Prom 8 Discoveries - Morfydd Owen and lively Schumann

Morfydd Owen's Nocturne in D flat major (1913), at BBC Prom 8 at the Royal Albert Hall, should transform perceptions about Welsh (and British) music history.  Thomas Søndergård conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, who premiered its first modern premiere last year, though this performance was far more accomplished.  Owen left some 250 surviving scores by the time of her death at the age of 26, of an extensive range including works for large orchestra, chorus, chamber pieces  songs and works for stage.  To this day, Owen's tally of prizes awarded by the Royal Academy of Music remains unrivalled.  Though she was not part of the male English Establishment, Owen needs no special pleading.  Her music stands on its own merits, highly individual and original.  Her work was published in the Welsh Hymnal when she was 16, before she graduated from Cardiff and moved to London, where she moved in Bohemian, arty circles with the likes of D H Lawrence, Ezra Pound and Prince Yusupov, one of the conspirators who assassinated Rasputin.   A "new woman" she was also independent and had a second career as a singer, hence her fluency in writing for voice.  Unlike far too many supposedly "lost" composers, Owen's legacy was substantial. Her reputation doesn't rest on sentimentality or gender alone, but on the hard evidence of her music itself.

The Nocturne is sophisticated and highly original, which compares well with much else written at the time.  A mysterious woodwind melody calls forth, answered by the strings. The line is is illuminated by tiny bright woodwind fragments, before the main theme is developed into poignant song. Again the strings respond, lit by swathes of brighter winds and harps.  Highly atmospheric yet formally structured, this Noctune now eneters a second, more expansive theme which moves with great assurance towards a magnificent crescendo which suddenly shifts to more urbane, lively motifs. If this is a tone poem about night, it's not somnolent but filled with incident and detail.  Yet another theme develops, this time led by violin. gradually tension builds up : strong, assertive chords not quite ostinato lead to yet another theme, like a lyrical dance for solo woodwind, garlanded by strings and harps.  Such deftness of design, such precise orchestration, and such beauty. All packed into barely half an hour, but unhurried and clear of purpose.  

Owen's Nocturne reminded me of Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and even possibly of Stravinsky, whose work Owen would have known, given her interest in what was happening in Paris and Russia. Yet its serene confidence is highly distinctive : Owen most definitely had a voice of her own, though she was only 22 when it was completed.  BBC NOW should make this Nocturne part of their standard repertoire and explore more of Owen's unique and fascinating music.  Please also read my other two articles on Morfydd Owen  :  Talent has No Gender and Portrait of a Lost Icon.  (which is about the groundbreaking recording of her songs. Both include liniks to Tŷ Cerdd, pioneers of Owen's music and of other Welsh composers.

Unfortunaterly the BBC's obsession with artificial themes yet again obscured the music.  The tag "Youthful Beginnings" is pretty meaningless in itself, hence the need to include pieces by Lili Boulanger and early Mendelssohn and Schumann, which otherwise don't cohere as a programme.  Boulanger and Morfydd Owen were almost exact contemporaries and died young, but that's where the similarities end. Though Boulanger won the composition prize at the Prix de Rome aged 19 - no small achievement - she didn't leave as much as Owen did. Again, perfectly fair enough, everyone develops at different rates.  D'un matin de printemps and D'un soir triste are delightful if somewhat slight, but her reputation was bolstered vigorously by her sister Nadia and her followers.  These pieces are heard fairly frequently (last November with John Storgårds)  because programme planners need to fill agendas about gender.  Owen's music speaks for itself  regardless of reputation.

