Prom 13: Sunday 24th July: Verdi Requiem

[Chris Newman]

Nick Wraight,

A little bird told me the BBCSO really love Bychkov who is a free agent at present (and Manfred Honeck, though they have lost him to Pittsburg). In the past Boulez and Rozdhestvensky were got in by the orchestral players' requests so it is not unknown. On the other hand is JB due to go in 2012? He takes over the Czech Phil then but is quite used to having two orchestras on the go. I reckon the BBC are also after Lionel Bringuier for one of their outfits if a vacancy occurs at the right time.

[Prommer]

As I have said before, sadly there is not a chance in hell that Bychkov would take over the BBCSO...Berlin Phil more like!

[EnemyoftheStoat]

According to a Czech news report of Dec 2010 which I am unable to link to here for some reason:

"A year ago he [JB] received an offer to extend his contract but he did not accept it, saying his work with the orchestra was sufficiently long and it fulfilled both parties' expectations. However, he will be returning to the BBC Orchestra as a guest conductor.
Belohlavek will end in his current position in London with the last concert of the BBC Proms festival on September 8, 2012."

[Chris Newman]

A few early reviews:


Classical Source: http://www.classicalsource.com/db_co...ew.php?id=9403

Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...ll-review.html

Evening Standard:http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/...ll---review.do

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011...requiem-review

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Good one, IGI Will definitely listen to this on the iPlayer tonight.

Thanks mahlerei and Chris. It was such a staggeringly good performance, it was worth writing through the night to get the review up.

I don't think anyone who heard Lebrecht's R3 interview with Bychkov last Monday would imagine he'd be remotely interested in becoming chief conductor of the BBCSO. He said that he enjoys travelling around different orchestras, rehearsing them, making music together and then moving on; that way you have no reason to make enemies of musicians. He was obviously badly burnt by the O de Paris experience.

[amac4165]

Hello, amac4165 - welcome.

It's quite unusual to have a thread here where everyone agrees - so you're making this one human! Not a work I'm addicted to, but I may have a listen on the iPlayer later.

Many thanks for your welcome ! I wandered over to the R3 message board yesterday only to find it closed it November last year !

I was in a rush this morning - I left out a couple of oddities - firstly the "thousand yard stare" of Pentcheva. Secondly the "inverse" whack to drum size ratio on the 3 bass drums. The small drum got the biggest thumps in the Dies irae while the great 8 foot drum got the slightest of taps later on ! I saw it a few years back with the BBCSO and the 8 foot saw most of the action ?!

amac

[Ravensbourne]

It was fascinating to see and hear Sam Elliott, the tuba player, playing a "Cimbasso". In fifty odd years of concert going I have never seen or heard one.

Sam Elliott played the same cimbasso at the BBC Proms in 2008 when the Verdi Requiem was performed. It caused much consternation among the participants then, but was not mentioned in the concert programme so the press overlooked it.

[BetweenTheStaves]

I thought it a very odd performance - the tempi seemed all over the place - some of the sections were so slow I wondered if we would ever get home ! None of the soloists looked very happy ! the look of "wtf" is going on that Calleja gave Bychkov at one point was extraordinary ! I am not sure Furlanetto was on top form - as he kept holding his nose ! but he still managed to convey the operatic element of the part better than i have ever heard.

Overall I think the choirs came out best as I think the reviews are saying .

I'm with amac4165 on this one. Good soloists and excellent choir but those tempi !!

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Ravensbourne, do I remember correctly that for some bizarre reason, John Tavener scored for the same instrument in his "Beautiful Names", premiered back in 2007 and unheard of since?

[Ventilhorn]

I was in a rush this morning - I left out a couple of oddities - firstly the "thousand yard stare" of Pentcheva. Secondly the "inverse" whack to drum size ratio on the 3 bass drums. The small drum got the biggest thumps in the Dies irae while the great 8 foot drum got the slightest of taps later on ! I saw it a few years back with the BBCSO and the 8 foot saw most of the action ?!

amac

I'm very fond of this Requiem. To me, it conveys much more than the works of other more notable composers, who seem to have just set the Latin Text to music, with no understanding of its meaning.

