A thread for comments on this year’s Proms
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I caught the second half of yesterday’s prom — this year’s opening concert.
Really enjoyed Errollyn Warren’s dramatic, newly commissioned piece: The Elements. But the main draw was Vaughan Williams’ oratorio Santa Civitas. I do have this on CD but hadn’t listened to it for ages and had forgotten how powerful it is. It needs very large forces, though, so rarely performed which is a shame for such a fine work.
Roger
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I agree Roger. I really enjoyed the Sibelius Violin Concerto in the first half as well.
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Samara Joy last night —what a singer! I’d not heard her before but I’ll certainly be looking out for her in the future. Jazz doesn’t always work that well in huge venues like the RAH but her command of that whole space was complete … and at only 25. Perhaps a surprising choice for the second night of the season, but one that really worked for me.
Roger
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I really liked the Aurora orchestra Shostakovich concert.
It’s basically in 4 parts ..
a) A (silent) actor/dancer plays (the part of) Shostakovich being interrogated for writing non Soviet music
b) The Aurora conductor plays (the part of) Mravinsky (the conductor who gave the premier of the 5th symphony) and he explains, with musical examples how the work reflects Soviet beliefs
c) “Mravinsky” then explains how – in another explanation – the work could be seen as a parody. Some of the passages in the symphony echo passages ion Bizet’s Carmen
d) The orchestra play the symphony
Recommended if it’s still available on the BBC iPlayer.
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Glyndebourne Figaro last night was great. I was lucky enough to see it at Glyndebourne in July. Listening to the audience it must have been fun to see last night (semi-staged). Such a shame it couldn’t have been televised. Still, well worth listening to on BBC Sounds if you missed it.
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Thanks for highlighting this Prom. I watched it on iPlayer and enjoyed it.
Musically, I’m not sure I buy the Bizet references suggestion, but agree that the whole Symphony sounds a bit synthetic and ‘assembled’. Mahler I can hear in places, but that’s true of other Shostakovich Symphonies too.
I’m a bit surprised that they didn’t link the dramatic opening theme of the Symphony to that sudden weird minor chord hiatus episode near the end of the romping finale of Beethoven 7th. To me it’s a direct quotation. Anyone else hear that?
Yes .. I have always wondered about the strange bit in Beethoven’s 7th (last movement) where everything seems to stop. Then he starts again.
And then Shostakovich uses it to start his 5th symphony.
Delighted someone else noticed it.
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I enjoyed that, too. My all time favourite Mozart opera is Cosi Fan Tutti but I love Figaro almost as much. I’m never quite sure about concert performances of operas, but this worked well, perhaps because it was based on a theatrical performance.
Roger
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One of the huge BBC plusses is iplayer, allowing one to revisit these during wfh lunchtimes come the late summer/early autumn, as long as they are still available. It may seem small potatoes but it is something that I can look forward to while the days get shorter…
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Louise Alder (from the aforementioned Figaro) is singing in the last night tomorrow
YouTube… 
Little bit of a let-down not to have Roger on the kit for BR…
Stunning version though.
It’s a good Last Night. Enjoying it.
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It’s always good fun, not to be taken too seriously.
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The arrangement didn’t really suit a drummer in that sense, I suspect he enjoyed himself on the gong!
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Star on the night: Elin Chan. Astonishing.
Ill-advised gimmick: Bill Bailey.
Overdone comedy twitch: “amusing” wrong notes during the Hornpipe.
Audience fashion winner: the EU symbol on flags, hats, t-shirts. A sea of blue.
Coloratura of the evening: Louise Adler.
Standout audience member: that grumpy bloke in the front row who didn’t join in singing that silly hymn “Jerusalem”.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy contribution: Roger Taylor.
Not something we usually watch but most enjoyable. Felt for Brian May making a few solo errors and then beating himself up in the subsequent interview.
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Sad to see it was Alison Balsom’s last night, not just at the Proms, but for ever as a trumpet soloist and a superb one IMO. I do hope she changes her mind, but suspect she won’t.
Roger
The Guardian wrote this about her retirement in its LNotP review: “…who, at just 46, has put her retirement down in part to lack of repertoire.”