BBC Proms: First Night, Batiashvili, BBCSO, Oramo review - glorious Vaughan Williams

The auditorium and arena were packed – and the stage even more so, bursting at the seams with players and singers: the perfect set-up for a First Night of the Proms. This is traditionally an opportunity to programme a large-scale choral work, and last night that was Vaughan Williams’s seldom heard Sancta Civitas.

Of course it’s seldom heard, with its huge orchestra expanded to include organ, piano and off-stage trumpet, baritone soloist, massed choir behind the orchestra and children’s choir in the gallery – plus a blink-and-you-miss-it tenor solo at the end that must command the highest pounds-per-word fee of the festival. So thank heavens for the Proms for giving us the chance to hear this wonderful, peculiar, ambitious but also somehow humble oratorio.

Sancta Civitas – “The Holy City” – was, so he claimed, Vaughan Williams’s favourite of his choral works. But it has had a chequered history, having been premiered during the General Strike of 1926, and consequently largely ignored. Last night was only the second time it has been heard at the Proms – I’d certainly never heard it live before. And it packs a punch, its selection of texts from the Book of Revelation avoiding the blood and thunder bits, but still full of its colourful fantasy and high-flown register. The music is similarly bold and even occasionally gaudy: the whole thing could be Vaughan Williams declaring “go big or go home”.

The choirs – the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Singers and the delightfully crisp and confident young singers of the London Youth Choirs – were ferocious when let off the leash, enjoying the invitation to fill the hall with sound. But there was also light and shade: the hushed and delicate passage “And I saw a new heav’n” was exquisite as was the radiant quietness of “And they still see his face”, garlanded with leader Igor Yuzefovich’s channelling of that famous lark. Kudos to Neil Ferris for his preparation of the choirs and to conductor Sakari Oramo, who marshalled his forces with calm authority and a clear adoration of the music. Baritone soloist Gerald Finley was the still centre, a grave wisdom in his proclamations, and Caspar Singh, appearing magically by the organ at the end, brought off his brief solo with a hint of noble mystery. And I must put in a mention of the players of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, in particular a reedy and fabulous cor anglais  spot for Sarah Harper.Immediately before the Vaughan Williams we had a premiere by newish Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen (pictured above by Chris Christodoulou). This was called The Elements and was a punchy and fun 10-minutes which I enjoyed as much as I have ever enjoyed anything by Wallen. The first few minutes were the best – jagged and funky instrumental lines supported by jittery hi-hat and a percussion battery including a referee’s whistle – with slightly diminishing returns as the piece proceeded. The outer sections were a hyperactive gallimaufry, not profound but not aiming at profundity, but the central lyrical section seemed to be cut from very different cloth and, for me, didn’t quite gel.

The first half opened with a brisk and affectionate fanfare by Arthur Bliss, written to celebrate Henry Wood’s 75^th birthday in 1944, which segued brilliantly into “Fingal’s Cave”, the strident brass melting into Mendelssohn’s misty landscape. This is genial music: even in the stormy passages you feel a smile is never far from Mendelssohn’s – and Oramo’s – face.For the Sibelius Violin Concerto, with Lisa Batiashvili (pictured above), I really suffered from where I was sitting. In the Royal Albert Hall location, location, location is as important as it ever is to Kirstie Allsopp and sadly, behind-and-to-the-right was possibly the worst place I could have been. The piece is a strange mixture of intimate, inward moments – such as the very hushed opening and the gorgeous second movement – and glittering passages of display, such as the dancing finale, in which Batiashvili was spectacular. I was well placed to hear some brilliant orchestral horn playing, with wonderful ensemble between the four players, but, from my seat, the balance of the performance as a whole was hard to judge.

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