Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2022

[jayne lee wilson]

Get uptospeed with the recent Barenboim here....

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/artist/123

The interviews are free if you register, or get a 7/30-day pass for the concerts (at 320kbps aac (like R3) or lossless FLAC, though I haven't tried this 2021 upgrade yet) in the archive...live remains IIRC at 256 max...)

[ardcarp]

I admire Barenboim for NOT always beating at the air with a stick or with just his hands in his case! It is perfectly possible for a fine orchestra to do its stuff with a few facial expressions and a bit of body language from the conductor. This applies especially in a concerto where orchestral players listen even more sensitively to what is going on, and conductor-interference can be detrimental. Yes, a conductor may need to set a new tempo here and there or manage a rit, but when all is going like a train, excess energy just isn't needed.

There are exceptions. One is where a work is new to everybody and may have a lot of irregular barring. Another is where a scratch or amateur orchestra needs bit more in the way of cues and tempo unanimity.

I've been meaning to write a post on this subject for ages. Now seemed a good opportunity.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I admire Barenboim for NOT always beating at the air with a stick or with just his hands in his case! It is perfectly possible for a fine orchestra to do its stuff with a few facial expressions and a bit of body language from the conductor. This applies especially in a concerto where orchestral players listen even more sensitively to what is going on, and conductor-interference can be detrimental. Yes, a conductor may need to set a new tempo here and there or manage a rit, but when all is going like a train, excess energy just isn't needed.

There are exceptions. One is where a work is new to everybody and may have a lot of irregular barring. Another is where a scratch or amateur orchestra needs bit more in the way of cues and tempo unanimity.

I've been meaning to write a post on this subject for ages. Now seemed a good opportunity.

I agree. Barenboim did much the same with a Brahms 4 (?) at the Proms with the West-Eastern Divan - a much less experienced orchestra than the BPO - just shaping the opening phrases. In contrast a few prom seasons before he was much more “on the case “ in the Boulez Derives - and who can blame him?
Echoing Jayne’s post I must have listened to his CSO Bruckner cycle several times in one of the lockdown and was very impressed.

[gradus]

I'm not a fan of Barenboim but I enjoyed the concert although I've heard performances of Spharenklange I prefer, especially from Boskovsky who conducted it with more affection than Barenboim imv.

[Darkbloom]

I recall a Proms concert with the VPO (Schubert 5, Bruckner 4) where they most definitely weren't watching Barenboim and the performance briefly came apart in the Bruckner.

[bluestateprommer]

You are quite right he said seven weeks war which makes sense as the seven years war was mid 18th century but he definitely says Australia I have just watched it again.

He did, but that's far from an unprecedented "tip of the slongue", as the Austrians themselves have learned to get some comic mileage out of that frequent-enough verbal slip over the years in T-shirts that I've seen in Austrian tourist shops, with words to the effect of "There are no kangaroos in Austria".

That aside, this New Year's Concert made for nice listening, certainly for a New Year's Day. I haven't watched any video of it yet (and there is one place that I should try to get to before it's too late), so I haven't seen the reported score scramble in 'The Blue Danube' on DB's part. It certainly didn't show in the playing, where once they get the downbeat, the VPO knows what to do (and deep down, Barenboim must realize this also), especially as the orchestra has already given 2 performances of the program each of the 2 days preceding. Just to pick one moment, it was kind of droll to hear the timbres of the ladies' voices in Carl Michael Ziehrer's Nachtschwärmer. Petroc did report the lady musicians' count as 10 for this concert.

I also make a habit of listening again to the ORF relay during the 7 days that ORF keeps the concert available on its website. One interesting feature to note was its presenter, Eva Teimel, who apparently got the call at the last minute after some sort of COVID-related situation took the originally scheduled ORF presenter, Albert Hosp, out of action, per this story:

https://www.heute.at/s/corona-orf-tauschte-kurzfristig-neujahrskonzert-team-100181942

'Wie "Heute" erfuhr, brachte bei Radio Ö1 ein positiver Corona-Fall die ganze Produktion in Wackeln.

"Eigentlich hätte Albert Hosp moderieren sollen", wusste ein Insider am Samstag im Gespäch mit "Heute", "aber aufgrund eines positiven Corona-Falls musste das ganze Team, das für die Sendung zuständig war, kurzfristig ausgetauscht werden. Es ist dann Eva Teimel eingesprungen", so der Insider.'

('As "Heute" learned, a positive Corona case on Radio Ö1 shook up the entire production.

"Actually, Albert Hosp should have moderated," an insider said in an interview with "Heute" on Saturday, "but due to a positive Corona case, the whole team responsible for the show had to be replaced at short notice. It's then Eva Teimel jumped in," the insider said.')

I started listening to the VPO New Year's concerts via American public radio back to the mid 1980's, when Ernst Grissemann was the ORF presenter. In all the years since, I don't recall the ORF presenter ever being a woman, until this year. So another glass ceiling may quietly have been broken without anyone planning it. Eva Teimel did a pretty good job, AFAICT, given that I don't speak German and maybe only grasped every 8th word or so. But she didn't talk over any of the selections (Petroc unintentionally got caught out once, at the start of Josef Hellmesberger Jr.'s "Kleiner Anzeiger"), and didn't show any obvious signs of nerves. Maybe she'll be back in the ORF presenter's box next year.