corollary

Entry #97

Listening to:

Ian Bostridge, The English songbook.

HTPE#3:

Don't practice (i.e., attempt to figure out) tumble-turns after doing a fairly arduous swimming work-out.

I went to another Prom concert on Wednesday night. The programme was Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms followed by Beethoven's 9th symphony. The Stravinsky was only really convincing in the final movement, the Laudate Dominum. Both the Laudate's and the Hallelujah's were quite spooky and eerie.

The Beethoven took a little while to get going. The woodwind seemed to have a very harsh tone in the first three movements. The oboe soloes in the second movement, and the clarinet and horn in the third movement were all a bit rough I thought. However, the final movement was amazing. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, some other phrase or moment caught you unawares, and "wow!" The choir (the BBC Symphony Chorus) must have fielded over 100 people, and this made for some amazingly powerful moments. Bernard Haitink conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

There is a review at the Daily Telegraph.