Peter Viney's Blog

Triumphal Elgar

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Robert Trevino
Soloist Pavel Šporcl

Poole Lighthouse
Wednesday 19 October 2022 evening

Respighi: The Fountains of Rome
Glazunov: Violin concerto
Elgar: Symphony No 1

Do not anticipate musical insights, nor erudition. I don’t usually (ever?) review classical concerts, because I’m an ignoramus on the subject.  This is merely personal impressions. 

We live in Poole. Just before Lockdown we were in a shop in Bath and were saying, ‘We really wish we had a theatre like Bath Theatre Royal. We drive here half a dozen times a year to see plays.’

The shop owner asked where we came from, and she said, ‘That’s really funny. We drive down to Poole every week in season to see the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.’

We go around once a year to see the BSO. It might be Proms in The Park, or Christmas concerts, or as tonight, individual concerts. Every time, we say, ‘Why don’t we do this more often?’

When we were at school in Bournemouth, we were bussed every year to schools performances by the BSOat the Winter Gardens, in the era of Constantin Silvestri. We’d sit with the other schools for A Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra and various selections. The highlight was the fleet of busses afterwards. You’d be on the upper deck next to a girl’s school, shouting and gesturing across.

Then the BSO was in Bournemouth at the Winter Gardens. Decades ago that hall, renowned for its perfect sound, was demolished, and they moved a few miles to Poole Lighthouse.

This evening we have Mexican-American conductor, Robert Trevino and a programme that focusses on early 20^th century music. It’s mathematically pleasing too … the Glazunov was composed in 1904, the Elgar in 1908 and the Respighi in 1916. (The Glazunov was first performed in 1905, and the Respighi in 1917).

Respighi: The Fountains of Rome

The draw tonight was Respighi. During Lockdown, I developed the habit of sitting back in a relaxer chair listening to classical music every afternoon for up to half an hour, rarely much longer. My most played pieces were Max Richter, then The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome. That goes back to early 1966, when my then girlfriend persuaded me to start seeing the BSO regularly. The attraction was Constantin Silvestri conducting, to a young, exuberant audience who stamped and shouted at the end of pieces (it’s far more sedate now). The first one I saw was The Fountains of Rome / The Pines of Rome. It stuck. 

When I first met Karen, she had several classical LPs, including the Bernstein version of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. I think the LSO / Istvan Kertesz Pines of Rome / The Birds / Fountains of Rome was hers. It sufficed for years, then was supplanted by the Charles Dutoit when we got CD.

As lockdown progressed I acquired several more versions, some on SACD. I mentioned this on Facebook … the regular Respighi listening … and Tom Deveson said that the one I should listen to was the mid 60s Silvestri / BSO recording. I ordered it. That was where it started … the Winter Gardens had a full recording control room under the stage, and concerts were regularly broadcast on the BBC Third Programme. It’s a ‘coughs and all’ recording, and it isn’t the one I attended, because it was recorded in Bristol in September 1967. Still, it’s Silvestri / BSO.

A few years ago, we saw the BSO perform The Pines of Rome at Poole. So The Fountains of Rome was a must.

Suffice it to say that after two years of regular listening to The Fountains of Rome, this was the best I’ve heard it. That could be live versus LP / CD / SACD, I admit, but the shimmering sections shimmered, the brassy sections were magnificent. Full marks for the work on the bell too.

Interestingly, Karen mentioned how magnificent the timpani work was, and that was also true of the Elgar. I wondered if this was a factor in choosing the programme.

Glazunov: Violin Concerto

Unfamiliar to us. We don’t have a recording. Pavel Šporcl is a Czech violin superstar, and walked on in metallic jacket, black T-shirt and tight trousers bearing his trademark blue violin. He took his place next to Trevino, and stood and played without reading the score. 

There’s a definition story … if you sit and read, you’re a violinist. If you stand and play without reading, you’re a fiddler. It might apply to folk fiddlers, but celebrity classical violinists should stand. He was incredible, exuding charisma too. The piece looked technically brilliant (not that I’d know) but the interpretation was vibrant, and the orchestra again excelled. On audience coughing there was a single very loud bout right in the middle of the quietest passage. I have wondered in the past if the cougher wants to identify themselves on the recording, even though nowadays it wouldn’t be hard to eradicate later. I also wonder about coughing in theatres and concerts. I’m a few weeks after Covid, but I carry a small bottle of water and a pack of Fisherman’s Friend cough sweets. If I think I’m going to cough, I sip water. If I think that won’t do, I suck a Fisherman’s Friend. Sips of water sufficed for this.

Pavel Šporcl also did an encore … a solo unaccompanied piece, a Gavotte, I think he said, which was a tour de force.

At the end, he told us about the Czech violinist, Jan Kubelik. He played to Queen Victoria, and had played in Bournemouth in 1912 and 1913. Pavel Šporcl has just issued the world premiere of Kubelik’s Violin Concerto No 1 and announced that it would be on sale in the lobby in the interval, and that he’d sign it. That is familiar rock concert / folk concert ground for me, and I bought one and got it signed. He was gracious and friendly to all.

Elgar: Symphony No 1

This was not a record we had, though I knew it was often said to be the first English symphony. When we booked the concert, I started looking for it (charity shops, I’m afraid to admit, but they do have large numbers of classical CDs). I bought the Colin Davis  / LSO recording for a paltry sum, and listened to it a couple of times. It’s long … 54 minutes.

Again, is it live performance beating recording? The BSO here was a different dimension to listening to the recording. Also on record, it felt like 54 minutes. Live, it didn’t feel long in the slightest.  Robert Trevino’s conducting stood out, as again did the timpani player. Mind you, (facetious aside) they’re missing a trick with timpani. When I did lights on Eric Delaney in the 60s, he had a different coloured light for each drum. He had to use foot pedals,  but I’m sure you could get a pressure sensitive switching mechanism nowadays.

Streaming

The stage was studded with microphones. BSO concerts are available for paid streaming. So you can hear for yourself.

On more concerts, my other choice in the season was Bruch Violin Concerto No 1, another great favourite in Lockdown, which is on 2nd November, but we had already booked theatre in Chichester for that day.