Proms
Shaham, Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä, Royal Albert HallSunday, 29 August 2010
A great deal of scepticism greeted the release of a new Beethoven symphony cycle from Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra in the mid-2000s. Would this lot really be able say anything that hadn't already been said by the hundred or so other... Read more... |
Weilerstein, Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä, Royal Albert HallSaturday, 28 August 2010
One usually has to wait until the fourth movement of a Bruckner symphony before one gets a decent, foot-tappin', knee-slappin' polka to dance to. But at last night's Prom Osmo Vänskä was jitterbugging - and, I think, even moonwalking - from the off... Read more... |
Shaham, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Robertson, Royal Albert HallFriday, 27 August 2010
When Mark-Anthony Turnage presents a piece called Hammered Out, that’s pretty much what you expect to hear. Prior to starting work on this co-commission between BBC Radio 3 and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Turnage was quoted as saying, “I don’t... Read more... |
Sydney Symphony, Ashkenazy, Grimaud, Royal Albert HallTuesday, 24 August 2010
To be interestingly disappointed isn’t bad - it’s being uninterestingly disappointed that is. This was an intriguing Prom with a full house, possibly because of Hélène Grimaud’s presence in the Ravel piano concerto, as well as Vladimir Ashkenazy on... Read more... |
Stemme, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Dausgaard, Royal Albert HallTuesday, 24 August 2010
“The curse of Schumann,” remarked Prom director Roger Wright to me before Monday’s concert, bemoaning the fact that only (only!) 2,000 seats had been sold for the Swedish Chamber Orchestra’s concert under Thomas Dausgaard - whereas Dausgaard's... Read more... |
A Celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Royal Albert HallMonday, 23 August 2010
It may have been the glossy, Labrador-like abandon of John Wilson and his fabulous orchestra, but barely two bars of the Oklahoma! overture had passed before I caught myself grinning and drifting into critical neutral. Richard Rodgers’ scores are... Read more... |
Keenlyside, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Nézet-Séguin, Royal Albert HallSunday, 22 August 2010
Boy, did I want to enjoy this Prom. On paper it should have been the highlight of the season. Young Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been making his mark in London as principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra with... Read more... |
Tilbury, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Volkov, Royal Albert HallSunday, 22 August 2010
A metallic shower rained down upon us as five percussionists of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's percussion sextet unleashed the meteoric potential of five huge metal thundersheets on our unsuspecting ears, and percussionist number six, a... Read more... |
Bavouzet, Philharmonia Orchestra, Salonen, Royal Albert HallSaturday, 21 August 2010
From Russian “avant-garde constructivism” to Estonian minimalism via a jazz-inspired French concerto and the defiant originality of Scriabin – last night’s Prom from Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra had a lot of ground to cover. I... Read more... |
Lugansky, Russian National Orchestra, Boreyko, Royal Albert HallThursday, 19 August 2010
Russians can often get away with murder in concert. It's so ingrained within our Western psyche to believe that the Slav has culture, musicality, an innate aesthetic sensitivity pouring out of every toe that you could get a Russian to do the chicken... Read more... |
Ibragimova, BBC SO, Gardner/ BBC Singers, Endymion, Hill, Royal Albert HallWednesday, 18 August 2010
Meditative experiences are hard to come by in the Royal Albert Hall. The twitching, scratching, fidgeting ticks of over 5000 people conspire to break your focus, to draw attention from the musical middle-distance back to the here and now. Last night... Read more... |
London Symphony Orchestra, Gergiev, Royal Albert HallTuesday, 17 August 2010
On paper it was a perfect Monday night programme – Scriabin’s extravagant sprawl of a First Symphony and Stravinsky’s The Firebird in its roomy original ballet score. A pairing of youthful 20th-century Russians conducted by the 21st-... Read more... |
