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Double First
Aug. 19th, 2019 02:03 pmI'd also marked Sunday's concert, themed around early works of several composers, and decided to take the leisurely option of travelling in to London mid-afternoon. I found a place in the third row of a fairly sparsely populated arena, for the Ulster Orchestra's concert, conducted by Rafael Payare.
The concert began with a work I've seen before: Beethoven's Symphony No 1. Like the second symphony, which I saw a few weeks ago, there are obvious influences of Haydn and Mozart; perhaps more so, in this case. I was surprised to read in the programme notes that the next item, Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto, was receiving its first performance at the Proms, with Mariam Batsashvili as the soloist. The notes hinted at Chopin as a model for the work, with fairly conventional orchestration for the period, and innovation in the solo part. I could agree with that; I also felt there were one or two Schubert-esque key changes, and Batsashvili's performance also had a few jerky changes in tempo, but I don't know the work so can't really say how much that is interpretation. Certainly it was a popular performance, and as if that weren't enough, she gave an encore of a Paganini-Liszt Etude. Too many notes, as Emperor Joseph would have said, but they were all beautifully played.
The second half began with another first Proms performance, of Sofia Gubaidulina's Fairytale Poem. I've enjoyed other Gubaidulina works I've heard over the years, and this one too. The notes were quite helpful: commissioned by Moscow Radio to accompany a Czech story The Little Chalk, about the life of a piece of chalk that wants to be used to draw castles and gardens, but is used to write equations and geometric figures, until it is discarded. The rediscovery of the piece of chalk and the fulfilment of its wishes at the end of its life was clear to hear in the score. The concert ended with the piece I was most looking forward to, Shostakovich's Symphony No 1. It's a student work, but clearly shows many of the characteristics of the composer's writing throughout his career. I felt at times the performance was lacking energy, but it's possible that the lack of energy lay with the listener on this occasion, and the energy returned by the final movement, enthusiastically received by the audience.
The concert began with a work I've seen before: Beethoven's Symphony No 1. Like the second symphony, which I saw a few weeks ago, there are obvious influences of Haydn and Mozart; perhaps more so, in this case. I was surprised to read in the programme notes that the next item, Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto, was receiving its first performance at the Proms, with Mariam Batsashvili as the soloist. The notes hinted at Chopin as a model for the work, with fairly conventional orchestration for the period, and innovation in the solo part. I could agree with that; I also felt there were one or two Schubert-esque key changes, and Batsashvili's performance also had a few jerky changes in tempo, but I don't know the work so can't really say how much that is interpretation. Certainly it was a popular performance, and as if that weren't enough, she gave an encore of a Paganini-Liszt Etude. Too many notes, as Emperor Joseph would have said, but they were all beautifully played.
The second half began with another first Proms performance, of Sofia Gubaidulina's Fairytale Poem. I've enjoyed other Gubaidulina works I've heard over the years, and this one too. The notes were quite helpful: commissioned by Moscow Radio to accompany a Czech story The Little Chalk, about the life of a piece of chalk that wants to be used to draw castles and gardens, but is used to write equations and geometric figures, until it is discarded. The rediscovery of the piece of chalk and the fulfilment of its wishes at the end of its life was clear to hear in the score. The concert ended with the piece I was most looking forward to, Shostakovich's Symphony No 1. It's a student work, but clearly shows many of the characteristics of the composer's writing throughout his career. I felt at times the performance was lacking energy, but it's possible that the lack of energy lay with the listener on this occasion, and the energy returned by the final movement, enthusiastically received by the audience.