Shostakovich: Festive Overture, Op 96 Mahler: Symphony No 5 in C sharp minor Proms Festival Orchestra Mark Wigglesworth, conductor
This was billed as a special concert and so it was. Movingly, a scratch orchestra formed of freelancers who had not been able to work or paid to be musicians over the pandemic had been brought together by the BBC for this concert. Freelance orchestral players have been particularly badly hit by the pandemic, being of course not eligible for furlough payments. Many have been forced to find other sources of income – one of the double bassists on stage, for example, is currently working as an undertaker (I was sitting three rows behind him – see the Guardian photos and article about the occasion –‘There won’t be a dry eye anywhere’: the Proms Festival Orchestra – in pictures | Music | The Guardian) . Moreover, they were performing Mahler 5, which two months no-one would have dared thought possible – but there they all were – string section maybe a bit understrength (6 double basses for instance) but with quadruple woodwind, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones and 7 horns all in place! It was completely and utterly wonderful to see and hear a full late Romantic orchestra at full throttle. Not only that but the Albert Hall was pretty near capacity – by far the fullest I have seen it this Proms season, particularly the upper circle seats and choir, and the arena was rammed solid. Maybe people are less worried about the pandemic or maybe they really want to turn up for a special piece, which this is – and to celebrate the return of big symphonic works to the live concert hall
I can now say I’ve known this symphony for over 50 years (I remember buying the Halle/Barbirolli recording on vinyl from a record shop near Liverpool St station in 1970). I’ve been to many good live performances, Boulez, Haitink and Honeck among them, most recently Rattle and the LSO at the Barbican in 2019. I also heard last summer the famous Bernstein/VPO 1987 performance at the Proms on the radio. This performance though was very special and memorable, both because of all the extra emotion it was freighted with, but also because it was extremely well played. When you think that this was a scratch group of musicians who’d only had 3 three hour rehearsals together, the achievement was remarkable. In particular the trumpet playing, the horns and the timpanist were exceptional. The woodwind were impressive in the 3rd movement; the strings were very clear in the fugal bits of the finale but maybe lacked some final degree of heft for the climax of the Adagietto. I was sitting at the very side of the orchestra beside the double basses, so I can’t really comment on the orchestral balance achieved, though it sounded fine over the radio when I listened to extracts of it the next day. Wigglesworth I thought chose good tempi for all movements – not lingering too much in the Adagietto. The pointing of climaxes – eg the chorale in the 2nd movement – was extremely well done; there was a very wide dynamic range. Wiggleworth’s conducting was rhythmic and pointed – a wonderfully sprung feel to it. He also allowed some inner parts to come through you don’t always hear, without overdoing it
Let’s hope this is really a new beginning and we don’t collapse back into lockdown……
John's musical journey 