Zacharias, BBC Philharmonic, Sinaisky, Royal Albert Hall

A transfigured night in the company of Schumann and the Waltz King

by Igor ToronyilalicMonday, 26 July 2010

Christian Zacharias 'is above all a great original at the piano, a great refashioner of phrases, a great chiseler, chipping away at old chintzy bad habits'

The Proms listings are full of concerts a bit like the one last night that seem to offer up, on paper, little of real burning interest: no big names, no star foreign orchestras, no intriguing rarities, no new works, nothing beyond one hard-working BBC orchestra and a few staple classics (a Strauss family waltz-medley and some Schumann) that could be rattled off by any professional orchestra blindfold. Be warned: these are the concerts that are most likely to transfigure your evening, stir your soul and leave you reeling.

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