Prom 39: Johnston/BBCSO/Oramo; Prom 40: Hadelich/Isserlis/Britten Sinfonia/Adès, Royal Albert Hall, review
Two concerts in which contemporary music proved the highlight
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.If the Proms awarded medals for cello gymnastics, soloist Steven Isserlis would surely win gold for his fiendishly beautiful rendition of Thomas Adès's Lieux retrouvés. Performed in Prom 40 in a new orchestral version, this was just one scintillating event, however, in two concerts in which contemporary music proved the highlight.
Here, a feisty Britten Sinfonia also hosted violinist Augustin Hadelich; incisive and yet lithe in Francisco Coll's surrealist, anti-flamenco Four Iberian Miniatures. The evening was bookended by rapier, classical wit in the form of Beethoven’s eighth and Prokofiev's first symphonies – which conductor Adès explored with far greater boldness than Sakari Oramo had mustered the previous day in Mahler’s epic Symphony No 5, or the rare gem of Haydn's pre-Sturm und Drang Symphony No 34.
Nonetheless, the warmth and richness of the BBC Symphony Orchestra won through in this Prom 39, especially in Charlotte Bray's new cello concerto, Falling in the Fire. Propelled by outrage at the atrocities visited upon Syria by Isis, Bray has responded with music that is defiantly exquisite as well as stark, for example, with the high-ringing tinnitus that follows a bomb explosion. Surging with energy, her colouristic writing was acutely felt by both the orchestra and brilliant soloist Guy Johnston.
bbc.co.uk/proms 0845 401 5040
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments