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autoharp
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« on: 21:31:40, 30-07-2007 » |
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Sibelius Tapiola; Britten Piano Concerto; Varese Ecuatorial; Debussy La Mer. Anyone planning to be there ? (apart from Bryn and myself) There's a busy Varese thread in 20th Century and member Dish has posted a link to an interesting article on Ecuatorial. http://browsebriankane.com/My_Homepage_Files/Download/Varese%20paper.pdf |
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« Last Edit: 21:36:53, 30-07-2007 by autoharp »
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time_is_now
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« Reply #1 on: 10:13:42, 31-07-2007 » |
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See yous there!  |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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martle
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« Reply #2 on: 11:28:58, 31-07-2007 » |
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Would love to be there, but have to be in. Still, full blast on the radio!  |
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Green. Always green.
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eruanto
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« Reply #3 on: 11:49:29, 31-07-2007 » |
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I'm going!
Looking forward to hearing Steven Osborne again: I had the privilege of sitting in on some of his sessions for Debussy Preludes.
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Tony Watson
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« Reply #4 on: 00:03:03, 01-08-2007 » |
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Was that really a theremin that was played in the Varese piece tonight? It looked like an electronic keyboard. Not what I've understood a theremin to be. Or perhaps I misheard in the first place.
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #5 on: 00:29:58, 01-08-2007 » |
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I've not seen the Prom yet, Tony, because I'm having to transfer last night's first. If it did have a keyboard, the instrument might well have been an Ondes Martenot, which allows for infinitely variable pitch as well as having the keyboard for more reliable intonation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes-Martenot |
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Bryn
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« Reply #6 on: 01:12:00, 01-08-2007 » |
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There were, as per the score, 2 Ondes Martenot, plus an organ (no, not 'The Sound of Jupiter, an on-stage electronic model). The 'Ondes' seemed a little quieter than I expected, from the Arena.
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time_is_now
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« Reply #7 on: 09:40:58, 01-08-2007 » |
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I don't think there's a theremin in the score, Tony. There are 2 ondes, plus an organ (which was a little chamber affair rather than the big RAH one, to my slight disappointment). The score is prefaced by a rather amusing note in which Varèse explains that the organ part is notated in the score as it should sound, not as it's played, 'since some conductors are not familiar with the instrument'.  Is it just me or is Britten's Piano Concerto, which I'd thankfully never heard before, one of the most tedious works ever written (save for a not-too-bad patch in the middle of the very Petrushka-esque 2nd movement)? If the 'replacement' 3rd movement, which he substituted 7 years after the premiere, is really an improvement then I can't imagine what the original must have been like! |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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richard barrett
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« Reply #8 on: 09:48:50, 01-08-2007 » |
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I don't think there's a theremin in the score, Tony. There are 2 ondes, plus an organ (which was a little chamber affair rather than the big RAH one, to my slight disappointment) See the Varèse thread - theremins were in an original version but the parts were thought impossible so Ondes were substituted in the published version, likewise a choir instead of solo voice. |
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time_is_now
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« Reply #9 on: 09:57:25, 01-08-2007 » |
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Sorry Richard, I have been reading the Varèse thread but I must have missed that. I'm also confused about the voices: I thought Bryn told me last night that a soloist was often used because V was worried the bass section of a choir couldn't pitch it accurately enough, but it sounds like you're saying the opposite. If the latter, I'm a bit surprised the Proms still thought it better to go for the massed option ('a priest or a line of priests', Paul Griffiths described the alternatives in his programme note, without saying which Varèse actually preferred) - surely there are good enough bass soloists around now, in this day and age and all that.
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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George Garnett
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« Reply #10 on: 10:09:11, 01-08-2007 » |
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Is it just me or is Britten's Piano Concerto, which I'd thankfully never heard before, one of the most tedious works ever written (save for a not-too-bad patch in the middle of the very Petrushka-esque 2nd movement)? If the 'replacement' 3rd movement, which he substituted 7 years after the premiere, is really an improvement then I can't imagine what the original must have been like!
I think I've heard tediouser in my time, tinners but I think even fervent Britten enthusiasts would have to admit that it is one of his weakest works. And my guess would be that it is one of the works that Britten-haters would point to as Exhibit A for the prosecution and as containing everything they dislike about his music. I personally thought Steven Osborne was a very persuasive advocate for the defence last night and that it came across as better than I had remembered it (which comment will no doubt confirm your determination never to waste time on it again  ). Agree with you about Petrushka though. I kept expecting the clarinets to come screaming in and turning it into Petrushka but, disappointingly, they never quite do. Buckets of (sub? cod? faux? hommage a?) Prokofiev as well? Just off to 'spin' the Richter/Britten recording to see what I think of it in the cold light of morning. |
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« Last Edit: 10:27:30, 01-08-2007 by George Garnett »
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smittims
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« Reply #11 on: 10:18:24, 01-08-2007 » |
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I love Britten's Piano Concerto and enjoyed it very much last night.
If asked to suggest the most tedious work ever written,I would think of Messiaen's 'Turangalila-Symphonie' or 'Bluebeard's Castle' but as I know they are favourites of some listeners I'd probably be blasted by a long sermon from some Oxford Graduate.
Seriously,though ,the most tediuos music ever written is probably long-forgotten,some failed 19th century opera or ballet...
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #12 on: 10:29:14, 01-08-2007 » |
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I don't like Britten's Piano Concerto nearly as much as I like most of his output, but I thought Steven Osborne's playing was very persuasive indeed, and if I'd never heard it before I might have been quite excited - but you're right, piano music wasn't his forte. It was written when he was still at the "brilliant but brittle" stage, typical of much of the 1930s (not just him), and very influenced by Auden etc into being clever for the sake of it. I find the joie de vivre and ebullience rather touching, though - you hear it again in the Spring Symphony. I certainly don't find it tedious.
I do wish that I'd been there at the first performance, when he was 24, to hear him play it. He wrote in a letter to Ralph Hawkes, "It wasn't as impossible to play as I'd feared"!
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eruanto
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« Reply #13 on: 10:33:19, 01-08-2007 » |
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The 'Ondes' seemed a little quieter than I expected, from the Arena. All apart from one note which (on the front row) was painful!! ow! The Proms are being dreadfully attended at the moment... at 4 pm yesterday the queue consisted of the same number of people! Hopefully tonight's Mahler will do something to alleviate that |
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martle
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« Reply #14 on: 10:35:58, 01-08-2007 » |
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I've always had a soft spot for the piano concerto, having worn out my Richter/Britten LP as a teenager. But, dating from exactly the same period, I now reckon the violin concerto is the stronger piece (more seriously 'committed', bolder in design, more relaxed in its handling of material and orchestration). Niether gets played much, though...
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Green. Always green.
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