Royal Albert Hall
Prom 21: Kiss Me, Kate, John Wilson OrchestraSunday, 03 August 2014
“Another Op'nin', Another Show”. The first musical number of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate sets the scene for a group of actors and hoofers to brush up their Shakespeare, cross their fingers and hold on to their hearts, and to hope that not too much... Read more... |
Prom 20: Crabb, BBCSO, BrabbinsSaturday, 02 August 2014
The first half of last night’s Prom was supposed to be linked by the theme of the First World War, but Anthony Marwood’s illness meant that Sally Beamish’s Violin Concerto, based on All Quiet on the Western Front, had to be replaced at late notice... Read more... |
Prom 19: BBC Singers, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, PetrenkoFriday, 01 August 2014
A monstrous celebration prefaced by thunderous organ chords is always going to be more the Albert Hall’s kind of thing than a comic opera viewed through the wrong end of the telescope. So Strauss’s Festival Prelude kicked off a first half of 150th... Read more... |
Prom 16: Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Goetzel/Prom 17: Les Arts Florissants, ChristieWednesday, 30 July 2014
The sprightly tread of Handel’s Queen of Sheba, attended by two wonderful Turkish oboists, wove the most fragile of gold threads between full orchestral exotica and Rameau motets of infinite variety last night. Not that any more links need be found... Read more... |
Prom 14: Pahud, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, FischerMonday, 28 July 2014
Last night's Prom offered an intriguing mixture of French music both sacred and profane, with a British world premiere as its centrepiece. Duruflé’s pious Requiem rubbed shoulders with Ravel’s wordly homages to the Viennese waltz, Valses Nobles et... Read more... |
Prom 12: Bach St John Passion, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, NorringtonSunday, 27 July 2014
Sir Roger Norrington, 80 this year, produced a masterful St John Passion in the first of his two appearances at this year’s Proms, built around his excellent Swiss chamber orchestra and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie.Predictably, one of the main... Read more... |
Prom 7: BBCSO, Bělohlávek/Prom 8: Pet Shop BoysThursday, 24 July 2014
The Forties and Fifties, seen through the eyes of Shostakovich and the Pet Shop Boys, were the historical centre of gravity for last night’s courageously broad Proms programme. Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a gently serialist folk exploration from... Read more... |
Prom 6: Der Rosenkavalier, LPO, TicciatiWednesday, 23 July 2014
If last year’s Ring cycle triumphantly proved that world-class opera can be done at the Albert Hall, this Rosenkavalier suggests that the less epic end of the repertoire isn’t such a sure thing. That is not to say that this performance was dud, far... Read more... |
Prom 4: World Orchestra for Peace, GergievMonday, 21 July 2014
This was a rare outing by the World Orchestra for Peace, which has performed fewer than 20 concerts since the death of its founder Sir Georg Solti in 1997. UNESCO had designated this BBC Prom as "The 2014 Concert for Peace", the definite article... Read more... |
First Night of the Proms, BBCSO, Davis, Royal Albert HallSaturday, 19 July 2014
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” To fill the Albert Hall – where a sizeable number of participants are standing, of course, in the best place – as... Read more... |
Romeo and Juliet, English National Ballet, Royal Albert HallSunday, 15 June 2014
What a difference a change of cast can make to a show. On Wednesday night I saw Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta as the titular lovers in English National Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Albert Hall (see below for that review). Last night it was... Read more... |
Gipsy Kings, Royal Albert HallFriday, 21 February 2014
With their self-conscious blend of flamenco, Latin and pop creating the improbable-sounding Catalonian rumba, the Gipsy Kings, who played to an ecstatic Royal Albert Hall last night, are one of the pioneers of the world music genre. Their... Read more... |
