Sibelius, Tippett, Ravel, and Debussy

Edward Gardner Conducts the LPO:
Sibelius, Tippett, Ravel, and Debussy at the Royal Albert Hall

On the whole, the music from this evening's prom is relaxed and gentle. We start with Sibelius's The Oceanides. The seascapes come across soft and clear.

The second piece (The Rose Lake by Michael Tippett), follows in the same vein. Very relaxing. The only thing is, I am listening on the motorway aboard a National Express coach, and the juxtaposition is too much to bear. I'm wishing the music would liven up a little.

Arriving back at Liverpool One bus station, I pause the music and resume it in my car. Finally, the Debussy, I enjoy in the living room when I'm back home. The perfect antidote to all the chaos of the day. I was thinking La Mer may have been the same one played at my great-uncle Henry's funeral in 2021, but that was the Charles Trenet version. 

Image: Pixabay.com

The Planets and Star Wars

The Planets and Star Wars
Royal Albert Hall

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting on the National Express coach, en route to the capital. Promming tickets go on sale at 9:30am, and with some trepidation I give it a go on my phone, hoping the signal will hold. I'm in the queue for about 15 minutes, and when I finally do get through I'm disappointed to see that promming tickets for the day have sold out. I therefore have two choices: purchase a return or something at inflated price, or go promming, in the true sense of the word, on the 'relaxed' version of this show on Sunday morning. I opt for the latter, and it was absolutely the right choice for me.

First, I rid myself of all the stress of scrambling for a ticket tonight, snatching a £8 ticket with relative ease. And I get a free afternoon/evening in London, which I utilise to full effect. A perfect pint of unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell at the Duck and Rice on Berwick Street, a browse of IKEA on Oxford St where I pick up the bluetooth speaker I've been after, and I even pick up one of the viral Strawberry and Creme sandwiches; reduced in the Oxford St M&S to a very reasonable £1.64.

So... it is Sunday morning that I find myself taking the stroll from Sussex Gardens, through Kensington Gardens, toward my ultimate destination of the Royal Albert Hall. Beautiful morning for it!

As the opening bars of Star Wars commence, I'm immediately ignited. In actual fact, this ain't my first rodeo with Star Wars at the Royal Albert Hall. In 2018, I attended the ill-fated Evening with John Williams, where he was not able to attend due to ill health and hospitalisation [Side note: The LSO did him very proud that night, and it was one I'll always remember].

Caroline Shaw's The Observaory fills the Star Wars-Planets gap fittingly. It's a piece I enjoy very much, and I will endeavor to take time to listen to this in full, at a later date.

Then, of course, we have Gustav Holst's The Planets. Arguably the piece of music for the Proms - Jupiter could almost be the Proms theme tune [you know the bit... "I vow to thee my country"]. Yes, it is sublime. If his intention was to launch us into space, he achieved it.

While the strobe lighting and dry ice may have been absent form this show, there was noting amiss from the musicianship on the stage, and I had chance to properly observe the orchestra proper. The National Youth orchestra was inspiring: I really enjoyed listening to the short interviews from selected members of the group.

Arguably, this is one prom that has been missed by Radio 3, who are claiming to be broadcasting 'every note.' Not quite so. As a completist, I am glad to have witnessed this morning's relaxed prom. As for Saturday evening's version, I look forward to watching it back when it is broadcast on TV, and I will update this blog post when I have done so!...............................

From Dark Till Dawn: All Night Prom

From Dark Till Dawn: All Night Prom

It's Friday night: I have just finished listening to the two previous proms from today, and in the morning I am due to board a National Express coach to take me from Liverpool One Bus Station to London. Not the most convenient time to throw in an all-night prom at the Royal Albert Hall, spreading thru the hours of 11pm to 7am. I will need to break this down into digestible chunks.

That is exactly what I do, opting to tune in for the first hour from my bedroom radio. It's fitting, I feel, that this prom opens with a organ-centered, Transylvanian haunted house feel. As someone who has tasted the pleasure of shift work in the past, my opinion is that anyone staying up all night - whether on the radio or at the venue - needs their head testing. But despite my repulsion at the idea of staying up all night, I cannot deny that I struggle to switch the radio off after the first hour. The Pirates of the Caribbean organ music takes me back to St George's Hall, pre-covid, listening to Professor Ian Tracey reciting Bach and others on the pipes. [Side note: I was once told that Liverpool hosts the first and third largest organs in the country (Anglican Cathedral and St George's Hall, respectively), with the second being the Royal Albert Hall!].

