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JJ's (Un)Official Proms Thread. |
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#1 |
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JJ's (Un)Official Proms Thread.
I am not normally a big fan of the Proms. The acoustics in the Royal Albert Hall are not very good and I much prefer the Barbican or the Royal Festival Hall. Neither am I greatly interested in FM radio quality or TV Nicam quality broadcasts of music.
There is also a certain “anorak” flavour to the regular attendees. There is a large group of regulars who think that it is their divine right to be at the front middle of the open prom area. They all know each other, meet in the queue and shun newcomers who are not welcome unless they serve their apprenticeship at the back for many years. Very cliquey. Yes it all looks great and patriotic for the cameras, especially on the last night, but overall the “in your face” Britishness at an event that celebrates all that is great about classical music from all countries, is a bit much for me. I went once about 30 years ago. I enjoyed it but not enough to return, though I have been at the RAH for other non prom events such as Messiah. However, we now have high quality digital sound broadcasting available on Sky so maybe this year I will at least tune in regularly, even if I won’t be there. It all kicks off on Friday with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto played by the upcoming Janine Jansen, and Tippetts “A Child of our Time” with a bit of Elgar and Berlioz thrown in as well. I love the Mendelsshohn though I am not familiar with the Tippett work. I heard a very impressive aria from it at Cardiff Singer of the World a few weeks ago so I will definitely watch or record it. Let us keep this thread going for the summer and post our thoughts, opinions and reviews of the 73 Prom concerts. I also love rock and pop music but that is well served by 101 other threads. Here is a useful link and guide. Happy listening.
Last edited by JJ2005 : 13-07-2005 at 22:04. |
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#2 |
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I watched and listened to most of tonight’s first night. The Mendelssohn was excellent and it was an interesting experience hearing the Tippett for the first time. I missed most of the Berlioz as I forgot it started at 7.00
and I only half heard the Elgar as I was preparing dinner.Janine Jansen played a very credible solo in the Mendelssohn. It is not my favourite violin concerto. I prefer Barber, Sibelius, Brahms, Nielsen, Tchaikovsky and Bruch (1st), but it is still a lovely work and was very innovative for its time. In the Tippett Oratorio, the wonderful bass, Sir Willard White was immense as usual, and Philip Bostridge and the two ladies were very good. It is a fascinating work and had many beautiful passages. I doubt if I will return to it very often though I may explore some of his other works. Hopefully a few more of you will post opinions or comments. Otherwise I might have this thread to myself for the summer.
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#3 |
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Good post JJ
- I'll pop into this thread when I've got time - the Tippet piece is a beautiful work - good to see it getting another hearing
Last edited by Synix : 15-07-2005 at 23:37. |
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#4 |
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Thanks for the thread, JJ!
![]() I haven't heard Jansen before, but a marvellous performance of the Mendelssohn. She's not bad to look at either, as well as listen to. ![]() I thought the Beeb's little information captions was a good idea, particularly for classical newbies. And I was pleasantly surprised they mentioned in reference to the little heard Mendelssohn 1st VC, as I recently bought a recording of it by young Alexander Sitkovetsky (great-nephew of the legendary Julian). ps - disagree with you about the RFH acoustics - if I may say so, I think it's quite lousy. It's very dry. The Barbican's is great now though. |
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#5 |
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You knew more than me about Mendelssohn. I did not know about the juvenile concerto he wrote. I did not know Tippett was gay either.
Yes, I had intended to mention the info captions. They were an excellent idea though maybe they should be a bit smaller. I think the BBC allow a tolerance for those who have badly set up or old TVs and might be missing the bottom of the picture. Therefore they don't put them too close to the bottom. When were the acoustic mushrooms in the RAH painted purple/mauve? They looked good. I am sure they were grey or white last time I noticed, though that was years ago. Perhaps they are new mushrooms. There did seem to be more of them. Jansen is quite attractive, though my current favourite violin playing cutie is Hilary Hahn, the young American.
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#6 |
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ2005
Perhaps they are new mushrooms. There did seem to be more of them.
mushrooms will do as mushrooms do
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#7 |
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ2005
When were the acoustic mushrooms in the RAH painted purple/mauve? They looked good.
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#8 |
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I am quite looking forward to HMS Pinafore tonight. I have yet to ever hear it.
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#9 |
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Whilst we wait for something interesting to happen at The Proms..............how about 'Your Three Favourite Classical Composers'.............
I've got more Beethoven than anything else, but I find that the great works are great, but there's a lot of relative crud in there............ Probably my own fault for buying lots of his 'chamber music' which I never really got into.So I'm gonna miss him out and go for Bruckner, Mahler and Sibelius. I like the big scale symphonies of the first two and the clarity of sound of Sibelius. Come on, let's be havin' yer..............
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#10 |
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I have just watched and listened to Nielsen's 4th Symphony from last night’s Prom on BBC4.
I have all his symphonies on CD with Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony though it is a while since I listened to them. They are well worth exploring if you are not familiar with them. I might catch or record Mahler 5 on Friday. Tomorrow’s Stravinsky is of no interest to me. Saturday looks good with a late night Prom featuring Leila Josefowicz playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1 and RVW’s Sea Symphony. Too much great music and too little time.
Last edited by JJ2005 : 21-07-2005 at 04:18. |
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and I only half heard the Elgar as I was preparing dinner.
