Prom 34 (8.8.12): Schubert, Dubugnon & R. Strauss

[salymap]

I enjoyed the Schubert, gritted my teeth through the noisy 'concerto' and haven't yet caught up with the Strauss. A good concert though.

[edashtav]

How true! Yet again Bychkov proves that he can extract the best from this orchestra, and they respond so positively to his direction. The quiet playing in opening of the first movement of the Schubert was a delight, and was even more rewarding in the repeat. Hence, it was good to read in the programme that Bychkov is now taking on a more permanent role with them with the unusual title of "Gunter Wand Conducting Chair". Maybe not unusual on second thoughts, when one thinks of the special rapport that was built between Wand and this orchestra.

Pity about the concerto. These vehicles for the Labeque sisters (we had another a couple of seasons ago) give only transitory pleasure: a Battlefield concerto for 2 pianos and (very large) orchestra certainly creates noise but it became monotonous towards the end. By the skin of our teeth - namely the dying but ongoing applause from the arena when the rest of the hall was diving for the exits - we got the short Bernstein encore - which for me gave more enjoyment than the main piece.

I fair summary, Rasluap. Bychkov is good for this orchestra - and now he has a magic Wand. Fine Schubert & Strauss - the latter featuring a number of well-played solos by various section leaders. Like you, I'm no fan of the Labeque sisters and their taste in modern () music.

[bluestateprommer]

I suppose I should offer a note of mild dissent to say that after an initial "here we go again" impression of the Richard Dubugnon work (i.e. lots of notes perhaps to minimal effect), after a few minutes, I more or less got into it, and found it almost playful in its lots-of-noteness, even ear-tickling in places. Perhaps not the first impression that one wants for a concerto with the title "Battlefield", but there it is.

Both the Schubert and Richard Strauss received solid readings, if not world-beatingly revelatory. In the Schubert, I thought SB perhaps over-egged the pudding at the end of the 2nd movement, stretching out the tempo to over-emphasize a "valedictory" feel that could only be applied in retrospect, since I'm not aware that Schubert had any intent of just leaving the two-movement torso as it was. Also, I'm wondering if my ears detected a sparing use of vibrato in the slow movement in particular, since the strings had that type of vibrato-less sonority to me over the computer speakers and ear-buds.

Given the creation of the new "Gunter Wand Conducting Chair" for Bychkov, I wonder if it's a back door-ish way of making him the BBC SO's principal guest conductor, without actually offering him that title. For the superstitious out there, the principal guest conductorship of the BBC SO seems to have had the air of a poisoned chalice over many years, as JB once put it:

"I was told that the permanent guest position in this orchestra was a killer, that everyone fails."

Quote reference, for the record: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007...roms2007.proms

JB was the first to break that "curse", of course, becoming chief conductor of the BBC SO in due course (although him missing 2 of his 4 scheduled Proms this summer is obviously bad luck now). David Robertson just finished as principal guest conductor of the BBC SO, after 7 years, quite a run, but clearly without moving up the next rung on the BBC SO's conducting roster, so the "curse" may have reared its head again. It's a question of whether the BBC SO will appoint a new principal guest conductor around the start of the Sakari Oramo era, although having Oramo and Bychkov at the top of the conducting roster is clearly a sign of good times ahead for the orchestra.

[Roehre]

I suppose I should offer a note of mild dissent to say that after an initial "here we go again" impression of the Richard Dubugnon work (i.e. lots of notes perhaps to minimal effect), after a few minutes, I more or less got into it, and found it almost playful in its lots-of-noteness, even ear-tickling in places. Perhaps not the first impression that one wants for a concerto with the title "Battlefield", but there it is.

A very imaginitive concerto Dubugnon's Battlefield certainly is. I immediately listened again, and to me it seems one of those tightly knit works which start flowering in your mind after a bit of concentrated listening and re-listening. Certainly not a work to be "heard only". Too concentrated a music, which then gets the epithet "boring" and "going on and on".
But it is playful, has got his humour, and I am sorry that I am generally unable to attend the Proms, as this is a work I'd love to hear "live".

I couldn't be bothered to listen to either Schubert or Strauss. Heard these too many times already.