Grieg’s Piano Concerto

Grieg’s Piano Concerto

Royal Albert Hall

It's the final of today's three Proms, and the mental fatigue is cutting deep. I got through the two earlier Proms on BBC Sounds a few hours behind their live broadcasts, and I had just eight minutes to spare before switching to Radio 3 for this live broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall, starting at the usual 19:30 hours.

It's Petroc [Terlawny] presenting tonight, so I know I'm in safe hands. But wait a second, what is this interference? It sounds like a hall of mirrors, where the audio is repeating itself into infinity. Is it my radio signal? I turn it off and back on again, and when I return there is a a calm announcement saying something like 'we apologise for the disruption and here is some nice Bach music to soothe you.' Don't tell me it's a repeat of the MSO protests the other week? Seems like it was just a blip in the radio broadcast, and we are soon back on track, just in time for the music to start.

We begin this evening with Ruth Gipps's Death on the Pale Horse. It’s bleak to begin with, but, with a title like that, it’s to be expected. The imagery is on point, without doubt.

Next we have Lukas Sternath playing Grieg's Piano Concerto. In my most predictable quip of the season, I will declare that he manages to play all the right notes, and in all the right places. As I have already alluded to, Grieg is one of my favourites. This piano concerto offers some dramatic bromides which, while arguably not matching the intensity of the likes of Tchaikovsky's No.1, has a flavour all of its own. It's the unmistakable flavour of Grieg, and that sits on my palette like Dairy Milk.

After the interval it is The Beatitudes by Arthur Bliss. For starters, it is like we're lost in a vast forest. The weather ain't too great, either. Just had a look at the BBC Website, which says it is 'a cantata composed for the reopening in 1962 of Coventry Cathedral – part Passion, part howl of human loss, part musical prayer for a ‘troubled world’. I did already recount my school trip to Coventry cathedral in one of my earlier blogs [can't remember which one!], so I won't bother regurgitating it here. 

Photo: Pixabay.com

CBeebies Prom: A Magical Bedtime Story

CBeebies Prom: A Magical Bedtime Story

Royal Albert Hall

It's been a hot and sunny bank holiday Monday, though I have been working from home today, covering the fort. Not too stressful, with reduced hours of 10am-3pm, and it stays pretty cool in my old house. I haven't been running for a few days, so I do a 6k afterwards.

After all this, I am sitting comfortably in my tub chair, so I press play on BBC Sounds and today's Prom begins [a couple of hours behind the live schedule]. The Story Fairy is late and, not for the first time in my life, I'm wondering what I'm doing here [this is Taylor Swift all over again]. I think the story is that the story itself is lost, and we are on a quest to find it.

I giggle to myself, because the incidental music is actually reminding me of the Anglo-Amalgamated Carry On films. The orchestral music on those films was top notch as a matter of fact, but further to that I think we'll draw a discreet veil over the topic.

While I'm sure there's a captive audience at the Royal Albert Hall, somehow I'm struggling to imagine preschoolers being glued to Radio 3 at home. Maybe there's a catchment for those children who are being fed a deliberate diet of P.L. Travers, Michael Bond, and Beatrix Potter; as opposed to those on a more relaxed regimen of Cartoon Network and YouTube.

It's not long before I hear the beautiful opening of Grieg's Peer Gynt. I just love it: it's the epitome of springtime beauty expressed in music, and I think it's a great choice for introducing kids to classical music - well done whoever organised, I don't blame you for throwing that in! [This may well have been the first piece of classical music I ever became familiar with myself. I remember my parents had a CD of it, with a lilac flower on the front cover - might still have it somewhere.]

There follows a glorious roster including Pizzicato Polka by Strauss, Here Comes the Sun by George Harrison, and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Christ, the kids are getting better music than we adults are! But why not? In my humble opinion, the best way to get children engaged in classical music is to make it accessible in the first instance. Just play them the good stuff, and they'll enjoy it. One or two might even be sparked into learning more for themselves.

Personally, I would have paid good money to be there.