Prom 10

Friday 19 July

The first of the two concerts to be given by the glorious Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia Rome, with the ebullient Sir Antonio Pappano conducting.

'Ebullient' was once used on a school report for my son. I suspect it had a nicer ring than 'boisterous'..

There are certain bands where you just know the evening's going to be a good one; and this is one such.
http://www.seenandheard-international.com/2013/07/20/prom-10-jan-lisiecki-and-antonio-pappano-impress-at-the-proms/ gives one review; and here's another, slightly less flattering, from the Grauniad: I thoroughly enjoyed the Mozart (stony of heart he who could not!) to me it was crisp and well-articulated; but the Schumann was marred by A Distressingly Loud Whine in the Gallery - no, not a small child up too late, but something electronic. Plus, for me it's the 'wrong Schu'. However, the Chopin encore was magical. Jan Lisiecki is a young pianist to watch: a very talented young man.

A Brief Digression On Conductors

There are some conductors, too, who lend an air of effortless ease to the evening; and Sir Tony is one of them. He's an intelligent broadcaster, and doesn't allow his ego to precede him into the room. Neither does this ego affect the interpretation of the music before him. He also looks as though it's his heart's joy to lift the orchestra all for our delight; and this enjoyment must surely come through hard work and diligence. A person to drink with, as a friend puts it!
There are the truly greats: the late Sir Colin Davis was one such. And, of course, Bernard Haitink, who conducted the best performance of Mahler 6 I've ever heard, at a Royal College of Music concert around 10 years ago.

But to return to Prom 10!



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I have been heard to say - and it's not really a jest - that all my favourite men are dead: Rachmaninov is in this select group. We heard his No 2 Symphony make a determined start in sunny Italian uplands: but it wasn't long before the lush Italianate quality gave way to more Slavic overtones.

Rachmaninov had a difficult life - but worked so hard. One of the last of the great Romantic composers; I was interested to read that he'd been asked to compose a short concerto for the wartime film 'Dangerous Moonlight', but turned the job down.

And the lollipop - Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours - sent us all home very happy indeed!