Barenboim's Elgar BBC Proms


Barenboim's Elgar

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Barenboim's Elgar. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Elgar's Second Symphony at the Proms. Daniel Barenboim conducted

:02:51.:41:45.

the Staatskapelle Berlin. Our apologies for the loss of

:41:46.:41:50.

transmission for a few minutes during the first movement of that

:41:51.:41:56.

performance. One of the great privileges of watching a performance

:41:57.:42:01.

like that is seeing how much it means to Daniel Barenboim and the

:42:02.:42:09.

players. Every second played with such full commitment that every

:42:10.:42:14.

player of the orchestra, every moment, etched on Daniel Barenboim's

:42:15.:42:23.

face. A rather different reception to the one Elgar got in 1911. An

:42:24.:42:31.

audience not sitting there like stuck pigs, Elgar would be glad to

:42:32.:42:39.

hear. The appreciation in the Royal Albert Hall. So many riches in that

:42:40.:42:54.

performance. This idea we sometimes have of Elgar as belonging to a

:42:55.:43:02.

different tradition than that of Strauss and Mahler, but every fibre

:43:03.:43:06.

of that piece was about disproving that. An essential early document of

:43:07.:43:11.

the early 20th century, very much of its time. The vividness of the

:43:12.:43:17.

colours in that lament of the second movement, the sheer involvement and

:43:18.:43:21.

commitment, I say again, the string playing part of this orchestra, the

:43:22.:43:30.

Staatskapelle Berlin. They looked to be enjoying this so much, giving

:43:31.:43:37.

this symphony, Elgar, to a British audience, to us, at the Proms. And

:43:38.:43:49.

Barenboim made the point about how connected Elgar's music is with

:43:50.:43:54.

Europe. Well, Richard Strauss announced the Enigma Variations as a

:43:55.:43:57.

masterpiece, the first significant piece by an English composer, and in

:43:58.:44:02.

one of the last concert she told me that just as Mahler conducted in New

:44:03.:44:10.

York before he died in 1911, and the piece was Elgar's Enigma Variations.

:44:11.:44:18.

Not only are the audience not sitting there like stuffed pigs.

:44:19.:44:22.

These are uploading birds of paradise, one might perhaps call

:44:23.:44:25.

them. They seem to want more from this orchestra as well. But the

:44:26.:44:31.

woodwind section of the orchestra, on their feet. That astonishing oboe

:44:32.:44:38.

sole plate tonight by Fabian Schar raver, kind of improvisation array

:44:39.:44:57.

-- oboe solo, played tonight. You don't always associate Elgar with

:44:58.:45:02.

sheer sonic power but there was a lot of that in that performance

:45:03.:45:12.

here. The violence that Barenboim unleashed in that third movement,

:45:13.:45:16.

inspired by her Tennyson poem of someone in a shallow grave hearing

:45:17.:45:26.

the hooves trample on his head. The whole orchestra on their feet now.

:45:27.:45:34.

And orchestra really have a close relationship with Daniel Barenboim.

:45:35.:45:38.

He has been the general music director there since 1992 which is

:45:39.:45:44.

means he is in charge of the Opera house there as well, and he has held

:45:45.:45:49.

the conductor for life title since the year 2000. More applause. The

:45:50.:46:00.

audience want more from Daniel Barenboim. They maybe think of his

:46:01.:46:04.

previous appearances at the Proms, where he has given so many concerts.

:46:05.:46:09.

In 2012 there was a cycle of Beethoven's named Symphony -- ninth

:46:10.:46:18.

Symphony along with the complete performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

:46:19.:46:27.

And more music... music in which Elgar surely shows

:46:28.:50:39.

his soul. The Nimrod variation from the Enigma Variations. I wonder in

:50:40.:50:47.

that performance if some of Daniel Barenboim's soul is revealed. This

:50:48.:50:52.

deep connection with Elgar and his first wife, Jacqueline du Pre.

:50:53.:51:03.

Somehow, the spirit of noble lament in that music is in a way what the

:51:04.:51:11.

Second Symphony is about, albeit on a grander scale. Sometimes an encore

:51:12.:51:17.

feel like they believed to a different spiritual universe but not

:51:18.:51:20.

that one, it feels like a continuation of the world of the

:51:21.:51:26.

symphony. Daniel Barenboim bringing this orchestra to their feet, the

:51:27.:51:29.

Staatskapelle Berlin. He has created another of these

:51:30.:51:54.

unforgettable experiences at the Proms, whether it is Beethoven,

:51:55.:52:01.

Wagner, Elgar, Daniel Barenboim and this orchestra, something special

:52:02.:52:05.

happens when they are here at the Royal Albert Hall, sharing music

:52:06.:52:09.

with this audience and with you at home. Something you feel means more

:52:10.:52:15.

to him, sums up his approach to music making, reaching the widest

:52:16.:52:20.

possible audiences. Something that runs through his life as a musician,

:52:21.:52:31.

with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, other musicians, driving

:52:32.:52:35.

everything he does as a conductor. He is on the podium. That could mean

:52:36.:52:37.

there is still more music. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you

:52:38.:52:52.

will bear with me. There are some words I would like to say today that

:52:53.:52:58.