Bertrand Chamayou was the soloist in Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto no 1 in G minor, which was  balm to listen to. No special pleading needed.  Whatever his sex and age, Mendelssohn had a unique musical personality which makes his music distinctive.  Søndergård concluded Prom 8 with Schumann's Symphony no 4 in D minor, in the version dating from 1841. This was his glorious Liederjahre when a stream of masterpieces burst forth unstemmed. It's not the work of an immature composer, but rather of one who has so much to say that he needs to get it down quickly. This version instead of the better known 1851 revision has merit.  The orchestration is freer and more spontaneous, textures brighter and livelier.  Søndergård understood why it matters that the four movements flow one into the other. They're so full of inventive spirit that it would be wrong to hold them back to make them "neat".  Great energy, even moments of quirky humour.  Low brass and winds blast, almost in parody of stolid ostentation. A vivacious climax, wittily and succintly achieved.  This version of Schumann's symphony is hardly unknown but how refreshing and vital it felt in this performance! 

Gershwin restored to true greatness, Messiaen Prom 6

BBC Prom 6 - Gershwin An American in Paris (new edition) and Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie, two of the 20th century's most iconic pieces, with Sakari Oramo conducting the BBC Symphont Orchestra. Wonderful programme, but pity about the BBC marketing, obsessed as usual with themes and non-musical targets, missing the music itself.  Sure, this is Leonard Bernstein's anniversary but the world didn't revolve around him.  Bernstein conducted the premiere of Turangalîla-Symphonie  but only by chance, and didn't like it, which may have spoiled its reception.  There's a difference between musical perception in Europe and in the US which goes back a long way.  Nadia Boulanger and Messiaen both taught in Paris but operated in different directions.  There are teachers who teach students what to think, and teachers who teach students to think for themselves  Boulanger inspired cult-like deference, while Messiaen's students developed in many different ways.Messiaen's   students wereore diverse, while Boulanger's were largely English speakers. Bernstein thus absorbed the values of Boulanger devotees like Copland, conducting new music though not the new music of Messiaen and his circles which included Boulez. Messiaen adored America and Boulez spent much time conducting there so it's ironic to ponder what might have been. 

When Bernstein conducted  the Turangalîla-Symphonie in 1948, it was way too far for some to grasp. One critic panned it for its "fundamental emptiness… appalling melodic tawdriness…..a tune for Dorothy Lamour in a sarong, a dance for Hindu hillbillies”. If ever there was music in Technicolor, this is it, complete with cinematic swirls of the ondes martenot which we now assocaite with horror movies, though for Messaien there were no such connotations.  .Sakari Oramo doesn't conduct a lot of Messiaen but his Turangalîla-Symphonie is wonderful because it seems to appeal to his exuberant spirit.  This symphony explodes with the sheer joy of being alive.  If it is oddball, that's good, because its energy embraces human experience in all its aspects. Why shouldn't serious music be blissfully happy ?  Please read my article Sublimated sex: Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie for more. This also describes Oramo conducting it, with the BBCSO at the Barbican in May 2017. This Proms performance was more sedate, though good, mainly because the emphasis was on Gershwin.  

And rightly so since Oramo was conducting the UK premiere of a revised edition of An American in Paris which restores its original verve and originality . The piece is so well known from the movie of the same name that we could forget how Gershwin himself would have conceived it.  In the heady days of 1920's Paris it would have been innovative and deliciously subversive. Taxi horns and jazz syncopation ! The risqué world of modernity blowing into the concert hall !  Thus the vigour of this performance where Oramo brought out the audacity and freshness so it shone anew freed from decades of perceived performance practice. It's so vivid that many will prefer An American in Paris in its more neutral Hollywood form. But that does not do Gershwin justice.  This edition (and this performance) restores its true context.  For more about the new edition, by Mark Clague,  please read HERE.  Like George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique (1922/4) it represents a time when Europe and America were truly together and in tune at the forefront of a New Age. Lots more on Antheil on this site, please search. 

