Royal Albert Hall
Prom 62, Mahler's Seventh Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko review - hallucinogenic night's journey into daySunday, 04 September 2022
Match the most multi-timbred, flexible orchestra in the world with the iridescent peak of symphonic mastery, and you have an assured winner of a Prom. Yet not even Kirill Petrenko’s previous London performance of Mahler’s Seventh with the Bavarian... Read more... |
Prom 61, Cabell, Chineke! Voices and Orchestra, Edusei review - a thrilling, fiercely rational Beethoven 9Saturday, 03 September 2022
Last night’s riveting, meticulous account of Beethoven’s Ninth from the Chineke! Orchestra was as daring in its restraint as it was thrillingly revelatory. Right from the subtle shimmer of the first movement’s opening cascades it was clear that this... Read more... |
First Person: Geoffrey Paterson on conducting the London Sinfonietta and working with Marius NesetFriday, 02 September 2022
By my count, tomorrow’s Proms première of Marius Neset’s jazz epic Geyser will be my 51st performance conducting the London Sinfonietta. It’s a tally that has crept up over the last decade, and is something I could hardly have dreamed of more than... Read more... |
Prom 59, The Dream of Gerontius, Clayton, Barton, Platt, LPO, Gardner review - most sure in all its waysThursday, 01 September 2022
Asked which work suits capricious Albert Hall acoustics best, I’d say Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, partly due to the choral billows – this year there’s been an extra thrill about massed choirs – but also because the Kensington colosseum... Read more... |
Prom 57, Bach Mass in B Minor, OAE, Butt review - passion and precisionTuesday, 30 August 2022
A strong team of musical chefs can blend and spice Bach’s mighty Mass in B Minor in a variety of different ways, and still prepare a feast to savour. We don’t know exactly why Bach felt compelled to bundle his decades of genius into this late... Read more... |
Prom 52, Kuusisto, Finnish RSO, Collon review - fairytales, folksongs and a soaring larkSaturday, 27 August 2022
Schoolteachers know – even if only the very best can put it into practice – that faced with a noisy classroom you shouldn’t raise your voice, but rather speak quietly. Over recent Proms seasons audience coughing has reached extreme levels, so the... Read more... |
Prom 49, Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony, Connolly, Alder, LSO, Rattle review - a long and grand goodbyeThursday, 25 August 2022
Long goodbyes don’t get grander, warmer or more passionate than this. Sir Simon Rattle began his farewell season with the London Symphony Orchestra with a Proms performance of Mahler’s Second, “Resurrection” Symphony – the mighty work that has... Read more... |
Prom 43, Solomon, The English Concert, Jeannin review - a Handelian box of delightsSaturday, 20 August 2022
Like many people, I grew up with cut-and-paste Handel. It could take decades before you found out where that shiny snippet of a childhood earworm truly belonged.A full-length Solomon, for instance – as delivered by The English Concert with a luxury... Read more... |
Prom 42, Lisiecki, BBC Scottish SO, Dausgaard review - concerto partnership made in heavenFriday, 19 August 2022
Sibelius or Nielsen symphonies? Last night, with the Finn’s Seventh in the first half and the Dane’s “Inextinguishable” (No. 4) in the second, choice should have been impossible. Francesco Piemontesi or Jan Lisiecki? I’d have been equally happy with... Read more... |
Prom 40, Moore, RPO, Petrenko review - orchestral clarity, and a persuasive trombonistWednesday, 17 August 2022
It does need saying: the RPO may receive less frequent plaudits than some of their London peers, but this is a fine and wonderfully responsive orchestra with a distinctive character.The string sections have a natural opulence and warmth in their... Read more... |
Prom 39, Hartwig, BBCSO, Oramo review - bright and breezy followed by a curate's eggTuesday, 16 August 2022
Two quirky concertos – one for orchestra, though it might also be called a sinfonietta – and a big symphony: best of British but, more important, international and world class. Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra sounded glorious throughout... Read more... |
Prom 35, Wang, Oslo Philharmonic, Mäkelä review - crystalline fantasy and levitational brillianceSaturday, 13 August 2022
Klaus Mäkelä, 26-year old chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris, lined up for the same role at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2027, knows exactly where he’s going: a crucial asset in the idiosyncratic ebb and flow of... Read more... |
