The Proms 2007

[knight66]

I will be there on Wed night to hear Mahler 9th.

Mike

[andy]

Mark, I just wanted to thank you for posting these. Much much better than streaming them from the BBC's site.

I have a request, will you be able to post Prom 23? Specifically, Salonen's piano concerto? I've listened to the web stream but would love to have a better quality version.

Also, I have a web host that gives me lots of bandwidth and space, so I could host some of these for a while if you're interested. Let me know and I can set you up an account where you can upload them directly with FTP.

[Greta]

This is going to be uploaded at Operashare sometime soon, Prom 23. Bronfman was awesome. Loooong applause! The Ravel and especially Berlioz also quite good.

[Mark]

Mark, I just wanted to thank you for posting these. Much much better than streaming them from the BBC's site.

I have a request, will you be able to post Prom 23? Specifically, Salonen's piano concerto? I've listened to the web stream but would love to have a better quality version.

Also, I have a web host that gives me lots of bandwidth and space, so I could host some of these for a while if you're interested. Let me know and I can set you up an account where you can upload them directly with FTP.

Hi Andy

I had a request from Greta for Prom 23, but my PVR has only twin tuners and was already set up to record two other broadcasts, so I had to miss it. This, incidentally, is partly the reason why I'm not posting EVERY Prom, as I'd originally intended (that, and the fact that I don't want EVERY Prom for myself ... oh, and also the fact that creating these uploads eats significantly into my day ).

As for uploading to your webspace, I guess that depends on how others feel about this. Is Mediafire working out for folks? I'll go with the majority vote on this.

I'm probably gonna prepare Prom 19 for upload today. Can't promise it, but it'll certainly happen in the next couple of days.

[andy]

Hi Andy

I had a request from Greta for Prom 23, but my PVR has only twin tuners and was already set up to record two other broadcasts, so I had to miss it. This, incidentally, is partly the reason why I'm not posting EVERY Prom, as I'd originally intended (that, and the fact that I don't want EVERY Prom for myself ... oh, and also the fact that creating these uploads eats significantly into my day ).

As for uploading to your webspace, I guess that depends on how others feel about this. Is Mediafire working out for folks? I'll go with the majority vote on this.

No prob about Prom 23... and I can imagine it takes a significant amount of time to prepare these.

I've been seeing good speeds from Mediafire. I just offered in case others aren't or it's a pain for you to upload there.

Anyhow, I appreciate the work and I'm looking forward to Prom 19.

[Mark]

No prob about Prom 23... and I can imagine it takes a significant amount of time to prepare these.

I've been seeing good speeds from Mediafire. I just offered in case others aren't or it's a pain for you to upload there.

Anyhow, I appreciate the work and I'm looking forward to Prom 19.

Prom 19 is ready ... and it's terrific! Time to upload it. Expect a link later today.

[Mark]

Here are the links to 13 tracks which together make up Prom 19. And what a stonker it was! Wish I'd been there. Mark Elder led the Halle in superb renditions of Strauss' tone poem Macbeth, and Nielsen's life-affirming Fourth Symphony, and reduced orchestral forces beautifully supported Joan Rodgers (stepping in for an unwell Lisa Milne, who had been scheduled to sing the song cycle, 'Our Hunting Fathers') in a wonderful performance of Britten's 'Les Illuminations'.

Prom 19 - Tracks 1-10

Prom 19 - Tracks 11-13


This is the last Prom upload from me till next week, when (hopefully) you can expect Prom 33. Let's just say I need a break!

Enjoy.

[Greta]

There is now video of Prom 23 at Operashare. Going to take forever to download... 

And what a stonker it was!

I have never, ever heard this word. Must be good! Will Ð/L Prom 19 later today.

[bhodges]

I have never, ever heard this word. Must be good!

Yes, I'm going to appropriate that word as well, e.g., "That new Elliott Carter piece is a real stonker!"  Reminds me of another expression that I'd never heard until someone here used it: con blasto, e.g., very loud.  "If you really want to experience that Xenakis recording, you need to hear it con blasto!"



--Bruce

[knight66]

I went to the Kurtag/Mahler concert on Wed night. The hall was only about 80% full. I imagine that was because the orchestra was not one of the greats. However, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was on superb form. They have the exciting young conductor Ilan Volkov.

I do not normally enjoy Kurtag, I find his music dry, but in 'Stele' he untypically deploys one of the biggest orchestras I have ever seen. The use of four Wagner Tubas may indicate the scale. However the aim was not to overwhelm, but to provide many unique sonorities by unusual combinations. Tonguing of trumpets with a cembalon being struck was a new sound to me. It was a highly complex and subtle score. The three movements are about loss and grief. The final one was especially memorable with its 10 note chord repeated in groups of five times. Volkov is very clear in his technique. He looks like someone who would flip hamburgers, but clearly knows his stuff.