Glyndebourne Prom : Pelléas et Mélisande, Royal Albert Hall

From the original production of Pelléas et Mélisande - note the pannelled walls

Prom 5 at the Royal Albert Hall - Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande from Glyndebourne.   This is an opera where meaning is deliberately elusive. That is the nature of symbolism : it can and should reveal different things.   Symbolism by definition means thinking beyond surface impressions.  The greater a listener's emotional and visual literacy the more he and she will get from the experience.   Without empathy you're not really alive. That's the story of Golaud's life. Even as Mélisande dies, he can think only of himself and no further.  Thus the challenge of  Pelléas et Mélisande.  There is so much in this amazing opera that you'd be mad to take it on surface appearances.   Should we be like philistine Golaud or like sensitive Pelléas ?  Alas, the Golauds of this world won't even get that question.   Please see my review Herheim Vindicated HERE.  I've written in some detail, but it deserves it.


Pelléas et Mélisande  is such an abstract opera that it lends itself to concert performances and semi-stagings, which is fine, but opera is music theatre, not "pure" music, though this opera comes closer than most.  An intelligent staging like Herheim’s adds immeasurably, if you pay attention.  Art exists to open up possibilities, to expand understanding. It's not a fixed consumer product assembled to meet customer specifations. Golaud finds Mélisande in the forest but isn't interested in anything but himself, and never learns. Allemonde is a microcosm of the world (that's why it's Allemonde) where the countryside is dying, like Golaud's arid soul.   But I was glad to,listen again at this Prom.  Orchestrally, Ticciati and the London Philharmonic Orchestra were less uneven than they'd been at the performance I attended when there were rough patches.   There were good moments, as there were tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. Perfectly acceptable, though not reaching the heights of true inspiration.

Again, Christopher Purves singing Golaud was superb. His timbre is strong, suggesting the brutishness in Golaud's personality, while also suggesting the terrified frustration that makes limited minds reject what they can't comprehend.  Making Golaud sympathetic is quite a feat but Purves pulls it off.   John Chest singing Pelléas and Christina Gansch singing Mélisande are good enough though not on the level of some of the greats who do these roles for houses with bigger budgets.  Chloé Briot as Yniold was a tad too womanly to sound like a terrified boy, though Herheim's staging develops the part quite well in relation to Mélisande and to the male/female aspects of the opera, which are often missed.  Good, reliable singing in the other parts and chorus.   Brindley Sherratt was also very strong, full of character. Arkel isn't so old that he's decrepit : steel still resides within. 

Light and illusion - First Night of the Proms 2018

The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall - brilliant photo by Daniel Curtis

