The programme was: Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 2 in B major, Thomas Adès: The Exterminating Angel Symphony, and Brahms 3.
It’s staggering to think that just on Monday the CBSO would have been performing Rhinegold with BOC, and they performed this same concert in Birmingham on Wednesday evening. They must have had very little time to rehearse these pieces and get down to London. All the more reason then to admire the quality of their playing, and of the interpretations. The CBSO had clearly decided to define their own boundaries in the RAH for their COVID-framed performance and to increase the orchestra (and therefore the utilised hall space) rather than fit within the RAH-determined limits of the ‘stage’. The violins and double basses were therefore extending way into the RAH side stalls. This seemed to me to be a good solution that increased the power and urgency of the music-making. It was great to see Mirga conducting – close-up I was more aware of her quite unorthodox (or so it seemed to me) conducting technique, with very little phrasing encouraged – her arms go up and down together – though with a lot of use of head and eyes for cues. Anyway, whatever the technique, it certainly gets results…..!
The symphony by Ruth Gipps was clearly a journey from some sort of innocence or calm through distress to resolution. There was a memorable main theme that was symphonically developed and worked on throughout. The work is in one continuous movement which, however, falls into several clearly-defined sections, with a tempo di marcia serving as the scherzo, and a nostalgic and heart-felt adagio to follow. The overall thrust is one of optimism, despite some shadows along the way, and the work ends affirmatively. While it had obvious influences from Vaughan Williams and had some of the qualities one might associate with Malcom Arnold, it seemed to have a status of its own and to me seemed a well-crafted and effective piece – another work I don’t know which I will buy a recording of. Indeed I’d never even heard of Ruth Gipps until the Proms brochure came out. It called for a large orchestra, and Mirga and the CBSO played it extremely well. It might not be a masterpiece but it was definitely worth hearing.
The Adès work calls itself a Symphony, and the programme note made a case for this. To me the case is not convincing, and the point of this Ades ‘symphony’, it seems to me, is to provide a summary and showcase, a set of profiles, for some of the brilliant and exciting episodes of music Ades has written for the Exterminating Angel opera. There were four movements with mad waltzes – maybe even a hint of tango – a la Ravel – and sinister quiet pieces, maybe also a glimmer of light and hope at one or two points. I found it – as I found the opera – extremely absorbing, and want to listen to it again. I am very disappointed Covid cancellations meant that I never got to hear a planned performance at the RFH of Ades’ ‘The Tempest’, said to be his best opera to date. I am really looking forward to his ballet the Dante Project at ROHCG in October (insh’allah). The performance by the CBSO was exuberant and overwhelming – a magnificent sound!
The Brahms I found less convincing – it is a much more difficult work to carry off, with an uneasy mixture of melancholy and raw agitation, and my more equivocal response might be to do with the way the RAH’s acoustics. conveyed the performance While the inner two movements were beautifully shaped and played, particularly the second movement, the first movement to me sounded marginally too fast to give room for nuances and pointing, while the finale seemed to lack – maybe the social distancing factor – a really powerful string sound (that may be because of where I was sitting, I will listen again on I-Player) which is needed to give a propulsive forward motion to the music. Also the final fluttering repetitions, like falling leaves, of the symphony’s opening theme in the strings seemed to be lost in the over-loud brass and wind chords at the end. The performance, as it faded into silence, was marred by an idiot shouting ‘bravo’ as soon as the last chord had sounded – he should have been summarily arrested by the ushers and interred in the depths of the RAH.
This was the first Prom concert I’d been to this year which was televised. An already squeezed Arena had even more space roped off to accommodate a giant crane-type object which held a camera ranging across the stage. As all the Proms seem to be far from full this year, it’s not a big issue, but I have seen this machine in use in previous years without taking up anything like as much audience space. I hope this is not setting a precedent for future years……!
John's musical journey 