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brassbandmaestro
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« on: 21:10:39, 13-09-2008 » |
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With this year's season over What have your highlights have been? I'm still trying to think!
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #1 on: 21:21:42, 13-09-2008 » |
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Of the ones I attended, bbm, the Messiaen Saint François d'Assise was overwhelming; the Elgar Violin Concerto, and the Dudamel prom, especially for the Symphonie fantastique, plus the dramatic presentation of Peacock Tales. Of the ones I didn't attend (apart from Turangalîla, which I should have been at) I most regret not having been at Elgar 1 with Norrington.
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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HtoHe
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« Reply #2 on: 21:53:19, 13-09-2008 » |
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Overall probably Prom 51, if that St John Passion was really as good as it sounded over the radio.
Of the ones I attended it's a toss-up between Prom 2 - for the Elgar and for introducing me to the Finzi and Prom 64 for the superb Turangalila.
It must have been a fairly good season if Osud, Boulez, and a world prem (not to mention a sparkling Symphonic Dances) by the RLPO don't make my top 3. Can I give honourable mentions to them and to Saraste/Lugansky's Rachmaninov 3.
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richard barrett
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« Reply #3 on: 21:58:43, 13-09-2008 » |
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No hesitation for me.  |
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George Garnett
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« Reply #4 on: 22:12:01, 13-09-2008 » |
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My list goes:
Prom 20 Stockhausen Gruppen and Kontakte
Prom 41 Handel Belshazzar
Prom 51 St John Passion
Prom 62 Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester/Davis Sibelius 2
Prom 70 St Francis of S****horpe Assisi
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« Last Edit: 19:08:16, 17-09-2008 by George Garnett »
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #5 on: 22:23:08, 13-09-2008 » |
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I was an occasional dipper-in to the broadcasts rather than a consistent follower but four highlights for me:
The Stockhausen prom - I am a latecomer to Stockhausen; I had a bit of an epiphany a few months ago when I happened to listen to a disc of Kontakte (the Wergo disc with the composer doing the electronics) and was completely knocked flat by its breathtaking scale, ambition and sheer grandeur. This Prom confirmed for me the greatness of this work and introduced me to Gruppen, which I need to get to grips with further.
St Francois d'Assise - Messiaen emerged as the real hero of this Proms season
Roger Norrington's Elgar 1 - a revelatory performance of a warhorse. The slow movement in particular was sublime and the abuse served up at TOP was completely inexplicable to me.
Dudamel's Symphonie Fantastique - another warhorse given a really riveting performance, IMO.
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« Last Edit: 07:19:49, 14-09-2008 by perfect wagnerite »
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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BobbyZ
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« Reply #6 on: 22:44:39, 13-09-2008 » |
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Stockhausen for me. Incomprehensible why it still arouses such antipathy in some quarters. Prom 6 another good one, Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum maybe my highlight of the Messaien offerings.
The Chamber Music Proms as a whole were very enjoyable, the late night proms on the whole instantly forgettable ( ok, maybe not the Quartet for the End of Time ) I don't recall many outstanding performances of the big core repertoire symphonies this year and no visiting orchestra that scored a major hit.
Ruth picked out turkey of the year quite early on in a post at TOP ( the Ulster Orchestra prom ) Oustandingly bad but not in the class of THAT soprano for sheer awfulness.
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Dreams, schemes and themes
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brassbandmaestro
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« Reply #7 on: 07:16:32, 14-09-2008 » |
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Seeing Ruth Elleson being interviewed on BBC tv!!!
Apart from that, the Bx, Finzi and Elgar, with Kennedy playing the Elgar. Wow!
Sir Roger Norrington Elgar Symphony no.1
The Tallis Scholars late night Prom
Mendelssohn & Brahms, BBCSO/Belohlavek
Bax, Rachmaninov Vaughan Williams/BBC PO/Tortelier
Messaien La Transfiguration
Beethoven and Elliot Carter
The Halle Orchestra/Mark Elder
Beethoven & Mahler
The list goes on..........
