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2019 BBC Proms
#432861 07/21/19 04:21 AM
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JohnK Offline OP
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Last evening in London the 125th season of "The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival" opened. Many of the world's finest orchestras and performers appear over 8 weeks for the daily concerts. The schedule is here .

The concerts are carried live on BBC Radio 3 and are available for the next 30 days on the BBC iPlayer .

As in past years, I'll probably occasionally bring to your attention a concert I thought was especially worthwhile. So immediately I'll note here the excellent Prom 2 .The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is visiting and presents a terrific all-Czech program. In the first half the Dvorak Violin Concerto is played with soloist the American Joshua Bell giving a fine performance(plus encore).

After the intermission, which had an interesting discussion of the concluding work, the orchestra performed the massive "Ma Vlast"(My Country)by Smetana, a highly emotional piece with many patriotic themes. After thunderous audience applause to Ma Vlast, the orchestra kept it going with an encore of two colorful selections from Smetana's "The Bartered Bride".


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #432869 07/22/19 02:44 PM
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Thanks for the update John!


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Re: 2019 BBC Proms
SirQuack #432926 08/01/19 06:23 AM
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Earlier this evening in London the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra presented a fine concert for Prom 17 . On the first half the Sibelius Symphony No. 1 was well-performed.

Following the intermission American violinist Gil Shaham joined the orchestra for the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2. The program concluded with the melodies from the suite taken from Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, and an encore of the Sibelius Valse Triste.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #432958 08/06/19 03:58 AM
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For Prom 22 the BBC Philharmonic presented a concert dealing mostly with dark emotions in music. The program started with Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead, which has much beauty despite the rather sinister theme. A piece of new music receiving its premier followed, and was listenable although I didn't find much memorable musical content.

Following the intermission the very dramatic Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 was played. This is referred to as "The Year 1905", commemorating the tragic incident in St. Petersburg when over 200 demonstrators were shot and killed by the Russian soldiers.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #432963 08/07/19 05:18 AM
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The BBC Philharmonic returned for Prom 23 . The concert opened with an overture by Malcolm Arnold and continued with Rachmaninoff's popular work for piano and orchestra, "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini".

Following the intermission, excerpts from the glorious music Tchaikovsky composed for the ballet "Swan Lake" ended the concert on a high note.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #433043 08/19/19 06:00 AM
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The London Philharmonic presented an excellent all-Russian program of music in Prom 41 . The concert opened with a suite from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mlada" with the striking "Procession of the Nobles" the end movement.

The original version of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 followed, with an encore of his "Moments Musicaux" .

Following intermission, three of Lyadov's fairy-tale based miniatures made for pleasant listening before the performance of the major work, the Glazunov Symphony No. 5, concluded the concert.

At the end, back at the BBC studio a significant bonus was provided when the beautiful Vaughan Williams "Serenade to Music" was heard.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #433044 08/19/19 06:24 AM
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John, these Proms sound real bad. The soundstage is terrible. A real contrast to the following classical album which is an absolute joy to listen to.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3x0hWh1WSAJAsJ4QXySsKD?si=mcjd1VBiQeOdq0czmOpa4w

Of course your aged M22s can't do it justice and you should do yourself a solid and get M100s and let M5s ride on top of them upside-down. You'll need an ADA-1500 as well. Might as well trade in that 500 for a glorious 800.


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Re: 2019 BBC Proms
Mojo #433090 08/27/19 05:18 AM
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Tex, of course the main point is that hearing these concerts is available to us. The nature of the sound is secondary, as it always should be in such a context. The sound stage is fine with DPLII for the surrounds.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra was in for Prom 48 . In the first half some music for string orchestra and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 were played.

Following the intermission(about 1:25 in)the major work of the concert was the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, with its many gorgeous melodies which place it high on the popularity list.



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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #433094 08/27/19 02:55 PM
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Your point is that we're fortunate these pieces are available to us no matter their quality. This brings up something very interesting that I've observed. I cannot listen to badly-recorded music on my well-positioned v4. I find the resulting soundstage extremely distracting. However, I can listen to those same recordings on my phone's speaker or headphones or even in mono over a single speaker without any distraction.


House of the Rising Sone
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Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated
Re: 2019 BBC Proms
JohnK #433095 08/27/19 05:17 PM
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My kids turn up their iPhones to hear their music from accross the room ... makes me cringe till I either leave, ask them to turn it down or have them air play it to to a stereo. For some reason they are not as sensitive to distortion as I am.

As far as well recorded music ... I’m the only one in the family who seems to care.

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