Having the Legs
Week from Monday 28th August 2023 - There was a magnificent performance of MAHLER's NINTH at the Proms last night, surely a season's HIGHLIGHT of some sort, as the rest of it has been so run-of-the-mill this year!
Not suprisingly though, as it was another of SIR SIMON RATTLE's 'FAREWELL' gigs, this being the 'LAST' time he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra as its Principal Conductor. Which I thought he'd ALREADY done at the Barbican earlier in the year!?! Or was that his last one as Musical Director? And what about the European tour they're starting the very next day after the Albert bash? Then he'll be back to drill them again, but as a guest 'emeritus' conductor. And that's on top of his new job in Bavaria. So no changes at all really, apart from the number of zeros on his contract?
As he often does with Mahler, Si waved on the entire thing without a score in front of him. It's probably one of ol' Gustav's most complex symphonies and he does it completely from memory! The music simply sparkled out of the speakers, the tempo and dynamics were spot on... Many recordings of 'The Ninth Racket' are ALL doom and gloom, but there was an air of optimism about this one. It well deserved the standing ovation it received, which seemed to go on for hours in itself! (Oh! and a mention too for the delightful POULENC choral work in the first half.)
It was also on the telly later in the week, so it's definitely worth another visit. Watching it, rather than just listening, proved a lot more revealing. Now I get a better idea of what's going on during all those 'silent' bits!
I'm not doing the Winchester thing this Wednesday. I can barely cross from one room to the next without getting OUT OF BREATH, so I'm not yet up for the miles of walking involved (to and from the railway stations; up and down hill). If only we had a RELIABLE bus connection...
Four or five days into LA VUELTA and it's really hard to CARE yet... Don't get me wrong, there's been plenty going on, what with all the bad weather and the after-darkness, a surfeit of roundabouts, the delays and the neutralised stages, Remco having a daily rant about the organisers' bad planning, the anti-oil protestors using oil to make their point - but I just haven't ENGAGED with it. Nothing that has happened so far seems to move the race forwards. I'm sure things will pick up.
The continuously dreadful TV presentation doesn't help make things particularly compelling for me, especially when they let the boring Irish fellah anywhere near a microphone... (I'll take it back - I'd previously compared him to the village idiot out of "Father Ted", but that's not fair. He's more like this guy, FATHER AUSTIN PURCELL. https://fatherted.fandom.com/wiki/Austin_Purcell)
"Yes well... it's an interesting one, we can see, y'know, all the big favourites in the pillowtone, y'know, Evarna Pool, Primorogalish, Vinegar, the oothers, all going full gas and all, oi t'ink that, y'know, well, we can see they're sticking to their goons, doing a good job, y'know, keeping in the wheel and going full on and we can see that's, y'know, what you have to do in the Vooelta of Spain if, y'know, you're going for GC in these situations, but if you haven't got the legs, it'll be interesting to see..."
"Um, thanks Sean..."
Not suprisingly though, as it was another of SIR SIMON RATTLE's 'FAREWELL' gigs, this being the 'LAST' time he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra as its Principal Conductor. Which I thought he'd ALREADY done at the Barbican earlier in the year!?! Or was that his last one as Musical Director? And what about the European tour they're starting the very next day after the Albert bash? Then he'll be back to drill them again, but as a guest 'emeritus' conductor. And that's on top of his new job in Bavaria. So no changes at all really, apart from the number of zeros on his contract?
As he often does with Mahler, Si waved on the entire thing without a score in front of him. It's probably one of ol' Gustav's most complex symphonies and he does it completely from memory! The music simply sparkled out of the speakers, the tempo and dynamics were spot on... Many recordings of 'The Ninth Racket' are ALL doom and gloom, but there was an air of optimism about this one. It well deserved the standing ovation it received, which seemed to go on for hours in itself! (Oh! and a mention too for the delightful POULENC choral work in the first half.)
It was also on the telly later in the week, so it's definitely worth another visit. Watching it, rather than just listening, proved a lot more revealing. Now I get a better idea of what's going on during all those 'silent' bits!
I'm not doing the Winchester thing this Wednesday. I can barely cross from one room to the next without getting OUT OF BREATH, so I'm not yet up for the miles of walking involved (to and from the railway stations; up and down hill). If only we had a RELIABLE bus connection...
Four or five days into LA VUELTA and it's really hard to CARE yet... Don't get me wrong, there's been plenty going on, what with all the bad weather and the after-darkness, a surfeit of roundabouts, the delays and the neutralised stages, Remco having a daily rant about the organisers' bad planning, the anti-oil protestors using oil to make their point - but I just haven't ENGAGED with it. Nothing that has happened so far seems to move the race forwards. I'm sure things will pick up.
The continuously dreadful TV presentation doesn't help make things particularly compelling for me, especially when they let the boring Irish fellah anywhere near a microphone... (I'll take it back - I'd previously compared him to the village idiot out of "Father Ted", but that's not fair. He's more like this guy, FATHER AUSTIN PURCELL. https://fatherted.fandom.com/wiki/Austin_Purcell)
"Yes well... it's an interesting one, we can see, y'know, all the big favourites in the pillowtone, y'know, Evarna Pool, Primorogalish, Vinegar, the oothers, all going full gas and all, oi t'ink that, y'know, well, we can see they're sticking to their goons, doing a good job, y'know, keeping in the wheel and going full on and we can see that's, y'know, what you have to do in the Vooelta of Spain if, y'know, you're going for GC in these situations, but if you haven't got the legs, it'll be interesting to see..."
"Um, thanks Sean..."
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