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #8 on: 08:16:13, 14-09-2008 » |
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Lowlight - "The Last Night". A wretched tub-thumping extravaganza of nationalist nutjobs  Truly an appalling way to end what had been a memorable Proms season. I hardly dare imagine how this would have been reported on the BBC had it taken place in Venezuela or Iran. |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #9 on: 08:25:07, 14-09-2008 » |
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Lowlight - "The Last Night". A wretched tub-thumping extravaganza of nationalist nutjobs Truly an appalling way to end what had been a memorable Proms season. I hardly dare imagine how this would have been reported on the BBC had it taken place in Venezuela or Iran. I would be inclined to agree if I had seen any more than a couple of minutes. I have a deep aversion to flag-waving of all descriptions and I wish the season could end with the penultimate-night Beethoven Ninth. You're right about Venezuela or Iran. |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #10 on: 08:43:18, 14-09-2008 » |
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I, of course, can't "see" any of it at all... However, I was sitting at home plonked on the floor (fixing some props) and decided that a jolt of "Paddy" and R3 might make this dull job a bit more bearable? I didn't get further than about 17 mins in before the gag-reaction kicked-in, and I reached for a cd of some Berlioz instead  But at least all the props are now in respectable order |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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jennyhorn
Posts: 76
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« Reply #11 on: 14:26:23, 14-09-2008 » |
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1. Saint Francois d`Assise (the best prom i`ve ever attended for that matter)
2.Stockhausen-Cosmic Pulses
3.Gershwin Piano Concerto
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makropulos
Posts: 29
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« Reply #12 on: 15:08:08, 14-09-2008 » |
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In no particular order -
my highlights included:
Saint François d'Assise
Et exspecto (Chung)
Belshazzar (Mackerras)
Vaughan Williams Job and 9th Symphony (Andrew Davis)
Turangalîla (Rattle)
Mahler 6 (Haitink - somewhat to my surprise...but it got to me)
The Elder/Hallé concert
I was away for the Dudamel concert - sounds as if it was a treat...
Lowlights:
Maazel's perverse Rite of Spring
Belohlavek's zero-voltage Verdi Requiem
Boulez's under-projected and occasionally wonky Janacek concert
Second half of the Last Night - but that's more or less a constant source of pain and woe.
The most under-rehearsed Prom that just about worked:
Gergiev with the LSO seemingly sight-reading Sleeping Beauty but still doing a reasonable job
Narcissus award:
No contest: Gardiner's St John Passion, one of the most weirdly self-conscious performances I've heard even him conducting. I know others felt differently, though.
Okay, but not as good as it should have been:
Osud - Margita on ropey form, Belohlavek no better than usual - i.e. ordinary and kapellmeisterisch. I really love this opera, and we've been very lucky in the UK to have had at least two really outstanding versions (Elder at ENO, and the Mackerras concert performances with WNO) both of which made a totally compelling case for it. Belohlavek also used some highly dubious orchestral retouchings.
Really not okay - and a great pity:
The BBC Welsh performance of Messiaen's La Transfiguaration. A feeble performance that turned a masterpiece into a bore.
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Eruanto
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« Reply #13 on: 16:03:26, 14-09-2008 » |
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- A mention is in order for The King's Singers, Prom 26.
- That Mahler symphony with the Cowbells and Hammer which has a dedicated Facebook group, I forget which one
 - RVW 4 Prom 10
Lowlight: Netherlands Philharmonic, Prom 25  |
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"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set"
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makropulos
Posts: 29
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« Reply #14 on: 16:24:48, 14-09-2008 » |
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- A mention is in order for The King's Singers, Prom 26.
- That Mahler symphony with the Cowbells and Hammer which has a dedicated Facebook group, I forget which one
- RVW 4 Prom 10
Lowlight: Netherlands Philharmonic, Prom 25 I forgot about the King's Singers concert - it was a delight and grateful for the reminder. Fortunately I'd also managed to forget that grim Netherlands prom... Cowbells and Hammer = Mahler 6 |
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