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We take a look at two great pianists. | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
And we have a solo performance by a top Northern lass. | :00:08. | :00:10. | |
If the Proms is Mary Berry, then we're Paul Hollywood. | :00:11. | :00:42. | |
And just like Bake Off, the Royal Albert Hall | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
Next Saturday it will all be over for this year's Proms. | :00:46. | :01:39. | |
We're just about holding it together for our last show. | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
Let's see who's joining me inside the Royal College of Music - | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
and I must warn you, be prepared for a six degrees | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
Our first guest is a leading soprano of the | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
Next week she is off to Belfast to sing for the Last Night of | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
When it comes to performing with the top opera houses, | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
she's been there, done that, and most | :02:06. | :02:07. | |
recently received glowing reviews for her role | :02:08. | :02:10. | |
as a lavatory lady in | :02:11. | :02:12. | |
Less lady of the lamp and more like Lady of | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
Please welcome Lesley Garrett, who will also be performing | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
Now our next guest is an award-winning | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
He's had a busy old time of it this year, what with the London premiere | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
of his piece Israfel at the Proms, and earlier in the year saw | :02:30. | :02:32. | |
the premiere of his opera Pleasure, which starred a certain | :02:33. | :02:34. | |
Our final guest paid a visit to Proms Extra three years ago. | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
This week she made her Proms debut conducting | :02:40. | :02:41. | |
the BBC Symphony Orchestra - about time. | :02:42. | :02:43. | |
As you've just heard, Lesley Garrett starred | :02:44. | :02:45. | |
in the opera called Pleasure, written by our guest Mark Simpson, | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
and the concluding link in our six degrees of separation | :02:49. | :02:50. | |
is that our final guest has been to see it. | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
Please welcome the world-renowned conductor, Simone Young. | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
welcome all of you. Lesley, Last Night Of The Proms and Belfast, that | :02:59. | :03:10. | |
will fun. You are not kidding. The Northern Irish really know how to | :03:11. | :03:13. | |
party and I am so looking forward to it. I have taken a couple of days | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
off after because I might need time to recover. This year it was all | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
about you as the composer, how was it? It was a thrilling experience | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
because I could not attend the rehearsals because I was in | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
rehearsals for another project so I had to come down and back again in | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
the same evening and it was a surreal experience is going to see a | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
piece you have written and not have gone to any of the rehearsals. It | :03:42. | :03:49. | |
was quite surreal. You were a member of the public? Yes, like a member of | :03:50. | :03:58. | |
the public and you came up with no nerves and it was quite a relaxing | :03:59. | :04:03. | |
experience. You heard my tone earlier, I cannot believe it was | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
your debut. How was it? The promise is a very special atmosphere and you | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
have the public very close which is surprising at first. But the BBC | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
Symphony Orchestra is a great orchestra and we had a wild | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
programme of music, very well-known, completely unknown and brand-new, | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
and it was very satisfying. I will be taking a couple of days off now | :04:28. | :04:35. | |
to recover before the next project. We are expecting you to be a little | :04:36. | :04:37. | |
opinionated, so do not hold back. Now let's turn to a conductor | :04:38. | :04:39. | |
whom you cannot ignore - Daniel Barenboim - | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
and the work that he has done with An ensemble that is deliberately | :04:44. | :04:45. | |
comprised of Arab and Israeli members, which Daniel | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
co-founded with his friend, the Palestinian writer | :04:50. | :04:50. | |
and critic, Edward Said. But for once he wasn't | :04:51. | :04:52. | |
the only star of the show. That honour went to Barenboim's | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
childhood friend, the legendary Martha Argerich, who gave | :04:56. | :04:57. | |
the audience this performance Shown last Sunday on BBC Four, | :04:58. | :04:59. | |
that was pianist Martha Argerich, performing Liszt's First Piano | :05:00. | :05:52. | |
Concerto accompanied by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, | :05:53. | :05:53. | |
conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Martha is legendary, she is | :05:54. | :06:08. | |
considered one of the finest pianists in the world. Do you feel | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
her performance stood up to that? Completely extraordinary, as she | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
always is every time she performs. The real chemistry between these two | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
fantastic musicians, I think you feel it. Particularly in a work like | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
this which is a work that Daniel Barenboim performs many times | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
himself at the keyboard. There is a level of music-making going on that | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
is above and beyond what most of us experience. Am I right in thinking | :06:39. | :06:42. | |
you have conducted him playing that these? I have indeed. It was one of | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
those round birthdays one wants to forget. But I was his assistant in | :06:50. | :06:56. | |
the 90s and for this particular birthday Daniel came and played both | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
piano concertos with me and Mike Orchestra in Hamburg and we did a | :07:02. | :07:11. | |
whole programme. There is a reason why one says he is legendary and it | :07:12. | :07:18. | |
is because he is one of the musical greats of this time. You mentioned | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
Edward Said. That is Daniel Barenboim, he is a philosopher, | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
thinker, musician, poet, politician, he is the consumer items. When you | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
perform as a conductor with him as a soloist, does he say anything about | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
how he wants it to be conducted? It must be hard for him having had both | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
hats on. It does not matter whether it was 25 years ago it is not quite | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
student - teacher, it is apprentice - mental relationship moved onto the | :07:52. | :07:58. | |
next level. How did handle that? I was very nervous and he was mentally | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
gracious and we had one of those glorious experiences that you keep | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
for a lifetime. The beautiful thing about making music with great human | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
beings is that it is about what they think. They stand above the | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
technical requirements, that is a given. Then it is about what you | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
want to say with the phrase, the work, and it is inspiring. And with | :08:24. | :08:30. | |
somebody like him particularly with a fantastic imagination, no | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
performance will ever be the same. He will bounce of you and you will | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
bounce off him and it will be a new magic. It is that communication that | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
create something very special. It is not just about the intellect, it is | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
about the humanity and the warmth of the soul. One of the things that | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
struck me about Martha's performance was how quiet the others were and | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
listening to her talk about vulnerability beforehand as she says | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
she likes to hear the music and the wrong notes and the sense that we | :09:08. | :09:15. | |
can push that boundary to a limit. It is the vulnerability that makes | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
the audience care about you. If you are a perfect all the time it gets | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
pretty dull all the time. It is that vulnerability that makes an audience | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
member want to care for you, it makes the performance come alive. It | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
is why live performance is so special. You have to marvel at her | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
strength, those opening chords. She has just celebrated her 75th | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
birthday, but we will not talk about it, it does not matter. She seems to | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
me to be at the height of her powers. Her spiritual powers, her | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
powers of interpretation and appreciation of the music, which I | :09:54. | :09:59. | |
like that with Daniel's, take it to this extra level. At the end of the | :10:00. | :10:07. | |
performance came an encore which saw Daniel joined his childhood friend | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
Martha at the piano and we can see those two old friends in action. | :10:11. | :10:41. | |
The encore to end all encores, Martha Argerich and her childhood | :10:42. | :10:43. | |
friend Daniel Barenboim on the piano together in harmony. | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
