Barenboim's Elgar

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:02:51. > :41:45.Elgar's Second Symphony at the Proms. Daniel Barenboim conducted

:41:46. > :41:50.the Staatskapelle Berlin. Our apologies for the loss of

:41:51. > :41:56.transmission for a few minutes during the first movement of that

:41:57. > :42:01.performance. One of the great privileges of watching a performance

:42:02. > :42:09.like that is seeing how much it means to Daniel Barenboim and the

:42:10. > :42:14.players. Every second played with such full commitment that every

:42:15. > :42:23.player of the orchestra, every moment, etched on Daniel Barenboim's

:42:24. > :42:31.face. A rather different reception to the one Elgar got in 1911. An

:42:32. > :42:39.audience not sitting there like stuck pigs, Elgar would be glad to

:42:40. > :42:54.hear. The appreciation in the Royal Albert Hall. So many riches in that

:42:55. > :43:02.performance. This idea we sometimes have of Elgar as belonging to a

:43:03. > :43:06.different tradition than that of Strauss and Mahler, but every fibre

:43:07. > :43:11.of that piece was about disproving that. An essential early document of

:43:12. > :43:17.the early 20th century, very much of its time. The vividness of the

:43:18. > :43:21.colours in that lament of the second movement, the sheer involvement and

:43:22. > :43:30.commitment, I say again, the string playing part of this orchestra, the

:43:31. > :43:37.Staatskapelle Berlin. They looked to be enjoying this so much, giving

:43:38. > :43:49.this symphony, Elgar, to a British audience, to us, at the Proms. And

:43:50. > :43:54.Barenboim made the point about how connected Elgar's music is with

:43:55. > :43:57.Europe. Well, Richard Strauss announced the Enigma Variations as a

:43:58. > :44:02.masterpiece, the first significant piece by an English composer, and in

:44:03. > :44:10.one of the last concert she told me that just as Mahler conducted in New

:44:11. > :44:18.York before he died in 1911, and the piece was Elgar's Enigma Variations.

:44:19. > :44:22.Not only are the audience not sitting there like stuffed pigs.

:44:23. > :44:25.These are uploading birds of paradise, one might perhaps call

:44:26. > :44:31.them. They seem to want more from this orchestra as well. But the

:44:32. > :44:38.woodwind section of the orchestra, on their feet. That astonishing oboe

:44:39. > :44:57.sole plate tonight by Fabian Schar raver, kind of improvisation array

:44:58. > :45:02.-- oboe solo, played tonight. You don't always associate Elgar with

:45:03. > :45:12.sheer sonic power but there was a lot of that in that performance

:45:13. > :45:16.here. The violence that Barenboim unleashed in that third movement,

:45:17. > :45:26.inspired by her Tennyson poem of someone in a shallow grave hearing

:45:27. > :45:34.the hooves trample on his head. The whole orchestra on their feet now.

:45:35. > :45:38.And orchestra really have a close relationship with Daniel Barenboim.

:45:39. > :45:44.He has been the general music director there since 1992 which is

:45:45. > :45:49.means he is in charge of the Opera house there as well, and he has held

:45:50. > :46:00.the conductor for life title since the year 2000. More applause. The

:46:01. > :46:04.audience want more from Daniel Barenboim. They maybe think of his

:46:05. > :46:09.previous appearances at the Proms, where he has given so many concerts.

:46:10. > :46:18.In 2012 there was a cycle of Beethoven's named Symphony -- ninth

:46:19. > :46:27.Symphony along with the complete performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

:46:28. > :50:39.And more music... music in which Elgar surely shows

:50:40. > :50:47.his soul. The Nimrod variation from the Enigma Variations. I wonder in

:50:48. > :50:52.that performance if some of Daniel Barenboim's soul is revealed. This

:50:53. > :51:03.deep connection with Elgar and his first wife, Jacqueline du Pre.

:51:04. > :51:11.Somehow, the spirit of noble lament in that music is in a way what the

:51:12. > :51:17.Second Symphony is about, albeit on a grander scale. Sometimes an encore

:51:18. > :51:20.feel like they believed to a different spiritual universe but not

:51:21. > :51:26.that one, it feels like a continuation of the world of the

:51:27. > :51:29.symphony. Daniel Barenboim bringing this orchestra to their feet, the

:51:30. > :51:54.Staatskapelle Berlin. He has created another of these

:51:55. > :52:01.unforgettable experiences at the Proms, whether it is Beethoven,

:52:02. > :52:05.Wagner, Elgar, Daniel Barenboim and this orchestra, something special

:52:06. > :52:09.happens when they are here at the Royal Albert Hall, sharing music

:52:10. > :52:15.with this audience and with you at home. Something you feel means more

:52:16. > :52:20.to him, sums up his approach to music making, reaching the widest

:52:21. > :52:31.possible audiences. Something that runs through his life as a musician,

:52:32. > :52:35.with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, other musicians, driving

:52:36. > :52:37.everything he does as a conductor. He is on the podium. That could mean

:52:38. > :52:52.there is still more music. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you

:52:53. > :52:58.will bear with me. There are some words I would like to say today that

:52:59. > :53:03.I would like to share with you. I don't know if all of you will agree

:53:04. > :53:08.with them. I really would like to share that with you, but, first of

:53:09. > :53:09.all, I would like to thank this wonderful orchestra.

