Gergiev - Rite of Spring

[Flosshilde]

Missed the first 15 minutes of this, but I didn't find what I heard very riveting, & the end was rather a damp squib.

[Alf-Prufrock]

Well, I thought it tremendously tight and thrilling.

[Flosshilde]

perhaps if I'd heard it from the start.

[Resurrection Man]

'fraid so, FH. Was listening to it in the car while waiting for the missus to arrive back from London on the train and got really grumpy when the train arrived on time! LOML tends to come back a bit hyper from London and the Rite is not ideal listening !

[HighlandDougie]

I was there and it was a performance which really needed to be heard as a whole as Gergiev's conception of the piece isn't about it being an orchestral showpiece but about Stravinsky creating a truly radical piece of music. Whatever, it made a lot of sense to me - and was a truly visceral experience. The timps seemed to be greatly enjoying being given their head by VG. Greatly enjoyed Oedipus Rex as well, complete with Russian singers and the fruity tones of Simon Callow. 2nd concert in a row where I've sat in the middle of Row P where the Barbican's acoustics seem least troublesome

[mercia]

Well, I thought it tremendously tight and thrilling.

having just listened [to the Rite] on a far-from-ideal laptop I have to agree with that - it was a sufficiently "different" interpretation I thought for me to feel I was hearing the work for the first time - all sorts of details I haven't heard before. incredibly virtuosic playing I thought particularly trumpets, all brass and percussion.

[MrGongGong]

I remember going to hear him doing The Rite at the RFH with the Kirov a few years ago and it being somewhat extraordinary in that I heard things in the well known piece that I had missed in the past. The precise difference between the Wagner tuba and horn sound , the balance between the strings and wind was completely different to what I was used to etc


but why isn't there are harp in it ?

always seems odd to me ..................

[Petrushka]

but why isn't there are harp in it ?

always seems odd to me ..................

..........and the cymbals have so little to do.

[Resurrection Man]

Just listened again...came to the same conclusion as before. Brilliant! The LPO can really swing under the right conductor. When I compare this performance to the stodgy one I went to at the Proms with Rattle and the BPO......The Gergiev was definitely a CIWIBA (Concert I Wish I'd Been At)