{"id":5319,"date":"2019-09-28T23:31:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T23:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.virginiaknight.org.uk\/vhkssinging\/?p=5319"},"modified":"2019-09-28T23:32:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T23:32:01","slug":"my-prom-for-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.virginiaknight.org.uk\/vhkssinging\/2019\/09\/28\/my-prom-for-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"my Prom for 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

I try to get to at least one Promenade concert every year, and this year picked a Sunday evening concert with a predominantly East European programme. This was the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov. I chose it partly because I thought it was unlikely to pull the crowds, and it was indeed sparsely attended, rather unfairly so. I was in the arena, and it was a relief that there were more opportunities to take a break from standing<\/a> than last year.<\/p>\n

The concert began with the first performance of Nuages<\/i> by Linda Catlin Smith. The title (which I only learned after I’d heard the piece) didn’t surprise me much, as it drifted gently along for a quarter of an hour or so without really doing anything in particular. Jan\u00e1\u010dek’s short tone-poem The Fiddler’s Child<\/i> was unknown to me but seemed to be well played.<\/p>\n

The first part ended with Szymanowski’s Love Songs of Hafiz<\/i>, sung by Georgia Jarman with some gusto. If you like the orchestral version of the Seven Early Songs<\/i>, you’ll probably enjoy these as the sound-world and melodic style are similar. <\/p>\n

The second half consisted of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony. This had a rousing performance – I particularly appreciated the contributions of the timpanist and the brass – but I can see why this one doesn’t get performed so often. Each movement has a folk-tune at its heart, but these melodies just reappear in different orchestrations rather than being developed. I didn’t stay to find out whether there were any encores.<\/p>\n

Reviews: <\/p>\n