Apparently they used to living together in Argentina in Buena | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
Syriza when they are children. How does a perfect and enhance your | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
performance when you are proper friends? I have got no friends. | :11:00. | :11:09. | |
Billy no mates. You can slip into a little language of your own, things | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
that only you understand, but you still have to keep the discipline if | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
you are up on stage. People expect a performance. But in an encore | :11:19. | :11:29. | |
situation, people do not mind. I know as a conductor we are lucky, we | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
get to perform with our backs to the audience and you do not see all the | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
stupid things we do with our faces a lot of times. I know when I am | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
conducting singers who happened to be really good friends and you know | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
what is going on in their lives and what they are going through and you | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
know what it costs them to come out on stage and give that performance. | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
I would do anything for them. I would just about lay down my life | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
for them in that moment because you know what that means. Will you do | :12:01. | :12:10. | |
that at my concept? But 5% of my brain has to say, and dammit, get it | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
right. That was a great encore. How do you choose a an encore? I do not | :12:18. | :12:28. | |
do many to be next. -- to be honest. We had a great experience recently, | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
I did a concert and we had five curtain calls and we did not prepare | :12:36. | :12:41. | |
an encore, we just had to place happening. They did not stop | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
clapping, they wanted more. We played the movement again. You did | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
not prepare an encore? You do have friends. It was a repeat of the | :12:54. | :13:02. | |
things we just played. I am getting an impression you have at least one | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
Go on to the BBC iPlayer and you can see Martha's performance, | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
the encore and indeed the full concert with the West-Eastern Divan | :13:11. | :13:12. | |
Now the end is near, it's time to face the final curtain | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
as David Owen Norris gives the last Chord of the Week and | :13:18. | :13:20. | |
This chord comes from another moment in the Barenboim concert. | :13:21. | :13:27. | |
The illegal cord that Wagner makes when he plays three of his master | :13:28. | :13:35. | |
singer's tunes together. This is at the top. In the middle there is a | :13:36. | :13:45. | |
little fanfare. In the base is the dignified theme of the master | :13:46. | :13:51. | |
singers themselves. All very see major so Wagner can put them | :13:52. | :13:53. | |
together as counterpoint. But let's just run that passed the | :13:54. | :14:12. | |
master of counterpoint, Johann Sebastian Bach. He would have viewed | :14:13. | :14:19. | |
our cord of the week with great suspicion. Mr Wagner, you have | :14:20. | :14:27. | |
broken the rules. This cord is both unprepared and exposed. We will | :14:28. | :14:40. | |
alter the base. Oh dear, Mr Wagner, you have done it again. We will | :14:41. | :14:49. | |
alter the melody. Oh, the tenor has already learnt it. No point doing | :14:50. | :14:58. | |
that again. We will reinterpret the dissidents by introducing a counter | :14:59. | :15:08. | |
melody. I think we might rescue this after all. | :15:09. | :15:21. | |
But that was all a century before and luckily Wagner could do exactly | :15:22. | :15:26. | |
as he liked. That was the last time we'll see | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
David Owen Norris and his Chord Still to come on Proms Extra, | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
we'll be taking a look at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
debut with their new Music Director, and we have a performance | :15:38. | :15:40. | |
by our guest Lesley Garrett, who is still with me, | :15:41. | :15:42. | |
together with composer and clarinettist Mark Simpson, | :15:43. | :15:44. | |
and the conductor Simone Young. As you know Proms Extra likes to get | :15:45. | :15:46. | |
close to the stars, if they let us, and we were beyond excited | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
when the celebrated pianist Stephen Hough and Proms Extra family | :15:51. | :15:52. | |
member opened up the doors to his world, so we could see | :15:53. | :15:55. | |
what it takes for him So at the moment here we are in my | :15:56. | :16:09. | |
studio. This is where the real work is done. In preparing for the Proms, | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
I'm playing the Rhapsody on the theme of Paganini. When I sit down | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
on the piano I usually begin by playing some chords are just to make | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
friends again with my instrument. If you've been laying in bed for seven | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
