Prom 30: Saturday 6th August ay 6.30 p.m. (NYO)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The National Orchestra of Great Britain is joined by an equally youthful soloist - Benjamin Grosvenor, who turned 19 in July: he plays the Piano Concerto by another young prodigy, Benjamin Britten. Russian-born conductor Vladimir Jurowski conducts the NYOGB in music from one of the greatest and best-loved of all Russian ballets: Sergey Prokofiev's take on Shakespeare's teenage lovers Romeo and Juliet. And the concert starts bang up to date, with a piece by Prokofiev's grandson, Gabriel Prokofiev - a concerto created for the astonishing turntables virtuoso DJ Switch. If you're over the age of 18 you can't join the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. But their playing is stunning, and their annual appearance at the BBC Proms is always a highlight of the season.

Gabriel Prokofiev: Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra
Britten: Piano Concerto
Sergey Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet - selection

Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
DJ Switch (turntables)
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)

Presented by Petroc Trelawny

[Tevot]

NYO concerts are great fun - and this one looks as it will be no exception.

I hope DJ Switch doesn't prove to be a turn off. Perhaps Benjamin Grosvenor can warm up and do some rapping?

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[PhilipT]

NYO concerts are great fun ..

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

[3rd Viennese School]

The CD cover for Gabriel Prokofiev is a gas tower.
Reminds me of the cassette covers I used to make!

3VS

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

This is a worse problem with regional youth orchestras, where the parents think it's perfectly OK to video the entire concert. They know nothing of respect, copyright, etc., only the the importance of "my little Freddie".

[PhilipT]

This is a worse problem with regional youth orchestras ...

That hasn't been my experience. The best non-Prom concert I've been to this year was the Hampshire County YO Mahler 2 that opened the Winchester Festival. Apart from one case of a malfunctioning hearing-aid (don't you just hate those things?) the audience were well-behaved. Perhaps having Winchester Cathedral as a venue helped. Also, one minor point - the ladies of the HCYO were far better dressed than I've ever seen those of the NYO.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm pleased to hear that. Hampshire's reputation is particularly good.

[makropulos]

I tend to avoid them nowadays. It's not their playing, it's that they attract an audience who don't know how to behave at a concert. Some of their supporters think the way to express their appreciation is to scream their heads off. The idea that the person they are standing next to might be a regular concert-goer who values his hearing is beyond their comprehension.

Well, they certainly knew "how to behave" tonight - no interruptions of the Prokofiev or between movements of the Britten.

Aside from the Gabriel Prokofiev piece, about which others will no doubt views, I loved this concert. I thought Grosvenor and the orchestra did a terrific job in the Britten, and the (Sergei) Prokofiev was - to my ears - really thrilling. Yes, there were occasional lapses in some of the most exposed violin writing, but those soon passed and most of the playing was not only technically impressive but supremely alert. Much more importantly - what a simply electrifying performance of R&J this was! Jurowski made no allowances for his youthful players, had a superb grasp of every aspect of the piece, and the results from the NYO were not only pretty exciting but incredibly expressive and tender too. I really enjoyed this evening a lot.

[gedsmk]

I didn't care for the new piece. seemed a lot of noise to me, and the attempt by Jurowski to be "havin a natter with the lads" beforehand didn't help, nor did the obviously staged fake applause and the sssh from the maestro in between the first and second movements. This was my first experience of Grosvenor live - he's wonderful.
R and J was well played, with some fab solos by the solo trumpet and a rich string tone at times that put the Bolivars in the shade. Moving to see so many of the players in tears at the end.

[makropulos]

I didn't care for the new piece. seemed a lot of noise to me, and the attempt by Jurowski to be "havin a natter with the lads" beforehand didn't help, nor did the obviously staged fake applause and the sssh from the maestro in between the first and second movements. This was my first experience of Grosvenor live - he's wonderful.
R and J was well played, with some fab solos by the solo trumpet and a rich string tone at times that put the Bolivars in the shade. Moving to see so many of the players in tears at the end.

You were actually in the hall then? The nattering (or whatever was going on) at the start wasn't quite clear on the radio - but the thing did get off to a rather odd beginning as a result. Perhaps it's a turntablisits etiquette thing... to be honest I didn't care for the new piece either. Glad Grosvenor came across as well in the hall as he did on the radio. And the players weren't the only ones in tears at the end of R&J - it really got to me tonight.