BBC Proms 2023

[Roasted Swan]

So the concert prospectus for this year has been published today.  My personal touchstone is British Music - so Walton reasonably well represented (Violin Conc/Symphony 1 (Wilson-Sinfonia of London - guess what they'll be recording this August.....)/Belshazzar's Feast - the latter labelled a "Choral Symphony" by the wise copy writers of the BBC).  Elgar gets Enigma/In The South/ Violin Conc.  All hail there is even Grace Williams' Violin Concerto too.   Just 1 piece by Britten (YPG), and Holst (The Planets - such a surprise), RVW gets only "A Lark" in Great Yarmouth - no I don't know why either......

But of those "missing in action";
Bax
Delius
Bridge
Bliss
Arnold
Parry (not counting Jerusalem on the Last Night)
Stanford
Brian
Moeran
Howells
Bantock
Alwyn
Grainger


And don't even bother looking for the likes of: Arnell/Rawsthorne/Bush/Fricker/Joubert/Leighton/Mathias/Hoddinott/Foulds/Hadley/Sainton .... etc etc - add other names as you wish!  Basically if you can think of a British composer - they won't be represented - not even the likes of Turnage or MacMillan. 

Part of the frustration is the "tokenism".  So last year the likes of Ruth Gipps or Ethel Smyth do get representation but instead of following that up this year with a bit more exposure - they've had their boxes ticked and can be ignored for another decade.  The only way any of this music will gain ground is by repeated exposure.

Of course, next to no Latin-American music either or composers such as Braga-Santos but lots of Rachmaninov this anniversary year (which is OK but hard no to just see this ticking the populist box as much as anything) and Coleridge-Taylor is another composer to get the rose-tinted spectacle treatment.

Gimmick of the year is The Rite of Spring performed from memory.  Nobody actually asks if the conductor is good interpreter or the orchestra particularly fine, just that they play music from memory makes them "special".  More of a circus act to my mind.  Impressive but without any justification in terms of adding substantively to the work as we know it.  I'm also impressed by people who juggle while walking tight-ropes.

[Biffo]

I have never been a fan of The Proms or the RAH as a music venue. I lived in London for 13 years and never attended a single Proms concert.

I know The Proms mean a lot to some people. In this forum (and others) there used to be great anticipation of the new season and discussion of the concerts but this seems to have tailed off in recent years.

I occasionally used to listen to broadcasts but have found less and less to tempt me. The Last Night is now a complete non-starter for me.

I get introduced to new composers and works through this forum and recommendations form recording companies.

[Irons]

Prom 24 will be a special event with Felix Klieser as soloist in Mozart Horn Concertos. Klieser is without arms and plays his instrument with his feet.

[vandermolen]

Thanks RS.
Usual dismal, unimaginatively conservative programme.
Because of VW's 150th birthday last year, as a reaction-formation, they do next to nothing this year, apart from the ubiquitous Lark. I always look forward to the Proms programme every year and am always disappointed.

[Maestro267]

Maybe stop looking forward to it then. As I said in another thread, all classical concerts need asses in seats so they've gotta go conservative or we get no concerts at all. Be grateful they've managed to put together anything.

[Roasted Swan]

Prom 24 will be a special event with Felix Klieser as soloist in Mozart Horn Concertos. Klieser is without arms and plays his instrument with his feet.

that is extraordinary - I had no idea.

[vandermolen]

Maybe stop looking forward to it then. As I said in another thread, all classical concerts need asses in seats so they've gotta go conservative or we get no concerts at all. Be grateful they've managed to put together anything.

A fair point - but I still find it dispiriting.

PS Herrmann's Suite from Psycho with Prokofiev's 3rd Symphony looks good as does Rachmaninov's 'The Bells' and Shostakovich's 5th Symphony - also Copland's 3rd Symphony and Walton's 1st Symphony (on different occasions).

[Maestro267]

It's also a rare opportunity for classical concerts on television.

[vandermolen]

Well yes ... but you can hear any of those in pretty much any normal London concert season.  For example, I'll be hearing The Bells (along with Scriabin's Prometheus) next month with a fantastic set of performers, in much better surroundings.  So what is the point of The Proms?  I mean, look at it.  Beethoven Symphonies 5 & 9.  Rachmaninov Piano Concertos 2 & 3 plus Paganini Variations.  Shostakovich Symphonies 5 & 10.  And so on.  Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri did cause me to perk up momentarily ... until I realised it was (of course) Rattle and the LSO, whose recording is possibly my least favourite of the eleven I own.

My partner's response to my perennial complaints on this subject is that The Proms is not for people like me who regularly go to concerts anyway.  It's a once-a-year outing for people who normally don't go to concerts.  And I should shut my yap.

A fair point and while I bemoan the absence of Moeran, Bax etc on the rare occasions when they are performed the Albert Hall is only about half full.

[Brian]

I have very fond memories of my Proms year in 2011: the Gothic Symphony, the Glagolitic Mass, the Inextinguishable, Enigma Variations (as, nostalgically, my final concert as a UK resident), and of course the night when I was at a concert while rioters smashed in my neighborhood Co-op.

Chandos doesn't need Wilson to do Walton because Gardner already did a fantastic job of it.

