Spot on with much of this. I don’t know if you were there live or listened on the radio but I couldn’t get over how quiet the piece was played by the orchestra – and not in a good way. It felt a little tepid and restrained, as you say, and it coloured my impression of the piece negatively in a way that probably wasn’t a necessary result of the music itself..
i was listening at home Rob, and i must admit i wondered whether part of the issue lay with the sound engineers – it’s not the first time this season music has sounded a bit too far off for its own good – though actually it seems more to do with the factors i pointed out in the article. Really want to hear another performance of this in order to get a better sense of where it’s really coming from.
Ditto re dynamics – I really wanted the orchestra to let rip at some point. BUT, certainly one of the more interesting and personal commissions this Proms. I found it often taking surprising turns formally.
Chris L
7 years ago
My initial impressions were that (1) rather than becoming bored by it, I actually liked the piece more and more as it progressed and I became more aware of ideas recurring (see point 2) and (2) at its most basic, the structure appeared to be something along the lines of AB(A+B). Subjectivity, eh…?
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Spot on with much of this. I don’t know if you were there live or listened on the radio but I couldn’t get over how quiet the piece was played by the orchestra – and not in a good way. It felt a little tepid and restrained, as you say, and it coloured my impression of the piece negatively in a way that probably wasn’t a necessary result of the music itself..
i was listening at home Rob, and i must admit i wondered whether part of the issue lay with the sound engineers – it’s not the first time this season music has sounded a bit too far off for its own good – though actually it seems more to do with the factors i pointed out in the article. Really want to hear another performance of this in order to get a better sense of where it’s really coming from.
Ditto re dynamics – I really wanted the orchestra to let rip at some point. BUT, certainly one of the more interesting and personal commissions this Proms. I found it often taking surprising turns formally.
My initial impressions were that (1) rather than becoming bored by it, I actually liked the piece more and more as it progressed and I became more aware of ideas recurring (see point 2) and (2) at its most basic, the structure appeared to be something along the lines of AB(A+B). Subjectivity, eh…?