fri 08/11/2024

BBC Proms: Tetzlaff, BBCSO, Gardner | reviews, news & interviews

BBC Proms: Tetzlaff, BBCSO, Gardner

BBC Proms: Tetzlaff, BBCSO, Gardner

A neglected cantata proves its worth in a bewitching Choral Sunday

Christian Tetzlaff: a soloist with the expressive scope for Brahms's notorious concerto All images © Chris Christodoulou

This year’s Choral Sundays at the Proms are a wonderfully mixed bag. Mighty choral touchstones are represented by Mendelssohn’s Elijah, both the Verdi and Mozart Requiems and Beethoven Missa solemnis, but there’s also an enticing strand of curiosities. Looming largest among these has of course been Brian’s Gothic Symphony, but emerging now from its sprawling shadow are less obscure but no less interesting works – Britten’s Spring Symphony, and last night Mahler’s folkloric Opus 1 cantata Das klagende lied.

This year’s Choral Sundays at the Proms are a wonderfully mixed bag. Mighty choral touchstones are represented by Mendelssohn’s Elijah, both the Verdi and Mozart Requiems and Beethoven Missa solemnis, but there’s also an enticing strand of curiosities. Looming largest among these has of course been Brian’s Gothic Symphony, but emerging now from its sprawling shadow are less obscure but no less interesting works – Britten’s Spring Symphony, and last night Mahler’s folkloric Opus 1 cantata Das klagende lied.

Comments

Do you really think Mahler's Klagende Lied and Britten's Spring Symphony are 'curiosities'? Been around a lot, both of them, on the concert scene of late, and in all shapes and sizes in Mahler's case.

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