I, too, thought the encores outshone the performances, IRF – and so did my companion at the Prom.  The two scheduled pieces have ‘problems’ which are sort of mirror images of each other.  The Strauss has a very dramatic and very familiar opening which is, by its nature, hard to follow (a bit like Beethoven 5) and the ending of the Sibelius is so magnificent that, once you know it’s there, you can find yourself getting impatient waiting for it (a bit like Beethoven 9).  I agree with eruanto, though; you can overcome these problems and enjoy both pieces in their entireity.  In the case of the Strauss it’s worth remembering that this piece is explicitly programmatic.  The opening is, rather unfortunately, called ‘Einleitung’ which just means ‘introduction’.  The chapter heading in my Penguin Nietzsche is the scarcely more descriptive ‘Zarathustra’s Prologue’ but the opening scene – which we must presume Strauss is trying to invoke – has “one morning he rose with the dawn, stepped before the sun and spoke to it…”.  He probably had to raise his voice!  The other sections have names taken from chapters ‘Von den Hinterweltlern (of the Afterworlsdmen)’ etc  As eruanto says, merely knowing what to expect might, by taking away the shock of anti-climax, help you to enjoy it; but bearing the section titles in mind might also be useful.


Sibelius is 'Composer of the Week'; 'Valse Triste', according to the RT, opens Wednesday's programme.  The Bartok was wonderful - it wasn't just you, or, indeed, just you and me; everyone I know who heard it agrees.