There follows a Spanish Ale House session that I'm really enjoying, and, as mentioned, I find myself reluctant to turn off the radio, But turn off I must, because the morrow brings my coach to the capital.

When I awake the next morning, I'm amused and disturbed by the fact that the music is still running at the Albert Hall. I grab a shower and get in my car to drive to Liverpool. By this time the broadcast is available on BBC Sounds, so I pick up where I left off the night before, and catch another thirty minutes worth of listening. There are Slovakian ale house songs which sound a bit Celtic, and this is followed by some more meditative music (maybe part of the first interval, I can't remember). Next there is some Irish music and this is a tour de force. We party like it's 1699, and, according to the announcers there is a 'bar fight' on stage, which I was sorry not to have seen with mine own eyes.

On the final leg of my coach journey (Milton Keynes to London Victoria), I manage to catch another hour. 

Later that day I pick it up again in my hotel room, on the bluetooth speaker I have just purchased (a convenient coincidence) from IKEA on Oxford Street. [Side note: I bought it for £2.07 with the aid of a TopCashback voucher. Had my eye on it for a while and it will match the decor in my back room perfectly. I am made up with it!]

This prom is so long that I also need to catch up on other sessions the next day, including about two hours sitting in Norfolk Square, and finally about 90 minutes on my return bus ride.

Some personal highlights across the entire duration of this prom include (but are not limited to):

- The choral rendition of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love

- Saint Saens Danse Macabre played on the piano [you having a laugh?! that's the second time it's been played this season and neither time was I there - Grrrr!]

- A bit of Bach (never a bad thing).

- The smooth Eastern tones heard towards the end of the programme.

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To sum up, it was a very exciting and varied running order. Fair play to Anna Lapwood for organising. Some really great music, and the spirit and atmosphere of everyone there was likewise great.

Images: The speaker, and my evening view from Lancaster Court Hotel.

100 Years of the Shipping Forecast

100 Years of the Shipping Forecast
Ulster Hall, Belfast

There are so many reasons why this prom is special to me personally. To start, it's being held at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. I travelled to Northern Ireland for the very first time this year. Two trips: the first one was work related, and I was staying at the Clayton hotel just up the road from the Ulster Hall and BBC broadcasting centre there. While I didn't go inside the Ulster Hall, I took the litte free time I had to walk over to see the Rory Gallagher statue. I subsequently returned to Belfast about 6 weeks later, wanting to see more. I took in the Titanic Quarter, Peace Walls, and did a tour of the City Hall, before taking the train to Derry for a couple of days.

The second, more poignant, reason this prom is special to me personally, is because it touches a subject that is close to home: my paternal grandfather was lost at sea in 1979. 

It's clear from the get go that this venue does not share the same acoustic profile of the Albert Hall, as is evident by the sound of the audience clapping over the radio.

We start with the gentle theme to the shipping forecast, and then there's a poem (can I call it a shanty?) The music then takes us to more stormy waters. 

Debussy's Clair de Lune is very tranquil. Like a calm, but vast, sea. And there's a poignancy to Ned Bigham's Two Nightscapes Serenaade.

The highlight of the evening, for me, is Simon Armitage and the LYR. He runs through a list of all things nautical; from weather vanes and wanderlusts, and God knows what else. Later on he even throws in some modern dating terminology such as 'ghosting' and 'breadcrumbing' - don't get me started on those. In all, Yonderland is a joy to listen to.

We hear a passage in recognition of the RNLI (an institution even older than the shipping forecast).

We finish with some comic relief, in the form of the 'Belfast Shipping Forecast'. "Ironic, becoming sarcastic later" - one after my own heart.

A sensational prom!

Rachmaninov’s ‘Paganini’ Variations

Image: https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/erbv9r

Friday Night is Music Night, as they say. And it certainly is tonight, as the first of three proms begins, early doors, at 6pm! For my part, I have finished work, run 8k, with ten minutes to spare. I run a bath and listen to the first half there. The Dukas piece, thankfully, is gentle (no Mahler tonight, thank you very much).