hours of sleep, nothing is going on here, you can't just sit down at the | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
piano and suddenly start playing, so I rediscovered exercises when I read | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
about Rachmaninov himself, who apparently used to spend an hour a | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
day doing physical exercises at the piano and I thought it was rather a | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
lot, actually. I don't think there are any pianists who would admit to | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
doing so much, but I like to do some. This is the flexibility and | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
agility exercise, not just how the fingers go down onto the keys, it's | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
also the flexibility from side to side, so you are opening up the | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
joints and tendons of the hand. Music has nothing to do with it at | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
all, it's purely mechanical. It's just like someone about to do a | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
sprint stretching their legs before they do it, it's physical, it's the | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
Olympics. When we play the piano we are using muscles and tendons and | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
joints and using our whole body when we played the piano. It's not just | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
fingers, even wrists, even elbows, even shoulders, it's the whole back | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
which allows you to create any kind of sound which will be heard at the | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
back of the Albert Hall. So now I'm at Maida Vale, the orchestra is | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
rehearsing in studio one. Once you are with the orchestra has to be a | :17:35. | :17:43. | |
meeting of minds. There's a little, not level of anxiety, but A level of | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
excitement. Now we're on the threshold. At home when you are | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
practising, there is any number of thousands of possibilities. Once you | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
are actually in a rehearsal with the clock ticking away and not much | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
time, you have to decide on one of those possibilities and join it with | :18:02. | :18:05. | |
the orchestra. Maybe the oboist takes a little bit more time on one | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
solo, so I have to go with that, and maybe I want to take more time and | :18:12. | :18:14. | |
the conductor is listening and adjusting. We are laying out the | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
path, it's routine this afternoon. We want to save something of the | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
excitement for tomorrow so we can turn it on and it will be the | :18:23. | :18:29. | |
performance. You can't get out of bed and rushed down to the Albert | :18:30. | :18:32. | |
Hall and be able to play. I need to get a couple of hours before, get | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
the adrenaline flowing, but that whole day I want to feel at ease | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
with myself. I like to eat sushi is my favourite lunchtime food on the | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
concert day. It's nutritious, but not too heavy. So it's an hour to go | :18:46. | :18:53. | |
before the concert. I'm here at the dressing room in the Royal Albert | :18:54. | :18:56. | |
Hall, underneath the stage. I want to warm up. I'm not going to | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
practice the piece itself very much. You can over practice, you really | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
can. Sometimes I feel particularly nervous. There are times when you | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
just don't want to go out and play, so that has to be overcome. I'm | :19:10. | :19:17. | |
chewing some gum, it helps my concentration, takes away nerves and | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
so now I just need to get changed into my concert clothes, my concert | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
shoes. They're very night -- light pumps. I can pedal very likely and | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
they are fun looking as well. Then really its just watching the clock | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
until the moment they tell me I am due on stage. So when I'm standing | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
in the wings I just tried to avoid superstitions because when they | :19:42. | :19:43. | |
don't work then your mind starts playing other games with you. You | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
can have that kind of frieze of the brain, just physically do start to | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
think, oh gosh, where's middle C, oh yes, it's there, this is the joy of | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
light music. We are all prepared and we know what Rachmaninov wants and | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
what we want, but on the night it has to have a certain sense of | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