:53:10. > :53:26.APPLAUSE Not for being wonderful, this is

:53:27. > :53:31.what they are! LAUGHTER But for having agreed to

:53:32. > :53:38.postpone their holiday by a week, I think, or more, in order to be able

:53:39. > :53:44.to come to London to the Proms, this weekend, to play, because to play

:53:45. > :53:49.for you the Elgar symphonies is something very important to them.

:53:50. > :53:54.They really fell in love with this music. And they really wanted to

:53:55. > :53:57.bring it to London and I am very grateful they are only going on

:53:58. > :54:06.holiday tomorrow. LAUGHTER APPLAUSE

:54:07. > :54:23.And I would like to share with you some feelings, thoughts I have.

:54:24. > :54:27.Not political. LAUGHTER Not political but rather of human

:54:28. > :54:40.concern. When I look at the world with so

:54:41. > :54:42.many isolation tendencies. I get very worried. I know I am not alone.

:54:43. > :55:01.APPLAUSE You know, I lived in this country

:55:02. > :55:07.for many years. I was married in this country and I

:55:08. > :55:16.lived here for many years. I was shown so much affection whilst I

:55:17. > :55:22.lived here, that this kind of gave me the impetus, if you want to say

:55:23. > :55:28.what I would like to say, I think that the main problem today is not

:55:29. > :55:34.the policies of this country and that country. The main problem of

:55:35. > :55:37.today is that there is not enough education.

:55:38. > :55:51.APPLAUSE That there is not enough education

:55:52. > :55:56.for music, we have known a long time, but now there is not enough

:55:57. > :56:03.education about whom we are, about what is a human being and how is he

:56:04. > :56:09.to relate with others of the same kind?

:56:10. > :56:16.APPLAUSE That is why I say it is not

:56:17. > :56:24.political, but it is of human concern. If you look at the

:56:25. > :56:32.difficulties that the European continent is going through now, you

:56:33. > :56:41.can see why that is. Because of the lack of common education. Because in

:56:42. > :56:47.one country, they do not know why they should belong to something that

:56:48. > :56:53.whether other countries do. I am not talking about this country, no.

:56:54. > :56:58.LAUGHTER I will come to that. I am talking in general. Our

:56:59. > :57:06.profession, the musical profession, is the only one that is not

:57:07. > :57:11.national. No German musician will tell you, I am a German musician and

:57:12. > :57:14.I will only play Brahms, Schumann, and Beethoven.

:57:15. > :57:31.CHEERING We had very good proof of it

:57:32. > :57:39.tonight. Let me stay out of Great Britain. If

:57:40. > :57:45.a French citizen wants to learn Goethe, he has to have a

:57:46. > :57:47.translation, but he does not need a translation for the Beethoven

:57:48. > :57:59.symphonies. This is why music is so important. And this isolationist

:58:00. > :58:08.tendency, and nationalism in its very narrow sense is something that

:58:09. > :58:12.is very dangerous and can only be fought with a great accent on

:58:13. > :58:18.education of the new generation. We are probably all too old for that.

:58:19. > :58:26.LAUGHTER But the new generation have to understand that Greece, and

:58:27. > :58:33.Germany, and France, and Denmark, have all something in common called

:58:34. > :58:35.European culture. CHEERING

:58:36. > :58:59.APPLAUSE Not only Europe.

:59:00. > :59:11.Culture. This is really the most important thing. And, of course, in

:59:12. > :59:17.this cultural community called Europe, there is a place for diverse

:59:18. > :59:23.culture. For different cultures, for a different way of looking at

:59:24. > :59:32.things, but this can be done only with education. And the fanaticism

:59:33. > :59:38.that exists in the world, with religious backgrounds, can also only

:59:39. > :59:52.be fought with education. APPLAUSE

:59:53. > :00:05.Religious fanaticism cannot be fought with arms alone. The real

:00:06. > :00:15.evils of the world can only be fought with humanism, that keeps us

:00:16. > :00:18.all together. Including you. And I am sure going to show you that I

:00:19. > :00:26.really mean it. APPLAUSE

:00:27. > :06:19.MUSIC: Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 by Elgar

:06:20. > :07:20.Daniel Barenboim and his international cultural community of

:07:21. > :07:26.musicians, the Staatskapelle Berlin. Am everybody here, with the Pomp and

:07:27. > :07:28.Circumstance March. A tune that belongs all of us. Something you may

:07:29. > :07:29.hear later in the season. From all of us at the Royal

:07:30. > :07:35.Albert Hall, good night.