The Rachmaninov is, as we are told, a piano concerto in everything but name. And the piano certainly gets a working throughout the piece.

During the interval I have a quick drive out to Lidl to pick up a couple of free bakery items I've got a coupon for - one of which I am intending for consumption on the coach to London tomorrow morning. I am still listening in on the car radio. When I return to the car I have missed the first couple of notes of the Bartok, but I'm enjoying it straight away. It has various feels, from mellow to chaotic, but it's all good. I settle down into the living room for the rest of the programme, with a donut and a glass of milk.

Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony (Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra)

 Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony (Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra)

Tonight is something of a spiritual homecoming for me, as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra  take to the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. The Liverpool Philharmonic is 'my local'. Indeed, I once went out on a date with a fine young lady from this troupe around Christmas 2021. Alas, we parted ways amicably but with no second date to arrange. I wonder if she is on duty at the Albert Hall this evening? I notice on the BBC website that this prom is part of 'Proms on TV', so maybe I'll find out upon broadcast.

The music kicks off with gusto. It's a modern piece - a European premiere, no less - called An American Port of Call. It's a bit chaotic, but in a controlled manner, if that makes sense? My mind imagines constellations of stars. We're teased with the clarinet to wonderful effect.

The second piece, Blue Cathedral, is a bit sadder. I'm getting images of walking down a rainy street, alongside a set of Victorian-style street lamps.

The Concierto de otoño is a quirky number, taking us on a journey, I believe, via four trumpets.

I don't catch the name of the next performance (is it an extension of the previous?), but its another trumpet-heavy piece, and it gets me thinking of Miles Davis. Not for the first time this season has my mind travelled here.

Image: Pixabay.com

There are some discussions in the interval about Liverpool's relationship with America. The slave trade is, inevitably and importantly, mentioned. What hooks my interest most, is the discussion about the Cunard line and the so-called 'Cunard Yanks', whom I had never heard of before. These were young men working on the Cunard line, bringing back American music and fashion to Liverpool during the 1940's - ultimately influencing the Merseysound including The Beatles. Must try to learn more about this phenomenon when I get chance. 

Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’, starts off quite sombre. But then the main 'riff' kicks in and I know what's coming. Something epic, that's for sure. The second moment hits and now I remember the hovis advert that was joked about during the interval. It makes me smile, but there’s also a longing sadness about the music when listening out of this context.

The third movement opens with what sounds like an echo of Beethoven’s 9th (ChatGPT confirms I am not the only one who has noticed this!). I recognise other parts of the tune as well: was it ever used as part of a Star Wars movie or video game, I wonder? (ChatGPT confirms my ear is correct again! Apparently John Williams' Duel of the Fates from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace has been noted in the past as bearing resemblance to this third movement of Dvořák's! - I must be becoming a bit of a classical music aficionado all of a sudden!)

It's been the best prom for days. And it is confirmed that this evening has been filmed, and that there is going to be a quick turnaround on this one. It will be on BBC Four tomorrow! I will come back to watch this as soon as I'm able.

Beethoven and Bartók from Budapest

"Beethoven and Bartók from Budapest
Royal Albert Hall

Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra bring Hungary’s greatest opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, to the Royal Albert Hall, heard alongside Beethoven’s ebullient Symphony No. 7"

It's a straight, no-nonsense start to tonight's prom. One piece of music - a Beethoven symphony (namely No. 7 in A major) - starts gently, with a feeling of strolling through a sun-kissed meadow. Flows like any natural water feature would do. Yes, it is very pleasant on the ear from start to finish - Beethoven is a mainstream composer for good reason. It works up to a steady gallop, and finishes with aplomb. Very much looking forward to hearing his 9th, later in the season.

Image: Pixabay.com

Image: Pixabay.com

During the interval I do the dishes (as standard), and during the second half I am preparing my meal plan for next week. I need to do this earlier than normal, because I won't be here at the weekend. I will, of course, be heading down to the Royal Albert Hall for my next installment of in-person promming!

The second half, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók, opens with a passage read in Hungarian. We have to imagine the castle and the sort of cold, leaking, tower. At one point there is a light spell of laughter from the audience, but I'm clueless as to what they found amusing. Then the woodwind main body of the music interjects and we're off and running. There's a story to be told, and I try my best to conjure the scenes in my imagination. No doubt it is a good story!