Agree strongly about the "tokenism" of playing and then forgetting composers. I have spoken to some composers here who can tell the difference between orchestras that just want to tick a box and orchestras that want to build lasting relationships.

[vandermolen]

Chandos doesn't need Wilson to do Walton because Gardner already did a fantastic job of it.

And better still IMO is Bryden Thomson.

[Papy Oli]

Andrea Tarrodi - Birds of Paradise
Beethoven Symphony - No. 1 in C major
Interval
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, interspersed with folk music improvisations

Ale Carr - cittern
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Pekka Kuusisto - violin/conductor

I watched the above BBC Prom #4 on TV Sunday night, in the hope that would be something that my beloved wouldn't mind too much in the background. 

The new work by Tarrodi was inspired by Attenborough's nature documentaries, particularly the dances of the Birds of Paradise. It was ok but it didn't warrant the overly ecstatic response from the presenter and pundits. Also, I found that the BBC showing videos of the actual Attenborough documentaries while the music played was a hindrance. Surely, the music should be able to take you "somewhere" without the images. even more of a hindrance when the "timing" of the images was never in sync with the music heard...anyway...

Beethoven 1 was chirpy and highly enjoyable... until the conductor asked the crowd to join in and "sing" along in the last movement, maybe 3 minutes from the end of the work. Apparently, this particular moment was highly hoped for by the presenter, pundits and audience members as this conductor did this also in his previous prom visit. Killed it for me.

now Vivaldi. I was sort of open minded and curious about this interspersing of folk improvisations before each season. From memory, there was one sort of Irish Jig, an improvisation of the Lark ascending I think, one Swedish folk song, can't remember the fourth one. The Cittern was a nice sounding instrument and interesting in itself but the improvisations, pleasant as they were as standalone, never really merged into their respective season, too jarring as additions to Vivaldi's work. With my sarky hat on, before thinking about adding some odd improvisations, maybe Kuusisto should have focused on nailing the Seasons themselves. Some of his violin playing was err...over-enthusiatic and iffy. Some facial reactions from the violin section and Cellos were were worth catching.   

Two moments where the conductor got it right : he politely asked the crowd not to clap after *every* seasons' subsections. Roughly, "It was nice of you to clap but there are loooots of movements...we don't want to be here all night sort of thing ...but thank you".

In the Finnish nonsensical folk singalong encore, he slowly dropped his hand down to ask the crowd to politely not clap at all, as they were really not in the right tempo. My partner did tap along on her laptop during the famous bits of the 4 Seasons. I understood where Kuusisto was coming from, as I begged her to try and do it in time too 

Judging by the reactions on #BBCPROMS, 99% of the posts were highly positive about it all. Guess this wasn't for me.

Edit: BBC link   https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nwx7

[Papy Oli]

On the other hand, There is a "Prom in Derry/Londonderry" available for streaming on Radio 3 / BBC Sounds that is worth some time. It is focused on William Byrd and performed by Stile Antico.

I have listened up to the interval and need to resume this one. Superb singing.
 
William Byrd
Emendemus in melius(3 mins)
O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth(3 mins)
Sing joyfully unto God our strength(3 mins)
Great Service – Nunc dimittis(5 mins)
Vide, Domine, afflictionem nostram(6 mins)
Haec dies(3 mins)
Ne irascaris, Domine(10 mins)

INTERVAL

William Byrd
Retire my soul(5 mins)
Ave verum corpus(4 mins)
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes(3 mins)
Optimam partem elegit(3 mins)
Factus est repente(2 mins)
Mass for Four Voices – Agnus Dei(4 mins)
Thomas Morley
Domine Dominus noster(3 mins)
Peter Philips
Ecce vicit Leo(3 mins)
Thomas Tomkins
Too much I once lamented(4 mins)
William Byrd
Laudibus in sanctis(5 mins)

Performers
Stile Antico

edit: BBC link https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001npjr

[brewski]

Like many of the commenters above, I don't follow the Proms that closely, but as a fan of the artists, and after a review in The Guardian of the concert below, I'll be checking out this one.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nnt6

BBC Philharmonic
Mark Wigglesworth, conductor
Sir Stephen Hough, piano

Grace-Evangeline Mason: Ablaze The Moon
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1
Encore: Anton Rubinstein: Melody In F Major
Mahler: Symphony No. 1

-Bruce

[Abdel Ove Allhan]

Another Brit composer that probably won't get represented anytime soon at Proms, but heartily deserves it is Tippett. His Concerto for Orchestra and Corelli Fantasia as well as his symphonies and piano concerto are marvelous works that seem to get short shrift. Also his Concerto for Double String Orchestra is wonderfully accessible.

[Luke]

I totally agree - Tippett is one my strongest musical passions - except to note that, happily, he seems to be getting slightly longer shrift as time passes. The well-publicised publication of the big Oliver Soden biography may have played a part in this, as might articles like this one from Ed Gardner...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/23/michael-tippett-the-midsummer-marriage-edward-gardner

At all events, those who ought to know certainly feel that times are slowly shifting:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/16/a-welcome-revival-for-michael-tippett

As Bowen points out in that letter:

As happened with a number of composers in the past such as Handel, Mozart and Elgar, fame during Tippett's lifetime was subsequently lost, but looks likely to be revived soon. Not that he would ever have worried. He laughed at all the criticism and abuse he received and put his faith in the young.