Samuel Barber (1910-81)

For some time I have had a Sony CD compilation of music by this American composer and have often enjoyed the lyricism and superb craftsmanship of his music. It was therefore a particular pleasure to be at one of the Promenade Concerts this week and to listen to a delicately poised performance of his Violin Concerto played by the Canadian violinist James Ehnes. It is a really lovely work and the little tune of the first movement – sometimes almost a duet between the violin and the flute – has remained with me ever since. There is a passionate second movement and then the unexpected sparky little last movement which runs away like a feckless filly, testing the virtuosity of the soloist – so much so that the original dedicatee said it was too difficult to play.

Barber was influenced as much by European 19th. Century tradition as by his American roots, and was unencumbered by the trends of his day. Italy was his second country and he spent some of his years living there with his partner and fellow composer, Gian Carlo Menotti. He once said of himself ‘when I’m writing music for words, then I immerse myself in those words, and I let music flow out of them. When I write an abstract piano sonata or concerto, I write what I feel. I’m not a self-conscious composer…it is said that I have no style at all but that doesn’t matter. I just go on doing, as they say, my thing. I believe this takes a certain courage.’ He was a romantic, which is quite an achievement during a period when the avant garde often dictated the form of contemporary music.

The concert which also included another American work, the formidable third Symphony of Aaron Copland, was conducted by Marin Alsop, the orchestra her own Bournemouth Symphony. I was there as sort of elderly groupie, for the B.S.O. is the nearest we have to a local symphony orchestra. They played with great spirit, the brass and woodwind surpassing themselves in the Copland which demands a very large orchestra. Copland’s last movement uses his stentorian ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’as a theme with variations, the finale delaying its climactic end as it seemed for ever, but then superbly engineered by conductor and orchestra and much applauded by the audience. A review in today’s ‘Guardian’ comments that the performance ‘was remarkable for its humanity…an epic sentimental journey undertaken with a sense of awe and wonder’. I agree.

B.R.

The Proms Again - for the 113th. time

With some justification, the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts call themselves the greatest musical festival in the World. Developed by the BBC since those early years, when popular concerts for ordinary people were begun by Sir Henry, the breadth of musical styles and the variety of performers make this a quite unique annual experience. Orchestras from the U.S.A. and the Continent as well as from Britain are featured, whilst the B.B.C.’s various orchestras are responsible for more than twenty of the seventy two concerts . The Albert Hall remains the main concert hall for the Proms with introductory talks prior to several of them, but there are many other concerts at smaller venues during the season, some of which are broadcast. All of the main concerts in the Albert Hall are broadcast on radio and many can be seen as well as heard on BBC 2,3, and 4 TV channels

Words play an important part this season to mark the anniversaries of William Blake and W.H.Auden. A major theme this summer is some of the works inspired by William Shakespeare. Verdi’s opera ‘Macbeth’ and lots of overtures named after his plays are being performed and one evening is given over to veteran jazz musicians John Dankworth and Cleo Laine in their ‘From Bards to Blues’ programme on August 8th.

It’s eighty years since the B.B.C. took over the Proms and this year several of the works given their first performances since then are being played, including classics by Ravel, Shostakovich, Walton, Britten and Mahler as well as more recent music by Dutilleux, Oliver Knussen, James MacMillan and Judith Weir. Elgar’s birth one hundred and fifty years ago is being celebrated, notably by a performance of the rarely heard oratorio ‘The Apostles by City of Birmingham forces.

I have booked for three concerts and look forward to joining an audience notable for it’s enthusiasm and consisting of people from many countries as well as local people for whom London is accessible. A couple of years ago I sat next to someone who was there because her orchestra from Dresden was performing. She was surprised that people were dressed so informally. ‘People would be wearing their best clothes if we were in Dresden', she said. It’s almost a matter of honour that the promenaders themselves leave their best clothes at home!

B.R.

An Opera yet to be Born

I saw an article in the press recently which bemoaned the lack of contemporary operas being written – and performed. To catch the ear of a future audience for such works there has to be some guarantee that the opera is good enough to enter the repertoire, and to cover costs. Operas are notoriously expensive – orchestras, singers, dancers perhaps, a chorus, a famous conductor and a huge stage to fill with activity -it’s all very expensive. I see the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London has just signed a contract for over £5M with a record company as a way of increasing revenue and putting some of their productions on DVD which is increasingly taking over from CD’s, where there is an obvious advantage that you can see as well as hear the performance.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York – massively subsidised by wealthy patronage has commissioned the film director Anthony Minghella to write the libretto for a new work which he will also direct to be presented in the 2011-12 season. Responsible for such films as ‘ The Talented Mr Ripley and ‘Cold Mountain’, Minghella shows an almost operatic flair in his films and his production of ‘Madam Butterfly’ at London’s English National Opera which then transferred to the Met last year, was widely regarded.

The composer for the new work will be the Argentinean Osvaldo Golijov who. although in touch with Minghella recently and planning to meet him again in London next September, has so far ‘not written a single note’. Well, 2011 is a long way away but also a long time to wait to see how the opera is received. Some of us may not be around to find out! But this way of working interests me : two gifted people brought together and left to create music.

Golivov’s earlier years were spent in Romania and Ukraine and, of Jewish birth, he spent some time in Israel before he and his wife moved to Argentina. He has written the music for the American film director Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, yet to be released. Coppola says that he was attracted to Golijov because of his ‘consummate musicianship, classical training and a sense of modern life and the integration of the past and present into a generous musical canvas. But also because he is a ‘kind and interesting human being and a wonderful friend.’

B.R.