Paavo Jarvi and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Program
Concerto for Brass, 'SIGNAL' by Howard.
Violin Concerto in D major by Tchaikovsky.
Symphony No. 2 in C major by Scriabin.
Artists
BBC Symphony Orchestra. Paavo Jarvi, conductor.
Leonidas Kavakos, violin.
This is the last of the three concerts we will be going this PROMS season.
Dani Howard is evidently a rather well-known musician in this part of the world, having composed many works commissioned by various organizations, including tonight's world premiere commissioned by BBC.
As with many modern compositions, Howard uses many instruments in this work. The stars are naturally the brass players, especially the principals of the French horn, trumpet and trombone sections - they all get considerable workouts throughout all three movements of the work. The work itself is relatively short at 18 minutes. With binoculars I could see the score in front of the conductor from my seat and I am sure the score has 30 or more staffs. The music is quite interesting, including bows being applied to the edges of the keys of a marimba (a 3-octave one) producing a somewhat eerie effect (somewhat like a musical saw). And two musicians each using two bows.
As with most first listens, I was busy analyzing the piece (without much success) so didn't have time to "enjoy" it, if enjoyment is possible.
I looked over her website, she has quite a few premieres in the works (some as yet unnamed). She was born in Hong Kong, but got her music education in the UK. Her work will be featured in October by the Hartford Symphony. Come to think of it, not too many US composers are featured in European concerts either, if my limited exposure is any indication.
A rather large orchestra performed Howard's work. Notice the marimba in the back of the orchestra. At times bows were rubbed against the instrument to produce a somewhat eerie sound.
Dani Howard being recognized by the composer. People around her seemed quite nonchalant about it.
Being a standard in the violin repertoire, I have come to expect a "canonical" way Tchaikovsky's violin concerto is to be performed. Not as "rigid" (if that's the word) as Beethoven's, but there is really no need to embellish what the composer wrote.
Having heard Kavakos perform several times before, I expected a rather "technical" approach by him, which would have been fine. I was therefore somewhat surprised that he had a particular take on the piece, which was okay after the initial "shock" (too strong a word). Given where we sat, his back was towards us most of the time, so the sound of the violin was weak. He performs on a Stradivarius.
Kavakos acknowledging the audience.
For encore he played Bach's Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006: III. Gavotte and Rondo.
I have about five entries of Scriabin in this blog, and (without looking at the entries) can safely say I always left the concert scratching my head. So I expected the same here. Surprisingly I found I could engage with this symphony, at 41 minutes not particularly short (so no "so glad it's over quickly" type of remark). On the other hand, finishing this blog entry on August 15, I probably cannot tell if the symphony is repeated for me.
For completeness, the symphony has five movements: Andante; Allegro; Andante; Tempestoso; and Maestoso.
Joe P is in town, he got two tickets the day before for Grand Tier Box. At about 2 GBP more expensive, and Emmie's was half price. The acoustics were quite good at their seats. They left during intermission to pack for tomorrow's trip.
Joe P and Emmie also came to this concert.
Anne and I walked back to the hotel.
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