An astonishing First Night of the Proms 2018 with 59 Productions, indubitably the stars of the second half of the evening, transforming the Royal Albert Hall into a pulsating blaze of coloured lights.  Fantastic theatre! As a community event,  it would be hard to beat, and it was great fun. The  young singers behind the orchestra will never forget the experience, and good for them, and neither will most of the audience. This is the sort of audacious flair that used to mark the BBC Proms in the Roger Wright era. This was a welcome change from the formulaic mindlessness that BBC Radio 3 increasingly descends to, where music is pushed aside in favour of everything else.  Has someone finally twigged that music is the goose that lays the golden egg ?  Starve it and you might as well succumb to Murdoch and Classic FM.
Anna Meredith's Five Telegrams was full of incident, the lights round the hall pulsating to big flashing chords and loud noises.  Sakari Oramo, with his customary good nature, gave the piece a good show, and the BBC SO seemed to be in party mode, so the performance was hugely enjoyable though I'm not convinced that it would have the same impact without the special effects it was created for.   Read more about it here.  Nonetheless, maybe at last there's someone behind the Proms who cares about music, as opposed to the tickboxes and targets management drones connect to.  The premise behind Meredith's Five Telegrams was the First World War which formulaic bots need to reference, willy nilly.  But the mind behind the programme was also musical.  
Before Five Telegrams, Ralph Vaughan Williams Towards the Unknown Region and Gustav Holst's  The Planets.  They're not connected just because they're part of the First World War theme show.  It's pure coincidence that they were written at that time. What they do represent is a change in musical thinking. "Darest thou, O Soul, Walk out with me towards the Unknown Region ?".  Quiet pizzicato footsteps  suggest tentative awakenings. Very quickly, though, the piece enters new territory. The boundaries of tonality start to stretch : Ravel and even Debussy seem to beckon Vaughan Williams forward. Though Charles Villiers Stanford is inevitably mentioned , RVW's true mentor would appear to be Hubert Parry, whose horizons were wider and more sophisticated.  Thus the music wells up with heartfelt new energy. "We float in Time and Space"   In the words of Walt Whitman, RVW seems to have found inspiration to head forth towards the future.
Holst's The Planets is good First Night material but, since it's ubiquitous, we might forget just how experimental it may have seemed when new.  Although the programmatic titles are so embedded in our reception, Holst initially planned to use non-descriptive titles. As has been said many times, Holst knew Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra, which Sir Henry Wood conducted at the Proms in 1912.  The Planets, while conceived on an opulent scale, isn't symphonic but composite, each section with distinctive character.  It's "modern" on its own terms.  Everyone loves Jupiter, but in many ways, Neptune is the most eclectic, gradually dissolving and disintegrating.  Oramo paced Neptune carefully, drawing out its exquisite textures so it seemed to hover in the air . "We float in Time and Space" all over again, without words.  A very refined, intelligent performance.  Familiar as the suite may be, Oramo wasn't doing routine  but seemed inspired.
Pulling this whole First Night together, Oliver Knussen's Flourish with Fireworks, in tribute to Knussen, whose death this week is a loss to British  and modern music on many levels. Ollie was a monumental figure in every way. As Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who knew him well, said, he  "was driven by the same need for artistic authenticity and never conceded to the easier world of ego and glitter. His astounding ear and acute understanding of works allowed him a control ranging from the smallest details to the main structure; his gesture was of exemplary thrift; his interpretations were models of clarity, deeply dramatic with warm concentration. His colossal erudition led him to make programming choices dependent on an original and very personal musical vision, nourished by an insatiable curiosity and never based on personal career goals, which he overlooked. A great servant of the music of his time, he influenced generations of young talents through his teaching, whether as composer or conductor. His humility and self-effacement in favour of others were a manifestation of his selflessness and generosity."  Knussen didn't write down all the music in his head, but he gave so much to others that his legacy will live on. He packed more into 66 years than some people would in several lifetimes.  Flourish with Fireworks is typical Knussen - lively and concise. It opens up possibilities. Therefore, a very appropriate complement to Vaughan Williams and Holst .

What's happening with Proms tickets sales?

Once there used to be a guy dressed as a clown outside the Royal Albert Hall selling black market tickets for  the Proms.  But what's happening now ? Every year there are some Proms that sell out fast, but this year it seems that quite a few have sold out within hours oif going on sale.  But go onto ticket agency sites, and there's plenty of choice. Try pulling up two windows - the Royal Albert Hall site and one of the agencies, and compare.  Take Prom 11, Mahler's Symphony no 8 which is bound to sell fast - gone within 2 hours. But 30 hours later, there are still 74 seats on one site..... Then try  a Prom less likely to sell, like, say, Prom 25 where there's a choice on the official site but "only" 64 left on an agency.  Or Prom 17 (British music) where only Rausing Circle was left early yesterday on the official site but quite a few left on agency (fewer now).  It also doesn't help that the ticket agency sites are designed to look a lot like the official BBC /Royal Albert Hall website.   Unfortunately, there are hundreds of seats which "belong" to private investors.  The original owners might have contributed to the Royal Albert Hall once, long ago, but now its a licence to print money from publicly funded services. Time to name and shame ?

Maybe the problem lies with whoever is holding back tranches for later release.  But why ? Not everyone goes to the Proms on spec on the day of the show.  Many travel from far afield (even abroad) and need to plan in advance.  Besides, how do we know when extra tickets are released ?  Why should potential purchasers be conned into thinking they "have" to pay exorbitant prices for third party tickets ? And disabled Prommers have hardly any choice at all.   If you can't even reach a seat, what's the point of discounted prices ?