I would like to share with you. I don't know if all of you will agree

:52:59.:53:03.

with them. I really would like to share that with you, but, first of

:53:04.:53:08.

all, I would like to thank this wonderful orchestra.

:53:09.:53:09.

APPLAUSE Not for being wonderful, this is

:53:10.:53:26.

what they are! LAUGHTER But for having agreed to

:53:27.:53:31.

postpone their holiday by a week, I think, or more, in order to be able

:53:32.:53:38.

to come to London to the Proms, this weekend, to play, because to play

:53:39.:53:44.

for you the Elgar symphonies is something very important to them.

:53:45.:53:49.

They really fell in love with this music. And they really wanted to

:53:50.:53:54.

bring it to London and I am very grateful they are only going on

:53:55.:53:57.

holiday tomorrow. LAUGHTER APPLAUSE

:53:58.:54:06.

And I would like to share with you some feelings, thoughts I have.

:54:07.:54:23.

Not political. LAUGHTER Not political but rather of human

:54:24.:54:27.

concern. When I look at the world with so

:54:28.:54:40.

many isolation tendencies. I get very worried. I know I am not alone.

:54:41.:54:42.

APPLAUSE You know, I lived in this country

:54:43.:55:01.

for many years. I was married in this country and I

:55:02.:55:07.

lived here for many years. I was shown so much affection whilst I

:55:08.:55:16.

lived here, that this kind of gave me the impetus, if you want to say

:55:17.:55:22.

what I would like to say, I think that the main problem today is not

:55:23.:55:28.

the policies of this country and that country. The main problem of

:55:29.:55:34.

today is that there is not enough education.

:55:35.:55:37.

APPLAUSE That there is not enough education

:55:38.:55:51.

for music, we have known a long time, but now there is not enough

:55:52.:55:56.

education about whom we are, about what is a human being and how is he

:55:57.:56:03.

to relate with others of the same kind?

:56:04.:56:09.

APPLAUSE That is why I say it is not

:56:10.:56:16.

political, but it is of human concern. If you look at the

:56:17.:56:24.

difficulties that the European continent is going through now, you

:56:25.:56:32.

can see why that is. Because of the lack of common education. Because in

:56:33.:56:41.

one country, they do not know why they should belong to something that

:56:42.:56:47.

whether other countries do. I am not talking about this country, no.

:56:48.:56:53.

LAUGHTER I will come to that. I am talking in general. Our

:56:54.:56:58.

profession, the musical profession, is the only one that is not

:56:59.:57:06.

national. No German musician will tell you, I am a German musician and

:57:07.:57:11.

I will only play Brahms, Schumann, and Beethoven.

:57:12.:57:14.

CHEERING We had very good proof of it

:57:15.:57:31.

tonight. Let me stay out of Great Britain. If

:57:32.:57:39.

a French citizen wants to learn Goethe, he has to have a

:57:40.:57:45.

translation, but he does not need a translation for the Beethoven

:57:46.:57:47.

symphonies. This is why music is so important. And this isolationist

:57:48.:57:59.

tendency, and nationalism in its very narrow sense is something that

:58:00.:58:08.

is very dangerous and can only be fought with a great accent on

:58:09.:58:12.

education of the new generation. We are probably all too old for that.

:58:13.:58:18.

LAUGHTER But the new generation have to understand that Greece, and

:58:19.:58:26.

Germany, and France, and Denmark, have all something in common called

:58:27.:58:33.

European culture. CHEERING

:58:34.:58:35.

APPLAUSE Not only Europe.

:58:36.:58:59.

Culture. This is really the most important thing. And, of course, in

:59:00.:59:11.

this cultural community called Europe, there is a place for diverse

:59:12.:59:17.

culture. For different cultures, for a different way of looking at

:59:18.:59:23.

things, but this can be done only with education. And the fanaticism

:59:24.:59:32.

that exists in the world, with religious backgrounds, can also only

:59:33.:59:38.

be fought with education. APPLAUSE

:59:39.:59:52.

Religious fanaticism cannot be fought with arms alone. The real

:59:53.:00:05.

evils of the world can only be fought with humanism, that keeps us

:00:06.:00:15.

all together. Including you. And I am sure going to show you that I

:00:16.:00:18.

really mean it. APPLAUSE

:00:19.:00:26.

MUSIC: Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 by Elgar

:00:27.:06:19.

Daniel Barenboim and his international cultural community of

:06:20.:07:20.

musicians, the Staatskapelle Berlin. Am everybody here, with the Pomp and

:07:21.:07:26.

Circumstance March. A tune that belongs all of us. Something you may

:07:27.:07:28.

hear later in the season. From all of us at the Royal

:07:29.:07:29.

Albert Hall, good night.

:07:30.:07:35.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS