Proms
BBC Proms: Berlin Philharmonic, RattleFriday, 31 August 2012
It's not completely unheard of what Sir Simon Rattle did at the start of last night's Prom, where he elided two familiar works - Ligeti's colouristic classic Atmosphères and the Prelude to Act One of Wagner's Lohengrin - into a... Read more... |
BBC Proms: BBCSO, Brabbins/Eric Whitacre Singers, Heap, WhitacreThursday, 30 August 2012
Eric Whitacre – less a composer or conductor, more a global choral phenomenon. Just the mention of his name in last night’s concert introduction drew whoops and wolf-whistles from the crowd, certainly not a reaction you tend to get for Beethoven,... Read more... |
BBC Proms: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, GattiMonday, 27 August 2012
In a festival season as long as the BBC Proms there are always going to be some longueurs, weeks where the orchestral playing is more adequate than astonishing. Get stuck in one of these and it’s easy to start doubting your ears, to wonder whether... Read more... |
BBC Proms: Peter Grimes, English National Opera/ BBC Symphony Orchestra, KnussenSunday, 26 August 2012
After the all-singing, all-dancing, all-helicoptering brilliance of Stockhausen Mittwoch aus Licht, the dry routine of an opera in concert didn't seem a very enticing prospect. That's the problem with this year's Cultural Olympiad. We're... Read more... |
BBC Proms: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, PetrenkoFriday, 24 August 2012
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Ninth Symphony, completed in 2012 and heard in London for the first time in this concert, is dedicated to the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee. Those are not words to strike eager anticipation into my heart , though I’m happy... Read more... |
BBC Proms: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, NelsonsWednesday, 22 August 2012
It is a rare treat for Londoners to have the CBSO with Andris Nelsons in town, and the Albert Hall was, if not fully sold out, then certainly well stocked. It would be fair to assume that the main draw was Shostakovich’s giant and much-debated... Read more... |
BBC Proms: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, ManzeFriday, 17 August 2012
One chocolate bar, OK. But eating three in a row? Is that altogether wise? Some may feel the same about a concert containing three symphonies by Vaughan Williams: a third of his output in the form. Even the most committed lover of this visionary and... Read more... |
BBC Proms: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, AlsopThursday, 16 August 2012
It may be the power of suggestion, but there was distinctly laid-back vibe at the packed Royal Albert Hall last night. Clapping between movements (and this was an audience never knowingly under-clapped) wasn’t greeted by the any of the usual hisses... Read more... |
BBC Proms: National Youth Wind Orchestra and Brass Band/BBCSO, SarasteMonday, 13 August 2012
Shamefully, the Albert Hall was just over half full for this impeccably programmed celebration of that most "youth" of ensemble types, the Wind Orchestra and Brass Band. The air of a glorified school concert was blessedly absent throughout (except... Read more... |
BBC Proms: BBC National Orchestra of Wales, FischerSunday, 12 August 2012
On the one hand, having a massed brass and percussion section (I counted 16 timpani) in front of three massed choirs lent this evening an air of fantastic anticipation. Boom and crash and honk: that’s what we wanted. On the other hand, it was... Read more... |
BBC Proms: Hodges, Bickley, Daniel, Britten Sinfonia, RundellSunday, 12 August 2012
A motley crowd at Cadogan Hall on Saturday afternoon: new music aficionados and interested parties; general music lovers; some passing trade; tourists; one dad with a young boy of six or seven. Heaven knows what the latter made of the dissonances,... Read more... |
BBC Proms: The ApostlesSaturday, 11 August 2012
The first panel in a would-be triptych, Elgar’s The Apostles is also something of a prototype – the musical experiment whose risks would culminate so strikingly in The Kingdom. Tackling the crucifixion from “the poor man’s point of view”, its... Read more... |
