The only thing that these two events have in common is that I was unable to see the entire stage at both shows! The difference being that the Royal Albert Hall had warned me beforehand and these were the only seats available to me when I had booked them a week ago. Clearly I need to think a little bit more ahead when it comes to booking seats for concerts.
"Why not Prom?" I hear some of you wonder, and my answer is simply because I didn't think I would be able to stand through a Chopin Piano Concerto and fully appreciate it. I felt I would enjoy it more seated.
The evening consisted of:
- Berlioz: Overture 'Le Corsaire'
- Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2, piano played by Nelson Freire
- Roussel: Symphony No. 3
- Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe - Suite No. 2
The BBC orchestra were conducted by Lionel Bringuier.
I chose this concert because I was going with a friend who loves classical music to the point where she doesn't want to hear the usual run of the mill classic FM broadcast list, but she's not quite ready for the weird and wonderful world of Twentieth Century classical music either. In those terms the concert did not dissapoint. Most Late Romantic French music is easy on the ears and it's not everyday that we find ourselves listening to Roussel (I hadn't heard of him before the concert). Personally, I was looking forward to hearing the piano concerto and seeing an excellent pianist in action.
The concert was beautifully structured. Berlioz welcomed us with brilliance and charm in only the way the Berlioz's full orchestration can do. For some reason I always have the caricature of a large orchestra squeezed onto a tiny stage when I think of Berlioz and I don't know why! (Possibly an image from a history of music textbook?) He never dissappoints when it comes to lots of brass and woodwind sounds and this rich and sonorous sound was the perfect prelude to Chopin's more sensitive touch.
The Chopin was elegant and whimsical and played with amazing virtuousity by Nelson Freire. It seems strange to call the music elegant and whimsical when there were sections when Mr Freire was running his fingers up and down the piano with such speed and dexterity. I think Chopin just knows how to make a lot of notes sound classy and tasteful rather than just an exercise in technical virtuosity. The soloist played an exquisite encore, which I'm assuming was a Chopin Nocturne. As I've played a few nocturnes myself I understood how difficult it is to create an even accompaniment that frequently spans both the left and bottom fingers of the right hand whilst still maintaining a melody with the top three fingers of the right hand too! It was amazing to listen to and to watch him manage that with such ease. What an inspiration!
The Piano concerto consisted of the standard three movements with no break between the second and third. Although I couldn't see most of the orchestra I could observe the conductor and the pianist and I really enjoyed watching their interaction with each other. In my mind Chopin's 2nd piano concerto gave me exactly what I was expecting, a bold first movement balanced by a slower, melodious second movement, and then ending with a light and fast third movement.
I needed to google Roussel to find out a bit more about him. He's French (I didn't need to google that part) and was active between the world wars. His inspiration was the impressionist composers and then he moved on to write in the neo-classical style. I thoroughly enjoyed the symphony. In fact I think I may have enjoyed it more than the Chopin. To my mind it was rather Romantic and if I hadn't had googled him I would have placed him in the same era as Berlioz. The melodies are not avant garde, the orchestration is exciting and adventurous and the form doesn't introduce any suprises. Perhaps this is why I never studied him in my music history classes, but was able to enjoy a first hearing of his symphony with such ease.
Finally came the beautiful sunrise of Daphne and Chloe. I am very familiar with the opening of this work as it is a brilliant example of Programme Music. When encouraging students to create music that evokes an image, what better example than the amazing minute or two at the beginning of this piece? Well, what a pleasure to sit and listen to the entire suite and not have to turn it off once the sun has risen!
The best part of this piece for me was the orchestration. There is a beautiful flute solo at one point that was played with such delicacy and gentleness. Then there is another section where the percussion suddenly introduces itself. It was at this point that I wished I could have seen what they were doing because I just couldn't figure out what the instrumental combination was. It was such a contrast to the slow and melodic solo flute section.
I'm always glad to go to the BBC Proms. It is two months of excessive music to appreciate in an awesome venue and it seems to appeal to all sorts of taste. When I think of the quality of performers and then look at the affordability of the tickets I just feel so grateful to have access to the event. This concert did not disappoint me in the least and I look forward to my next evening at the Royal Albert Hall.
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