However, I must agree with you that this was not as wonderful a performance as many in the past of which I have recordings. For instance: Solti with the Chicago, Bernstein NY Philharmonic and (in my view, the benchmark) Ferenc Fricsay with the RIAS Radio Orchestra of Berlin, with Maria Stader,Marianna Radev,Helmut Krebs and the great Kim Borg. [DG447 442-2] a Mono recording from 1954.

The Soprano sounded very strained at times and was wildly out of tune in places. Nobody would deny that the vocal parts are very difficult, but this performance made that fact all too obvious IMHO.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood and I should listen again but I am surprised at the glowing accolades that other MBs have heaped upon this (IMV) no more than average performance.

VH

[David Underdown]

It was perhaps one of those performances which works better in the hall than as broadcast. In the hall the atmosphere seemed electric from the start, with excellent choral work right from the opening. The 400 singers of this performance often actually seemed to pack a bigger punch than the 600 in the Gothic the previous week, probably due to the more homophonic textures written by Verdi at the really big climaxes. The "quantus tremor" section was a particular choral highlight for me (and I've sung it a few times myself, including being a member of the chorus for the London performance mentioned by Nick above). Yes the solos were uneven. Didn't care much for the mezzo to begin with, but she grew on me throughout the work, and I gather that Bychov had to read the riot act to the soprano and mezzo after their first runs through of their duets in rehearsal. However, overall it worked for me. The Arts Desk review states that Poplavskaya had a cold, which would explain her vocal issues, but standing directly in front of her four rows back in the arena it was impossible to doubt her commitment to the performance

[Ravensbourne]

Ravensbourne, do I remember correctly that for some bizarre reason, John Tavener scored for the same instrument in his "Beautiful Names", premiered back in 2007 and unheard of since?

Sam Elliott certainly played the same cimbasso on 15 March 2008 at Birmingham Town Hall when "Beautiful Names" was performed. I assume it was used at the premiere back in 2007, too.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Sam Elliott certainly played the same cimbasso on 15 March 2008 at Birmingham Town Hall when "Beautiful Names" was performed. I assume it was used at the premiere back in 2007, too.

Yes, there were protests against it outside Westminster Cathedral as well.

[Chris Newman]

I have just discovered this website. Those at the concert will have seen the camera going around the queues. It is a rather clunky website: I found I had to refresh the page between each speaker. The only way to find commentators after the concert is to look for street lights as it was still daylight when the concert finished.

http://www.winkball.com/walls/Eq1fqoa_DIWR/proms-verdi-s-requiem-at-the-royal-albert-hall

I met one of the speakers with his wife (Mr Barker on page 1) in the Wellesley at Waterloo Station. He reckoned it the best Verdi Requiem he had heard in 50 years. I have heard about 7 and sung in it five times and am strongly inclined to agree. I agree with Ventilhorn that Ferenc Fricsay's recording is magnificent and in a very special class but I could not live with the oversentimental Bernstein, von Karajan or Solti. Gergiev is let down by an inexpressive tenor. I agree with David Underdown that it was electric to hear it the concert in the hall. Someone on these boards said it was too slow: has he heard Bernstein and HvK who are much slower? It was very fast at times. Almost all critics are full of praise for the three scheduled soloists and repeatedly say the mezzo improved as she warmed up.

[johnb]

The availability of great performances on inexpensive CDs has been a tremendous boon (yes, even full priced CDs are cheap compared with some of the old LP prices). But, but, but one blight they have brought is that everyone tends to compare live performances with their favourite recordings. This seems grossly unfair, especially as the comparisons are usually with the small handful of truly great recordings, and when most those recordings are the product of multiple takes and extensive patching.