On its way.

I'd agree with that assessment, autoharp, but then that didn't really come as a surprise. Boulez's Janáček was pretty much what I'd expected - precise, clear, but also lacking in those 'rough edges' I'd associate with Kubelík or Ančerl. The Sinfonietta seemed rather underpowered at the start, although some players tried to give it some 'edge', notably the clarinets, which I thought were superb.

I thought the Capriccio was delightful. I was fortunate in that the piano was angled in my favour and I think its quirkiness came across well. I don't know the Glagolitic Mass that well, and certainly not that particular edition, but I was impressed by the power of the choral reading, that mad organ solo and the quality of the tenor soloist. The soprano was not good, although she seemed remarkably pleased with herself as she walked off, winking and blowing kisses to members of the orchestra!

I found the pre-prom talk fascinating - Boulez speaks, as he conducts, with such clarity and his responses, especially about 'tradition' were thought-provoking. Interesting too that, although he said their busy schedules meant he didn't have the opportunity he'd have liked to talk to Charles Mackerras about Janáček, he had listened to his recordings. It was good to finally meet opilec after the talk, and also to catch up with George on his widdershin perambulations during the interval!

Like Richard, I feel compelled to hear the Ančerl recording of the Mass, as I really like his Sinfonietta performance.

For a very good review of releases of the Glagolitic Mass, both the original and revised versions, look here (including reference to a live recording of Boulez with the CSO).

Hello to all I met plus those I didn't/couldn't

I enjoyed Janacek, but not all of the performance. 

From the very start, the Sokol fanfare just wasn't wanton enough.  And it's fairly easy to pin down why - I've played both euph parts before and there are two problems with them:  Firstly tuning the parallel fifths (the opening Eb is notoriously sharp on a lot of instruments) and secondly knocking out all those top Bs.  The players seemed to compensate by playing well within themselves (so the three split Bs were appologetic rather than heroic!) and this gave the trumpets nothing to sit on, in particular the bass trumpets were very tame.  I know you could argue that the instruments should all be Czech, played with lots of vibrato and in a mellow manner, but the fanfare was written to be played outdoors.  On horseback.

The rest of the Sinfonietta was a bit of a let down too.  It was exciting to see Maurice Murphy's name in the programme, but it didn't seem to make the orchestral trumpets any more interesting.  The bass instruments dragged a lot in the ostinato passages.  The tuba doubled several 4th trombone passages that he shouldn't have.  I could barely hear the Eb clarinet, surely a first!

I'd never heard the Capriccio before, and rather enjoyed it.  The friend I was with commented beforehand that the trombones were very brave to be playing on slides (although I didn't hear any accidents).  Perhaps percieved balance problems would have been helped by using rotary valve trombones?

I've only heard the Glagotitic Mass a couple of times before and not really listened to it in any detail, so I won't have picked up any of the editorial issues.  It could have done with a bit more rawness though - the horns almost had the right idea.  I wasn't enamoured with the Soprano either.

Perhaps the key to playing Janacek is how to cope with the often unconventional orchestration.  You can try and make things balance up, or just get on with it and see what interesting sounds result.  I think Boulez was taking the first approach, and it feels like many members (myself included) would have prefered the second.

NB (who was listening to more than just the brass instruments, honestly)

I havnmt had so much time lately for the proms this year. having to catch up on  iplayer

Sorry George, not meant to be showing off or anything.  It was easy for me to spot because I've played the 'prinicpal bass trombone' part before and know that 4th and tuba don't play at the same time, plus standing in the Arena I could see what was going on.  It did sound different too!

NB

I hadn't thought of it like that, Bryn. It did look a bit lazy, but the only reason I can think of for doing it is to keep his balance; with the LH going right across your body into the upper reaches of the instrument it can feel a bit hairy without some support.