0:00:02 > 0:00:04Tonight at the Proms, one of the hottest tickets of the season,
0:00:04 > 0:00:08as Sir Simon Rattle, the London Symphony Orchestra, three choirs
0:00:08 > 0:00:13and an outstanding cast perform Schoenberg's colossal Gurrelieder.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Welcome to the Royal Albert Hall,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39where tonight we're going to hear just one work,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Schoenberg's masterpiece Gurrelieder.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44And frankly there simply isn't space for anything else
0:00:44 > 0:00:48because this is a cantata of gigantic proportions.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Hello, I'm Lloyd Coleman.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Now, if the thought of 100-odd minutes of solid Schoenberg
0:00:54 > 0:00:57has you reaching to change channel immediately,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00then please step away from that remote a second.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01Because I promise you,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04this is not Schoenberg as most of us tend to think of him.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Forget all that atonal, 12-tone serial stuff that came a bit later,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13this is Schoenberg at his most tuneful and hyper-romantic.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Think Wagner or Mahler, but with the dial turned right the way up to 11.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Gurrelieder translates into English as Songs of Gurre,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26and it's based on an extended poem from A Cactus Blooms -
0:01:26 > 0:01:28that's a novella written in 1868
0:01:28 > 0:01:32by the Danish poet and novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36It's an ancient Danish saga involving a tale of illicit love,
0:01:36 > 0:01:42jealousy and murder, all set at the Castle of Gurre in North Zealand.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Schoenberg splits his setting of the story into three parts.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51In the first, we meet King Waldemar and his mistress Tove.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55But when Queen Helwig discovers the affair she has Tove killed,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58the news of which is delivered by the Wood-Dove
0:01:58 > 0:02:01in the most famous aria of the work.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05In the much shorter second part, Waldemar furiously denounces God
0:02:05 > 0:02:10for having taken Tove from him in a demonic outburst.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14God's reaction is to curse Waldemar and, in part three, we find him
0:02:14 > 0:02:19doomed to ride out every night with the undead on a wild hunt for Tove.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25The whole work ends with a final chorus, Behold The Sun,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28marking the return of spring which banishes all memory
0:02:28 > 0:02:33of the nightmarish passions of Tove's and Waldemar's night.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I caught up with Sir Simon Rattle
0:02:35 > 0:02:37and some of the cast in rehearsals earlier.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Gurrelieder is scored for
0:02:40 > 0:02:43an enormous orchestra of over 140 players,
0:02:43 > 0:02:48including 10 horns, seven trombones, four harps and eight flutes.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Really, everything is twice the size of what we'd normally expect.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58On top of that, the piece calls for three male choirs,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03one huge mixed chorus, five singing soloists and a speaker.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05So, in total, there's going to be
0:03:05 > 0:03:08well over 400 musicians onstage tonight.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Schoenberg had not written for an orchestra at all before he did this.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15It's like a kid in a sandbox or at a sweet shop.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17"Well, I'm going to have one of all of those!"
0:03:17 > 0:03:20ORCHESTRA REHEARSES
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Singing with an orchestra of that size can be a huge challenge.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32You have to be very powerful.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36You always have the feeling that you are not loud enough.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40You need to... really sing.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43HE REHEARSES
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Although Schoenberg's used a massive apparatus,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50he's often used it in kind of very fine filigree.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58So, as much as it's a massive orchestra, you feel supported,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00rather than fighting against it.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02SHE REHEARSES
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Everyone's opinion of Schoenberg is that it's off the wall
0:04:08 > 0:04:11and very modern in sound.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Normally you're expecting 12-tone music
0:04:13 > 0:04:19and suddenly you hear completely romantic Wagner-like music.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22SHE REHEARSES
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Everyone thinks, "Oh, you're not going to get any tunes,"
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and there are so many melodies you can sing along.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30SHE REHEARSES
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I think it was very important for him to show that
0:04:33 > 0:04:37everything that Wagner and Strauss had done,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40he could do as well and probably even do better.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44CHOIR REHEARSES
0:04:48 > 0:04:51You know, it is serious German music, this.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53You know, you can't get much more serious than
0:04:53 > 0:04:57late romantic German kunst, you know.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01HE REHEARSES
0:05:02 > 0:05:08Sprechstimme means very simple loud speaking, it's really like singing
0:05:08 > 0:05:10but only with a speaking voice.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12HE REHEARSES
0:05:12 > 0:05:17If I would speak like Sprechstimme at home,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22I think my wife would send me outside to live.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28I'm very, very honoured that he brought me from Berlin to here,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33maybe also as a little symbol that this is a new start here.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36It's a family feeling.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39And to start off this wonderful journey
0:05:39 > 0:05:43with the London Symphony Orchestra like this, is...