spontaneity as well. It should be good. I don't really know how I'm | :20:07. | :20:09. | |
going to play this piece tonight, completely. | :20:10. | :20:12. | |
APPLAUSE The renowned pianist Stephen Hough, | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
and an insight into how he prepped Simone, how did you get ready for | :20:18. | :20:30. | |
your Proms debut? It was a little strange because of the intensity of | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
what is going on in the Albert Hall. The dress rehearsal was in the | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
afternoon immediately before the concert, and I'm used to the German | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
system where the dress rehearsal is in the morning, go and have lunch, | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
get your head on, have laid out, get ready for the evening. I had to | :20:45. | :20:48. | |
rethink my day, which meant I was ravenous for the concert because I | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
never had time to find the meal. But it's about the mental preparation. | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
How about your preparation for your Belfast Proms in the Park and Last | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
Night of the Proms, do you have a ritual? I think we probably do, I | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
have a tea, I wouldn't say at the ritual, that's too much. The thing I | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
am doing all the time is going over the words. The words that -- are the | :21:11. | :21:16. | |
thing that for a sting is the most terrifying. Have you had a moment | :21:17. | :21:19. | |
where you have had to be creative with the words? More than once! | :21:20. | :21:27. | |
Absolutely, the things I have made rhyme! Ira Gershwin would be proud! | :21:28. | :21:34. | |
Yes. Any rituals to you, Mark? It depends on what peace or what | :21:35. | :21:37. | |
occasion. Last year when I did Nielsen at the Proms it was an | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
incredibly daunting experience for me, it is relentless and nonstop. | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
There's nothing like it. For that kind of Marathon, I mean I just | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
spent the three hours running around the back of the Albert Hall like a | :21:51. | :21:53. | |
headless chicken will stop LAUGHTER | :21:54. | :22:00. | |
It was pretty scary. Last year the city. | :22:01. | :22:02. | |
Last year the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's | :22:03. | :22:04. | |
concert with their outgoing conductor Andris Nelsons | :22:05. | :22:06. | |
was one of the Proms highlights of the season, | :22:07. | :22:08. | |
especially as it was his last concert with the orchestra before | :22:09. | :22:10. | |
A lot of talk ensued as to who could or would and indeed | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
A few names were whispered, and after an extensive search | :22:16. | :22:26. | |
it was announced that the Lithuanian conductor, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla | :22:27. | :22:28. | |
That was Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla making her Proms debut conducting | :22:29. | :23:13. | |
the CBSO in the overture from Mozart's The Magic Flute. | :23:14. | :23:22. | |
Simone, gives the lowdown. Mirga has made everybody very excited. What is | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
it about her that makes her want to watch? She has everything. This is a | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
young conductor of incredible intellectual strength. She has got a | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
seriously impressive CV. This is very, very serious and impressive | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
musician. For me, the answer to everything is that the orchestra, | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
the musicians, wanted her. And I think that's just brilliant. I think | :23:52. | :23:54. | |
she follows in a very clear line, from the previous appointments at | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
CBSO. They have a real tradition of taking as many people would say, a | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
gamble, on somebody young. Simon Rattle. Simon, relatively | :24:06. | :24:16. | |
inexperienced, you might say that the previous conductor was young | :24:17. | :24:20. | |
when he got the job as well. What -- it's what make Birmingham a special | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
orchestra. It's a fantastic appointment. I'm terribly excited | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
that she is hitting the mainstream, because she's a world star in the | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
making. Apparently trained as a choral conductor, I don't know if | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
you can see that singing background? You can completely see that, she has | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
the music in her face. That immediately impresses me, that you | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
look at her and you see the music, you see the excitement and the | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
passion and the way she wants you to make music. For me, when people, | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
