Royal Albert Hall
Hallenberg, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner, BBC Proms review - a vindication of voicesThursday, 02 September 2021
Choral singers have suffered more than most from erratic and irrational Covid prohibitions while riskier mass pursuits have gone ahead. So when one of the world’s great choirs returned to the Proms with the conductor who has guided them for over... Read more... |
Aimard, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin, BBC Proms review - a revealing composer portraitTuesday, 31 August 2021
Composer George Benjamin has dazzling talent, but he is difficult to showcase. He is not a naturally extrovert type, and most of his projects take years to formulate, and only come about through collaboration with close and trusted performers. But... Read more... |
Kopatchinskaja, BBCSSO, Volkov, BBC Proms Review - the spirit of the dance in BartókMonday, 30 August 2021
Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja has a joyous hunger for communication through music. She sometimes seems to dance through it. This was at its most vivid when she lunged towards BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra leader Laura Samuel to invite her to... Read more... |
Crowe, BBCSSO, Volkov, BBC Proms review - shining light on history and heritageFriday, 27 August 2021
Minds in Flux is the largest of this season’s Proms commissions, and last night it afforded a rare chance for UK audiences to hear work of George Lewis outside the often insular new-music and avant-garde improvisation circuits. As a trombonist-... Read more... |
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Chineke! Orchestra, Bovell, BBC Proms - a star dancedWednesday, 25 August 2021
Now that you've found her, never let her go. I hope that’s the mantra among players of the Chineke! Orchestra and their Artistic and Executive Director Chi-chi Nwanoku – leading the double basses last night – after this Prom with Panamanian-American... Read more... |
LSO, Rattle, BBC Proms review - dazzling Stravinsky showcaseMonday, 23 August 2021
Simon Rattle and the LSO marked the 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s death with a concert of three “symphonies”. In fact, the programme had little to say about Stravinsky’s relationship with symphonic form: his early E flat Symphony was omitted, and... Read more... |
First Person: theartsdesk writer Bernard Hughes on composing for the BBC PromsThursday, 19 August 2021
For many years, first as a punter then latterly as a reviewer, I have sat in the section of the Royal Albert Hall stalls near stage right, under the BBC Radio broadcast box, knowing that that is where they sit the composers being premiered at the... Read more... |
Esfahani, Gibson, Manchester Collective, BBC Proms review – variety, but not always in proportionWednesday, 18 August 2021
I was looking forward to this Prom by the Manchester Collective, an exciting young group founded in 2016, which has quickly established a reputation for innovative presentation of contemporary repertoire. And while I found the playing excellent,... Read more... |
A Night at the Opera, BBC Philharmonic, Glassberg, BBC Proms review - six of the bestTuesday, 17 August 2021
This delectable Prom hid behind the title "To Soothe the Aching Heart" the failsafe concept of a programme of the world’s favourite opera extracts, plus some. Take six British opera stars – three sopranos, two tenors and a mezzo – and assign them... Read more... |
Ólafsson, Philharmonia, Järvi, BBC Proms review - a ravishing Proms debutMonday, 16 August 2021
What does it mean to be Classical? It’s the question award-winning Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has consistently asked in a career that has collided music from Bach to Debussy, presenting them as part of a single conversation and continuum.... Read more... |
Isserlis, LPO, Jurowski, BBC Proms review - a final hand full of acesFriday, 13 August 2021
We finished with a pure Hollywood moment when John Gilhooly – as Chair of the Royal Philharmonic Society – popped up after the warm applause to announce that the Society had awarded its gold medal to Vladimir Jurowski. Oddly, Covid rules meant that... Read more... |
Kolesnikov, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, BBC Proms review - dazzling musicianship and insightThursday, 12 August 2021
It’s nobody’s fault, but – try as they might – the BBC Proms can often feel rather middle-aged. Whether it’s the lumbering albatross of a building, the ushers in their dated, casino waistcoats or the tone of zealous jollity (Have fun! But silently... Read more... |