0:05:43 > 0:05:46That's really an unforgettable evening for me.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Sir Simon Rattle there, who begins his inaugural season
0:05:50 > 0:05:53as the LSO's Music Director in just 11 days' time now.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It's a hugely exciting moment for them and for British classical music
0:05:57 > 0:06:01in general, as Rattle believes that, given the right time and condition,
0:06:01 > 0:06:06the LSO can be the best orchestra in the world.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10And, get this - despite numerous collaborations over the years,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13this is first time Rattle and the LSO
0:06:13 > 0:06:16have ever performed at the Proms together.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And you have to admit they're starting with a real bang
0:06:19 > 0:06:22because Gurrelieder is the kind of piece that could have been made
0:06:22 > 0:06:25for this enormous space in the Royal Albert Hall.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28The orchestra are joined this evening
0:06:28 > 0:06:31by the London Symphony Chorus, the City of Birmingham Chorus,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Orfeo Catala, a choir from Barcelona,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and a stellar cast of soloists.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44APPLAUSE
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Here we go, then.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Here comes tonight's conductor, Sir Simon Rattle,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54along with the Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek, the Tenor Simon O'Neill
0:06:54 > 0:06:58and the Bass Baritone Thomas Quasthoff.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00They'll be onstage for the duration.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And they'll be joined later by the Mezzo Soprano Karen Cargill,
0:07:03 > 0:07:08the Tenor Peter Hoare and Baritone Christopher Purves
0:07:08 > 0:07:12to perform this highly, highly anticipated performance
0:07:12 > 0:07:15of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder.
0:14:13 > 0:14:22SUNG:
1:03:54 > 1:03:56APPLAUSE
1:41:37 > 1:41:42SPOKEN:
1:52:25 > 1:52:28CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:52:45 > 1:52:50"One of the greatest sunrises in the history of music."
1:52:50 > 1:52:56That's how Sir Simon Rattle described that glorious ending.
1:52:56 > 1:53:00And you can certainly see and hear why he might say that.
1:53:02 > 1:53:04What a cast we were treated to
1:53:04 > 1:53:08in that performance of Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder.
1:53:12 > 1:53:14With the London Symphony Orchestra
1:53:14 > 1:53:18led by Carmine Lauri this evening.
1:53:20 > 1:53:23And Simon Rattle was telling me earlier today that
1:53:23 > 1:53:29the LSO hasn't performed this piece, Gurrelieder, since 1964.
1:53:30 > 1:53:33But I think it's been worth the wait.
1:53:34 > 1:53:40And, as he takes up his new post as the new Music Director of the LSO
1:53:40 > 1:53:43in just a few days now,
1:53:43 > 1:53:49Simon Rattle will be looking forward to a very busy 2017/18 season.
1:53:49 > 1:53:51As he continues his final season
1:53:51 > 1:53:54as the Music Director at the Berliner Philharmoniker,
1:53:54 > 1:53:58where he's been principal conductor since 2002.
1:54:02 > 1:54:06Much appreciation from the Proms' audience, of course.
1:54:06 > 1:54:10Simon O'Neill playing the role of Waldemar.
1:54:10 > 1:54:14Karen Cargill as the Wood-Dove.
1:54:14 > 1:54:18Thomas Quasthoff as the Speaker at the end there. What a voice he has,
1:54:18 > 1:54:19filling this huge space,
1:54:19 > 1:54:23even though he was half-singing and half-speaking.
1:54:23 > 1:54:28Eva-Maria Westbroek, of course, as Tove in part one.
1:54:28 > 1:54:32Christopher Purves as the Peasant.
1:54:32 > 1:54:36And Peter Hoare as Klaus the Fool.
1:54:36 > 1:54:39All extraordinary performances in their own right.
1:54:43 > 1:54:48And the Chorus Master there, Simon Halsey, taking a well-earned bow.
1:54:48 > 1:54:52He is closely associated with all three choirs here tonight.
1:54:52 > 1:54:55The London Symphony Chorus, the CBSO Chorus -
1:54:55 > 1:54:58he's music director of both of those -
1:54:58 > 1:55:02and Orfeo Catala, a choir from Barcelona.
1:55:05 > 1:55:08Well, that brings us to the end of this concert,
1:55:08 > 1:55:11but do stay with us here on BBC Four
1:55:11 > 1:55:14for a very special late night Prom next,
1:55:14 > 1:55:16marking the 70th Anniversary
1:55:16 > 1:55:19of partition and independence on the Indian subcontinent
1:55:19 > 1:55:22with classical music from India and Pakistan.
1:55:22 > 1:55:24Definitely worth staying up for.
1:55:24 > 1:55:27But from me and the whole team here at the Royal Albert Hall,
1:55:27 > 1:55:29a very good night.