when kids ask me, what is the conductor for? I'll leave now... ! , | :24:54. | :25:03. | |
Doctor is absolutely full clarity of movement and understanding -- the | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
conductor. It's where the music must happen and she has that. Much more | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
importantly conductor has to show you the music, gives you the music, | :25:13. | :25:16. | |
show you where the music is going to go, and make sure everybody involved | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
is going on the same path. You can just see that in her face. She has | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
obviously been choral conductor. She is conducting to the back all the | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
time. She's inspiring the chorus behind the orchestra all the time. | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
For me, that's just wonderful, I love to theatre. As well as. | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
As well as core repertoire the audience had the London premiere | :25:40. | :25:42. | |
of Hans Abrahamsen's Let Me Tell You which featured the soprano, | :25:43. | :25:44. | |
MUSIC: Let Me Tell You by Hans Abrahamsen. | :25:45. | :26:47. | |
Barbara Hannigan performing with the CBSO, performing an excerpt | :26:48. | :26:49. | |
from Hans Abrahamsen's Let Me Tell You. | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
Mark, this has won many awards, it's a wonderful new work written in 2013 | :26:56. | :27:03. | |
and I know you are big work. Tell me about it. Hans Abrahamsen is one of | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
the most innovative composers working today. He has this brilliant | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
kind of clarity in his harmony, in his orchestration, and this work, | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
which was written for Barbara Hannigan and the Berlin Philharmonic | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
in 2013 takes the novella of Paul Griffiths with the same title, let | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
me tell you, which in itself is a novella builds on all of the words | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
from Ophelia's speech in Hamlet, and reimagined, and so Barbara, she | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
approached hands and asked him to do something with face and in that he | :27:41. | :27:42. | |
extrapolates another kind of understanding of Ofili. The piece | :27:43. | :27:50. | |
has this -- understanding of Ofili. The piece has this intoxicating and | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
inward looking expressivity, to me. There's a calmness and beauty and I | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
think Barbara, it was written specifically for her, she has a | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
beautiful voice, especially these gorgeous crystalline top notes which | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
come out of the textures from nowhere. You know, as a kind of | :28:08. | :28:14. | |
orchestral statement, an artistic statement, it's not overbearing, | :28:15. | :28:20. | |
it's not kind of shouting at you to say anything other than just come | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
into this world and listen to what I have to say, and that's one of the | :28:26. | :28:28. | |
reasons why I like this particular piece and also Hans Abrahamsen's | :28:29. | :28:34. | |
music in general. It's a sound world that appeals to you, Lesley? Very | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
much so. I'm particularly impressed by the way Hans has taken Ophelia's | :28:39. | :28:46. | |
nature and imbued it into the music. Ofili, as we know, is a fragile | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
creature, she sees the world in an otherworldly way perhaps, and you | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
absolutely get that in the sound world. It's beautifully sonorous and | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
filigree, you can hear so many interesting details and textures and | :29:01. | :29:05. | |
I think Barbara thinks it beautifully. She would, because he | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
wrote it for her. I've had the great pleasure of having a piece, a role | :29:12. | :29:14. | |
written for me, by this fabulous composer sitting here on my left, | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
even though it was nothing as wonderful as Ophelia! You know! | :29:20. | :29:28. | |
There is a very special magic that happens when a composer writes a | :29:29. | :29:31. | |
piece specifically for you. My only worry about this piece is that it's | :29:32. | :29:37. | |
very difficult to hear the words on the first hearing. I know they were | :29:38. | :29:40. | |
printed in the programme and I'm glad of that and I think on | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
television it's easier to hear them because you get up close and | :29:45. | :29:47. | |
personal to the face, but I wonder whether the people in the hall could | :29:48. | :29:50. | |
actually hear the words and I would have liked to have seen circle -- | :29:51. | :29:56. | |
surtitles so the poetry could have been understood and appreciated but | :29:57. | :30:03. | |
it's difficult this, because words, nothing is repeated, traditionally | :30:04. | :30:06. | |