So why not more transparency ?  Organizing a system as huge as Proms sales isn't easy.  But surely the BBC or whoever is behind sales ahould have a system where everyone gets a fair chance ?  As long as the BBC is funded by the taxpayer, tax payers need a fair go. 

Tickbox Triumph - BBC Proms 2018

A fake antique ! An early postacrd revived as Shell ad in the 1970's.

Proms planners these days pride themselves on working by formula. This year, it seems, they're working by robot, planning by tick box, not musical input. Lots of good enough things, though none of the flair there once was.  The First Night of the Proms (13/7) will be wonderful - big choral and orchestral British masterpieces - with Ralph Vaughan Williams Towards the Unknown Region and Gustav Holsts's The Planets with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Proms Youth Ensemble, the BBCSO and Sakari Oramo . Sure to be a rousing evening. But Anna Meredith's 59 Productions comes after the interval. It's only 22 minutes and so no matter how good it is, the concert's lop sided. But the boxes are ticked - British, women composers, new music, rather than thinking how best to present the music, as music.

The First Night for more challenging music will be Prom 5, with Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande , fresh from Glyndebourne.  Glyndebourne does things well, as music.  Pity the ethos isn't carrying through to the rest of the Proms.  The next night, another good programme, Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony, music so thrilling that it wows everyone, whether they like music or not, and with Oramo/BBCSO, it will be stunning. It's marketed with Gershwin An American in Paris, a valid connection but not the most inspired.  Personally I'm thrilled that Prom 8 (20/7) will feature Morfydd Owen's nocturne. Owen was an extraordinarily gifted Welsh composer, who died young, in 1918. (Please read what I've written about her here).  Music by young musicians is interesting, but a whole programme isn't necessarily the way to showcase them best.

Mahler's Symphony no 8, (22/7 ) with Thomas Søndergård and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with good singers, will be a big draw.  Mahler 8 is always something to experience. The tag "Symphony of a Thousand" was created by marketeers selling tickets for the premiere, not by Mahler himself.  It is a curse, conditioning audiences to root for quantity rather than quality, for excess, not spirituality or musical finesse.  

More British music on (27/7), Hubert Parry's Symphony no 5, with Vaughan Williams's Symphony no 6 and Holst's Ode to Death. It's the anniversary of Parry's death, get it ?  But it's a good programme and with Martyn Brabbins conducting this is going to be a Prom to remember.  One of my musts this year.  Two London Symphoniues (31/7) Haydn Symphony no 104 with Vaughan Williams Symphony no 2, Andrew Manze conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony.  August sees a parade of well known orchestras, conductors and repertoire. Many good things there, showing that music is alive and well in the real world of performance.  I'm keen on Per Nørgård, Bergen and Bychkov's Stravinsky. At least the Proms provide a platform for worldwide broadcast. 

Things liven up in September, the last week of the Proms when the mega stars arrive.  The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, with Kirill Petrenko does Dukas, Prokofiev and Franz Schmidt on  1/9, then Richard Strauss tone poems and Beethoven Symphony no 7 on 2/9. The Berliners are everyone's "local band" thanks to Digital Concert Hall, but there's nothing like hearing them live.  Andris Nelsons returns on 3/9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Bernstein and Shostakovich.  On 5/9, another "must", when John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestra Révolutionnaires et Romantiques in a Berlioz programme featuring extracts from Les Troyens and Joyce DiDonato sings La mort de Cléopatre.  Jonathan Cohen conducts Arcangelo in Handel Theodora on 7/7. 

Andrew Davis conducts the Last Night of the Proms on 8/9 with Gerald Finley as star turn.  Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens, Stanford Songs of the Sea and Roxanna Panufnik  Songs of Darkness, Dreams and Light plus the usual jolly fare.