The royalties go to royalty
Aug. 18th, 2019 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiFriday night's Prom looked like an interesting programme musically, but it had the additional attraction of seeing an unusual instrument: Queen Victoria's Grand Piano. I had set off a little earlier than usual in anticipation of a longer queue, and was pleased to get number 12; even better, as the piano was already on stage when we entered the arena, the division between day and season ticket prommers skewed a little to the left, and I had a place on the rail about half-way along on the day side. The stewards were vigorously broadcasting a "no-photos" rule, so you'll have to make do with the link above, or watch on BBC4 this evening. (Respectful of the owner's right to define the terms and conditions, I nevertheless couldn't really see a rational basis for the rule: the instrument had TV lights burning down on it for a couple of hours, and would be publicly viewable anyway).
A programme of traditional British (ahem, German) music began with a suite from Sullivan's Victoria and Merrie England. This may have been ballet music, without the words of W S Gilbert, but the deftness of melody and movement in the music was still typical of its composer. Adám Fischer conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment like the cat who ate the cream, with an enormous smile across his face.
Stephen Hough took up the challenge of playing the piano for Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1. The instrument dates from 1856, so it's a little late but not far off for the period. It certainly sounded like a period instrument and showed how much more sound today's conventional Steinway produces; most obviously it lacked much reverberation at the louder moments (I heard someone describe the sound as "nutty", which in a wine-tasting way somehow sounds about right). The orchestra were no doubt playing on instruments appropriate to the period, but I did wonder if they had scaled up in size to match the hall in the way a single piano couldn't. From the front of the arena the sound was fine, but I wonder how much people way back in the auditorium will have heard. I felt Hough rushed a few passages, but overall it was a fair performance. Interestingly, he gave a Chopin Etude as an encore; on its own, the piano sounded completely at ease in this more reflective music.
Hough returned after the interval, with tenor Alessandro Fisher, for five Lieder by Prince Albert. The variation in musical forces, with just a piano and a singer, was quite normal in early Prom concerts, but is quite unusual nowadays. Both piano and tenor did a good job.
The concert completed with more Mendelssohn, the Symphony No 3 (Scottish). Interestingly, I've seen this work at the Proms before, and with the same orchestra too. I find it a very evocative piece, suggesting rolling seas or clouds, Scottish castles or country houses, and wild and open spaces. It was a successful way to end the concert.
The queuing system works well for me on weekdays; not so much on weekends. On Saturday I arrived about midday and received ticket number 34, a position I hoped would be quite reasonable and in fact turned out to be in the second row. I filled the afternoon with a trip to Dulwich Picture Gallery, which deserves a separate post, and the Wellcome Collection. The concert was an all-Russian programme of works premiered at the Proms by Henry Wood, this time given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. It began with a suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's Mlada, of which I only recognised the Procession of the Nobles. Alexander Ghindin was the pianist for Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 - unusually in its original version rather than Rachmaninov's heavily revised edition. Ghindin's performance was spectacular, letting off all the fireworks without compromising on clarity. As if that wasn't enough, he gave an encore of one of Rachmaninov's Moment Musicaux.
The second half of the concert began with three short symphonic pieces by Lyadov: Baba-Yaga, Kikimora and From the Apocalypse. All were very energetic, the first two inspired by Russian fairy tales, the third more liturgical. Glazunov's Symphony No 5 completed the programme.
A programme of traditional British (ahem, German) music began with a suite from Sullivan's Victoria and Merrie England. This may have been ballet music, without the words of W S Gilbert, but the deftness of melody and movement in the music was still typical of its composer. Adám Fischer conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment like the cat who ate the cream, with an enormous smile across his face.
Stephen Hough took up the challenge of playing the piano for Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1. The instrument dates from 1856, so it's a little late but not far off for the period. It certainly sounded like a period instrument and showed how much more sound today's conventional Steinway produces; most obviously it lacked much reverberation at the louder moments (I heard someone describe the sound as "nutty", which in a wine-tasting way somehow sounds about right). The orchestra were no doubt playing on instruments appropriate to the period, but I did wonder if they had scaled up in size to match the hall in the way a single piano couldn't. From the front of the arena the sound was fine, but I wonder how much people way back in the auditorium will have heard. I felt Hough rushed a few passages, but overall it was a fair performance. Interestingly, he gave a Chopin Etude as an encore; on its own, the piano sounded completely at ease in this more reflective music.
Hough returned after the interval, with tenor Alessandro Fisher, for five Lieder by Prince Albert. The variation in musical forces, with just a piano and a singer, was quite normal in early Prom concerts, but is quite unusual nowadays. Both piano and tenor did a good job.
The concert completed with more Mendelssohn, the Symphony No 3 (Scottish). Interestingly, I've seen this work at the Proms before, and with the same orchestra too. I find it a very evocative piece, suggesting rolling seas or clouds, Scottish castles or country houses, and wild and open spaces. It was a successful way to end the concert.
The queuing system works well for me on weekdays; not so much on weekends. On Saturday I arrived about midday and received ticket number 34, a position I hoped would be quite reasonable and in fact turned out to be in the second row. I filled the afternoon with a trip to Dulwich Picture Gallery, which deserves a separate post, and the Wellcome Collection. The concert was an all-Russian programme of works premiered at the Proms by Henry Wood, this time given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. It began with a suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's Mlada, of which I only recognised the Procession of the Nobles. Alexander Ghindin was the pianist for Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 - unusually in its original version rather than Rachmaninov's heavily revised edition. Ghindin's performance was spectacular, letting off all the fireworks without compromising on clarity. As if that wasn't enough, he gave an encore of one of Rachmaninov's Moment Musicaux.
The second half of the concert began with three short symphonic pieces by Lyadov: Baba-Yaga, Kikimora and From the Apocalypse. All were very energetic, the first two inspired by Russian fairy tales, the third more liturgical. Glazunov's Symphony No 5 completed the programme.
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Date: 2019-08-18 12:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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