Just 2 days before everyone can announce how disappointed they are in the repertoire of the 2015 Proms. Beat the rush!
Oh, ye of little faith! ;D
Yes, one's hopes are usually dashed. Nevertheless, Brian's Gothic was one of the great experiences of my concert-going life...
I would have loved being at the Gothic Symphony concert, or a lesser thing, the one last year with Bridge's Oration. I was referring more to my expectation, which on the basis of the last few years I do expect to see fulfilled, that nothing in their program will please - practically anyone here :)
Anyhow. Sorry. Thursday we'll know and hopefully there'll be some good stuff for fans of all sorts of music, modern pop-stuff, whatever. (Well, I'd rather they were a -little- more selective- I approve their inclusion of Sondheim more than once in awhile (for many reasons, not just because I'm a fan), but ...- well, hopefully it'll help keep the BBC afloat; I don't live in the UK, so my say in such matters must remain limited :) )
And living in Minneapolis I have even less.
Tom :)
Here's the list of composers featured:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/r89mxj/composers/by/a-z (http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/r89mxj/composers/by/a-z)
Beyond Schmidt 2 (VPO/Bychkov - drool!), what is there for us...?
I'll be glad of another chance to hear Foulds' "Three Mantras" (August 13 2015) (all that's left of an opera project of his), but don't know if that's within our orbit.
The Schoenberg in Prom 60 is his late tonal Theme and Variations (arranged from the wind band original). Haven't heard it yet and rather would like to.
(Prom 46, with Nielsen's early and not over-sung Hymnus Amoris, looks kind of neat too.)
Would love to go for the Schmidt. Grace Williams too.
Pretty poor overall, though.
Yes, Schmidt 2 - I will be there! Bychkov has been doing it a lot lately, hopefully a recording is in the pipeline with the VPO, and the VPO has a better go of it than they did with Leinsdorf, or even worse with Mitropoulis. Then hang around for the Elgar Gerontius. Arrive in London earlier and catch Scheherazade. Sounds like a winner of a week to me!
My perspective reflects the concerns of this website, i.e. the neglect of almost all unsung music from the broad romantic era.
To nobody's surprise, "Ye of little faith" were vindicated! As I say every year, the Proms are a lost opportunity to exhibit and promote the music of Great Britain. We tend to do the same thing here in Australia, and use all our big musical events to perform mainstream works from Europe and Russia, using non-Australian conductors! I suppose the Proms have at least promoted British conductors....