an opera for instance that is why things are repeated so eventually | :30:07. | :30:09. | |
you get the words, and that would be completely inappropriate in this | :30:10. | :30:14. | |
kind of music. And there are these beautiful filigree high notes which | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
I'd agree are exquisite. You can't put a word on a note like that, so | :30:19. | :30:22. | |
again it makes a problem but with modern technology we can get round | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
that and I really love it, I'd love to have a go at it myself. I think | :30:29. | :30:30. | |
it's gorgeous. You can see Barbara Hannigan's | :30:31. | :30:32. | |
performance as conducted by Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla | :30:33. | :30:34. | |
with the CBSO tomorrow Proms Extra is almost at an end, | :30:35. | :30:36. | |
but it would be rude of us to leave without taking a reflective look | :30:37. | :30:41. | |
at the music, the guests and the drama that make up this | :30:42. | :30:44. | |
unique Proms season. What a great site, 164 are pumped up | :30:45. | :31:07. | |
teenagers on a Saturday night giving it something in a hall in South | :31:08. | :31:18. | |
Kensington. He is a genius. You are showing young people how cool and | :31:19. | :31:23. | |
orchestra can be. It is wonderful to have music in surprising situations. | :31:24. | :31:29. | |
One of the players said it is hard to play this when you are constantly | :31:30. | :31:33. | |
being reminded there is a 70% discount. You are engaging in lots | :31:34. | :31:40. | |
of different ways with music. Let's look at the David Bowie Proms and I | :31:41. | :31:47. | |
saw this huge list of messages. I love a bit of controversy rather | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
than everything went swimmingly. But it was great. What is going on with | :31:54. | :32:02. | |
these cores? Is it your kind of music? Everything we drank beer too. | :32:03. | :32:09. | |
People do not like tunes like that any more. It was brilliant to have | :32:10. | :32:16. | |
these Scriptures, it seemed out of context, but they work. It is the | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
safety in numbers thing, we will prevail and get through the dark | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
side and come through. Incredibly powerful, still pertinent and still | :32:27. | :32:34. | |
very poignant. I have never seen an official looking so happy. It is the | :32:35. | :32:40. | |
colour of the strings and the way you slide around in the woodwind. | :32:41. | :32:45. | |
You have a particularly tough first number. Thank you for pointing that | :32:46. | :32:54. | |
out. Gershwin is one of the great 20th-century composers. It is the | :32:55. | :32:59. | |
wit of gin and vodka. A lot of musicians say it is only a viola. We | :33:00. | :33:09. | |
are going to start the viola jokes. He enjoys every moment he connects | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
to the audience in a way that you just lap up. I thought you were | :33:14. | :33:20. | |
going to do the moonwalk. Later. Stay tuned for that. It starts loud, | :33:21. | :33:31. | |
stays loud and gets louder. Mine is very much a party animal cellist | :33:32. | :33:38. | |
rather than a serious one. You can see what the Orange does to the | :33:39. | :33:43. | |
strings. The doors are going to be open very soon and it will be packed | :33:44. | :33:49. | |
pretty tightly. I touched the holy grail of the Proms, the rail. | :33:50. | :34:06. | |
Seven weeks of the Proms Extra done and come this | :34:07. | :34:12. | |
Saturday, all roads will lead to the annual pomp | :34:13. | :34:14. | |
In Leslie will be performing for us. If you missed Simon Rattle asthma, | :34:15. | :34:28. | |
fear not, he is a little something for you to enjoy. -- if you missed | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
Simon Rattle last night. MUSIC: Symphony No 7 in E | :34:35. | :35:10. | |
minor by Gustav Mahler. That was Sir Simon Rattle | :35:11. | :35:27. | |
with the Berlin Philharmonic, Now there's just time for me to tell | :35:28. | :35:29. | |
you that the Last Night of the Proms will be broadcast live first | :35:30. | :35:36. | |
on BBC Two, and the second half will follow on BBC One, | :35:37. | :35:38. | |
with yours truly at the helm. For the final time I can tell | :35:39. | :35:41. | |
you that many of the Proms broadcasts, including Proms Extra, | :35:42. | :35:44. | |
are online - but not indefinitely. And remember that during this | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
last week as always, all of the Proms are broadcast live | :35:48. | :35:49. | |
on BBC Radio Three every night. It only remains for me to say thank | :35:50. | :35:52. | |
you to Mark Simpson and Simone Young for joining me this evening, | :35:53. | :36:00. | |
and thank you to Lesley Garrett, who will be performing | :36:01. | :36:03. | |
in Belfast in the Last Night Accompanied tonight by her | :36:04. | :36:05. | |
pianist Anna Tilbrook, here is Lesley Garrett | :36:06. | :36:09. | |
with Beat Out That Rhythm On A Drum, # It ain't the sweetness | :36:10. | :37:05. | |
# I don't need nothin' else to start me off | :37:06. | :37:37. | |
# Tonight we're in the groove together | :37:38. | :38:36. | |
# Ain't gonna worry about stormy weather | :38:37. | :38:38. | |
# Gonna kick old trouble out the door | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
# And kick his carcass through the door | :38:43. | :39:16. | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE I think they liked it. | :39:17. | :39:19. |