Royal Albert Hall
Prom 45: The Midsummer Marriage, BBC Symphony Orchestra, DavisSaturday, 17 August 2013
Jeremy Paxman’s beard may have been a wonder and a talking point for five days, but Michael Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage beats it by almost 60 years. Ecstatic, visionary, energetic music, yes indeed. But, oh, the composer’s libretto! The... Read more... |
Prom 40: 6 Music Prom, The Stranglers, Laura Marling, London SinfoniettaTuesday, 13 August 2013
“That was a bit of a dog’s breakfast,” said the guy in the row behind. Yes, but then the said canine repast can also no doubt be nutritious and delicious, for dogs anyway. The most dogs-breakfasty (in the bad sense) moment was right at the end, when... Read more... |
Prom 39: Khan, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, AthertonTuesday, 13 August 2013
The fascination of the East has been a constant in classical music’s history, from the jangling sounds of the Janissary bands to Mozart’s Seraglio, Sheherazade’s dreamy tales to Britten’s seductive gamelan. Last night’s Prom gave the East a chance... Read more... |
Prom 38: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Choirs, PetrenkoMonday, 12 August 2013
It makes a lot of sense for the National Youth Orchestra to give the first ever free Prom. Both, one assumes, economically but also in terms of ethos and atmosphere. New and tentative concert goers would have had very little cause to be intimidated... Read more... |
Prom 35: Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony, Jansons/Prom 36: Bach Oratorios, GardinerSaturday, 10 August 2013
Mahler, who like most of us thought Bach was “the greatest of them all” and studied in depth the edition of his complete works, would have been delighted by last night’s extravaganza – a true celebration of what makes the Proms the much quoted “... Read more... |
Prom 33: Uchida, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, JansonsSaturday, 10 August 2013
Precious few musicians can instill such a sense of intimacy into their playing as to have us believing that the Royal Albert Hall is the Wigmore Hall and that their performance is for an audience of one and not six thousand. Mitsuko Uchida is... Read more... |
Prom 34: Nigel Kennedy, Palestine Strings, the Orchestra of LifeFriday, 09 August 2013
There had been a buzz of anticipation about this late-night Prom by Nigel Kennedy, the Palestine Strings and his Orchestra of Life, and it was completely sold out. After a long association with Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and 2.4 million sales of the... Read more... |
Prom 31: Frang, BBC Philharmonic, StorgårdsWednesday, 07 August 2013
It’s hard to find an overarching theme to last night’s Prom from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic. We veered from a solidly patriotic opening (Walton, Rubbra) through the high romance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto to the murkier stylistic no man... Read more... |
Prom 30: Bavouzet, BBC Philharmonic, NosedaTuesday, 06 August 2013
It was mostly Russian night at the Proms, and mostly music you could dance to, as a hand jiving Arena Prommer rather distractingly proved in the finale of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony. Even Prokofiev’s elephantine Second Piano Concerto was... Read more... |
Prom 29: Tannhäuser, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, RunniclesMonday, 05 August 2013
On the one occasion I went to Bayreuth, I made the mistake of seeing The Flying Dutchman and Lohengrin after the best of Ring cycles. At the Proms we’ve had a week of serious Wagnerian withdrawal symptoms, so Tannhäuser was never going to feel like... Read more... |
Prom 26: Serkin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, KnussenFriday, 02 August 2013
You wait years for a live performance to test whether Tippett’s Second Symphony is a masterpiece, and then two come along within six months. Both are due to the missionary zeal of the BBC Symphony Orchestra management, determined to give an... Read more... |
Prom 24: British Light MusicThursday, 01 August 2013
Reviewing last night’s Prom of British Light Music feels a bit like getting all AA Gill on your granny’s Victoria sponge. The collage of musical morsels from Bantock, Arnold, Coates and Elgar is music made with love, for pleasure, by composers who... Read more... |
