A Rotterdam Good Prom On My Birthday, Royal Albert Hall, 28 August 1990

Bobbie joined me on my birthday in 1990 for this Prom. I seem to recall it was a goody.

James Conlon conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the following works:

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Violin Concerto No 4 in D major, K 218
  • Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 6 in A minor

Isabelle van Keulen was the soloist for the Mozart. She was a young star back then, as was Mozart when he wrote his violin concertos.

Here are YouTubes of Isabelle’s recording of the Mozart 4 Violin Concerto. With the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra rather than the Rotterdam Philharmonic, but you can’t have everything. The girl can play.

There’s not much out there to illustrate James Conlon conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, but this section from Liszt’s Faust Symphony is rather charming:

While here is the Rotterdam Philharmonic more recently, with current Principle Conductor Lahav Shani, performing a short snatch from Mahler 6:

Meanwhile, back to that 1990 concert, Robert Henderson in The Telegraph seemed satisfied but not ecstatic:

Conlon Prom Henderson TelegraphConlon Prom Henderson Telegraph 31 Aug 1990, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Edward Greenfield in the Guardian waxed lyrical about the Mahler but not so about the Mozart. Comparing a 24-year-old prize winner debuting at the Proms with Pinchas Zuckerman seems a tad unfair, though.

Conlan Prom Greenfield GuardianConlan Prom Greenfield Guardian 31 Aug 1990, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

A Dream Of People by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 18 August 1990

I’ve long been partial to a bit of Michael Hastings; I think he is under-rated as a playwright and novelist. So I no doubt chose this one on the back of its authorship.

It’s quite an odd play; sort-of about the welfare state ideal in the hands of a quirky civil service idealogue. Typical Hastings in its untypicality.

Bobbie and I both liked it.

I was reminded of this piece, without remembering exactly which piece I was being reminded of, when Janie and I saw Really Old, Like 45 at The Cottesloe some 20 years later:

Peter McEnery played the lead and Janet Suzman directed the piece. The Theatricalia entry for the production can be found here. Not yet ever revived (he says in January 2021), I imagine a re-read would quickly determine whether it is now due for a revival or explain why it has not yet been revived.

Michael Billington in The Guardian clearly liked it while peppering his piece with a bit of Billingtonian faint praise.

Billington on HastingsBillington on Hastings Sat, Aug 4, 1990 – 19 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was also fascinated but not entirely convinced:

Coveney on Piano & HastingsCoveney on Piano & Hastings Sun, Aug 12, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Another Prom With A Mystery Companion, Royal Albert Hall, 4 August 1990

There are some crossings out in my diary, which might have led to the note:

?? Who came with me.

Again, lining up the usual suspects means Jilly, Annalisa and Bobbie. Again, the prime suspect is Bobbie. I think I had queried the name of my companion, because I thought I had crossed out the word “Bobs?”. But my now more sophisticated forensics (use of a magnifying glass) tells me that I crossed out the word “Box?” instead.

Whether or not we sat in a box for this one is another part of the mystery. I do recall occasionally grabbing a brace of box seats back then, although I did soon settle for preferring frontish stalls for Proms concerts.

Anyway…

…this one was a good, solid concert as I recall. We heard:

  • Carl Nielsen – Overture ‘Helios’
  • Sergey Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
  • Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 2 in D major

Stephen Hough tinkling the ivories, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Davis doing the rest.

If you don’t know what the Helios overture looks and sounds like, dig this version by the Danish National Orchestra:

Malcolm Hayes in The Telegraph spent about 60% of his word allocation slagging off perceived compositional flaws in Nielsen’s little Helios piece, while praising to the hilt the evening’s performances of monumental Rachmaninov and Sibelius pieces, which comprised some 85% of the concert. A wasted opportunity to write an incisive review of the Prom by Mr Hayes, in my view.

Hough Prom Telegraph HayesHough Prom Telegraph Hayes 06 Aug 1990, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com