China Tease: Prom 2

I can't really say I'm that enthusiastic about the second Prom with the China Philharmonic, though I'm likely to find Alison Balsom's trumpet tempting.

That could be because I heard some rather odd sounds when the BBC World Service was trumpeting (sorry, I shall try to avoid such childish puns in future) its appearance most of this week. They sounded rather like Confucian wind-chimes at a China Tea Party. I hope that wasn't a sneak 'pre-hear' of the Elgar, Tchaikovslky, Liszt or Mussorgsky. It rather put me off. And experiencing Lang Lang at various times has made me just a little nervous of young Chinese percussionists. Sorry, that should be pianists.

I can't help, though, rather wanting to know if the China Philharmonic can come up with some kind of 'People's Pomp Over the Circumstance of The Long March' in G Major. I think they should, really. We shall see.

We did. Respectful. Cautious. A bit dull, actually, as a tributary gift to people you're meeting for the fist time tends to be. Especially, perhaps, if you may be just a little uncertain about the degree of actual patriotic fervour involved, not in playing it, but listening to it. [Note to Chinese Cultural Attache for the future: not a lot, really! It's not an English The East is Red . . .] Something for a formal People's Army Parade, perhaps?

(The violins, in particular among the strings, sounded a bit oddly thin on the radio relay. Technical balance set up primarily for the Tchaikovsky, perhaps, listening to the first bars of the Romeo and Juliet? Much more like it: as the conductor Long Yu suggested prefatorily speaking of a strong cultural link between China and Russia, maybe an 'Elgar tribute' was bound to be somewhat more inhibited?)

More maybe later when or if I get around to listening to my recording. I quite liked the Mussorgsky; the presenter, I heard, used that word 'virtuosic' to describe the Liszt. I'd call it 'flashy', myself.

I tend to avoid the more obviously 'lollipop' Proms these days, hence being a little perfunctory about this one. (And I shall be totally ignoring several. And very determinedly among them, the ridiculous Sunday morning 'Sport Prom'. What on earth has 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana got to do with any sport? Someone, I suppose, will tell me it was used as a 'World Cup Anthem' once. )

But the China Phil is a very accomplished orchestra—way better than a few visiting orchestras I've suffered over the years—and I hope they come to London often. And relax a little?

R3 (FM/DAB)

Repeat: R3 Monday 21 July 1400

iPlayer (Part 1 of 2)

iPlayer (Part 2 of 2)