In the Mahler, he did not go along the full-on hysterical route. It was a very sane and clear eyed performance. I prefer the heart on sleeve in the first movement, but it all worked well in its own terms. The second movement was genuinely galumphing and rustic without the hysterical edge. The final movement disintegrated at the end wonderfully and both the strings and the brass were magnificent throughout the piece along with the solo flute. Volkov managed to hold the silence for a long time at the end of each piece, only giving in after the Mahler when someone's mobile went off.

Mike

[Drasko]

This is the last Prom upload from me till next week, when (hopefully) you can expect Prom 33. Let's just say I need a break!

Any chance for Prokofiev 1st Piano Concerto from Prom 29?

edit: I've just tried to listen to it online and it doesn't seem to be available at all, just the symphony from the second part of the concert!?

[Justin Ignaz Franz Bieber]

A significant Prom indeed, the one I've just uploaded. Prom 6 contains a performance of Striggio's mass setting, 'Ecco Si Beato Giorno' ... the work's first performance in modern times. etc .....This Prom also features works by Lassus, and 'Spem in alium', Thomas Tallis' own 40-part work which, it's thought, was written in response to a challenge from the Fourth Duke of Norfolk to match Striggio's monumental mass setting. The concert begins with another, shorter Striggio work, and everything you need to know can be found here: BBC Prom 6

etc

Anyway, here are the links you need:

Prom 6 - Tracks 1-10

Prom 6 - Tracks 11-13

those links don't seem to work. is it just because they're kind of old?

[Mark]

those links don't seem to work. is it just because they're kind of old?

Try clearing your browser cache. If that doesn't work, post here again and I'll reupload as soon as I get time.

[Papy Oli]

I came back late from work tonight and caught only the tail end of "Des Knaben Wundetrhorn" on BBC4, just in time for the beginning of the Urlicht  ....first time i heard it by a male singer (in that case, Matthias Goerne)...that was just stunning  ...will have to check out that Goerne guy !!

Silly question though...I know that Des Knaben Wunderhorn is the basis for Mahler's 2nd, but is the Urlicht usually incorporated in the Wunderhorn recordings ? ...I have the Szell/Diskau/Schwarzkopf on GROTC, but Urlicht doesn't appear on it...  Would it just be programmed for the concert ?

[Mark]

Apologies to anyone waiting on the Prom 33 upload I promised earlier. It is coming, but I have to wait for tomorrow's  repeat broadcast, as once again, data breaks managed to screw up my first recording.

I'm also gonna capture Proms 43 and 44 tomorrow evening, so (eventually) I'll have a bumper crop to upload.

[uffeviking]

...will have to check out that Goerne guy !!

No better way than to get him on this DVD of Hans Werner Henze's best opera:

http://www.amazon.com/Henze-Triumph-Sohnesliebe-Ainsley-Salzburg/dp/B00068VQBI/ref=sr_1_1/105-4302788-5222808?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1187064042&sr=1-1

Goerne is available on a number of other CDs, but this opera shows him live and sing and act stunningly! 

[PSmith08]

Apologies to anyone waiting on the Prom 33 upload I promised earlier. It is coming, but I have to wait for tomorrow's  repeat broadcast, as once again, data breaks managed to screw up my first recording.

I'm also gonna capture Proms 43 and 44 tomorrow evening, so (eventually) I'll have a bumper crop to upload.

Any chance for Prom 39, Runnicles' Götterdämmerung?  It's a bit of an undertaking, I know.

I did want to thank Mark for taking the time and effort to make all these recordings of some really good music. Some of these performances are simply splendid.

[Mark]

Any chance for Prom 39, Runnicles' Götterdämmerung? 

Er ... would you be surprised if I said, 'No'?

I did want to thank Mark for taking the time and effort to make all these recordings of some really good music. Some of these performances are simply splendid.

Thank you, sir. It's mightily time consuming, but I hope it's worth it. I realise that some of my earlier links no longer work, so if I can muster the energy/enthusiasm once the current season is over, I'll look at ways to make everything I've captured more permanently available.

[PSmith08]

Er ... would you be surprised if I said, 'No'?

No. Not even remotely. A Bruckner 7th, Nielsen 4th, that glorious Beethoven 9th (I admit it, I was just in it for René Pape), and the forthcoming Mahler/Cooke 10th more than make up for it.

Thank you, sir. It's mightily time consuming, but I hope it's worth it. I realise that some of my earlier links no longer work, so if I can muster the energy/enthusiasm once the current season is over, I'll look at ways to make everything I've captured more permanently available.

You're welcome. This project is one of the more interesting download series that I've seen.

[sound67]

After two lengthy stints at the Proms in the two years before (ten days, and then a fortnight), it really hurts not to be there this year!