Category Archives: Orchestral

BBC Proms 2023 – Dame Sarah Connolly, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / John Storgårds – Weber, Pejačević, Alma Mahler-Werfel & Rachmaninoff

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Prom 33 – Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / John Storgårds

Weber Oberon – Overture (1825-6)
Pejačević Zwei Schmetterlingslieder Op.52 (1920); Verwandlung Op.37b (1915); Liebeslied Op.39 (1915). [Proms premieres]
Mahler-Werfel orch. Colin & David Matthews Die stille Stadt (pub. 1915); Licht in der Nacht (pub. 1915); Bei dir ist es traut (pub. 1910)
Rachmaninoff Symphony no.1 in D minor Op.13 (1895)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Wednesday 9 August 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Chris Christodoulou / BBC

This evening’s Prom brought a welcome appearance by the BBC Philharmonic with its chief conductor John Storgårds, in what was a typically enterprising programme that continued this season’s emphasis on the music of Dora Pejačević in the centenary (last March) of her death.

Among Pejačević’s sizable output of songs are four with orchestra, making a viable sequence in its own right. Dame Sarah Connolly (above) brought out the searching whimsicality from Karl Henckell’s Butterfly Songs, whether the fanciful imaginings of ‘Golden stars, little bluebells’ or the more concrete thoughts of ‘Flutter, o butterfly’ with delicate contributions by flute and glockenspiel. The setting of Kael Kraus’s Transformation taps deeper emotion, not least with those ecstatic violin solos between stanzas (eloquently rendered by Yuri Torchinsky), whereas that of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Love Song is notable less for the gently undulating phrases of its vocal writing than for the soaring ecstasy of its central interlude which only double one’s regret that neither composer nor poet lived long enough to collaborate on an opera project as had been mooted.

Making up this sequence were three songs by Alma Mahler-Werfel, taken from sets published in 1910 and 1915. Neither those contrived sentiments of Richard Dehemel’s The Silent Town or self-conscious emoting of Otto Julius Birbaum’s Light in the Night summons an especially personal response; only the winsome poise of Rilke’s I feel warm and close with you implies any individuality. The orchestrations by Colin and David Matthews are sensitive and apposite, but the latter might reasonably have expected more from the Proms in his 80th birthday-year.

Opening this concert was a beautifully judged reading of the overture to Weber’s final opera Oberon – less often heard now that overtures are no longer the automatic curtain-raisers they once were but which, in its deft interplay of evocative and energetic, still casts a potent spell.

By contrast, Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony has come much more into its own now that the composer’s orchestral output has moved to the centre of the repertoire. Unheard for 48 years after its disastrous premiere in 1897, it remains a testament to the young composer’s ambition – not least in an opening Allegro whose implacable ‘motto’ sets the course for this movement overall. Storgårds had its measure, not least in the mounting fervency of its development, then delivered a probing account of a scherzo the more ingenious for its pervasive understatement.

Although it will never supplant that of its successor in audience affection, the slow movement is a minor miracle of thematic subtlety and emotional restraint as came through via felicitous playing by the BBC Philharmonic woodwind. Launching the finale in suitably visceral fashion, Storgårds (rightly) made the most of its contrasts between the celebratory and the speculative – any remaining ambivalence not so much resolved as forced into submission through a coda which renders the fatalism of Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique from a distinctly personal vantage.

So, an unlikely programme which worked well as a concert – the more so given it proceeded without an interval. Those in the audience surreptitiously eating or drinking between pieces might have preferred otherwise, but for both music and performances it was nothing but gain.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Meanwhile click on the names for more information on artists Dame Sarah Connolly, John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – and for information on the composers Dora Pejačević and Alma Mahler-Werfel

BBC Proms 2023 – Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati – Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

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Prom 30 – Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

Blanche de la Force Sally Matthews (soprano), Madame de Croissy (Old Prioress) Katarina Dalayman (mezzo-soprano), Madame Lidoine (New Prioress) Golda Schultz (soprano), Mother Marie of the Incarnation Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano), Sister Constance of St Denis Florie Valiquette (soprano), Mother Jeanne of the Child Jesus Fiona Kimm (mezzo-soprano), Marquis de la Force Paul Gay (bass-baritone), Chevalier de la Force Valentin Thill (bass-baritone), Father Confessor Vincent Ordonneau (tenor, Jailer Theodore Platt (baritone), First Commissary Gavan Ring (tenor), Second Commissary Michael Ronan (bass-baritone), Thierry (a footman) Jamie Woollard (bass), M. Javelinot (a physician) Matthew Nuttall (baritone), Sister Mathilde Jade Moffatt (mezzo-soprano), Officer Michael Lafferty (baritone), The Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati

Directed at the Proms by Donna Stirrup

Royal Albert Hall, London
Monday 7 August 2023

by John Earls photos by Sisi Burn / BBC; John Earls (panorama pic)

Semi-staged performances of operas can be tricky. Especially if given in the cavernous space that is the Royal Albert Hall.

Glyndebourne Opera’s production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (Dialogues of the Carmelites) this summer had already received some excellent reviews so it was with some excitement and nervousness that I approached this Proms performance directed by Donna Stirrup, based on Barrie Kosky‘s Glyndebourne production.

It was a breathtaking evening combining sensitive and thoughtful staging, outstanding playing of the magnificent score by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Robin Ticciati, and some stunning individual performances.

Poulenc’s 1957 opera is a fictionalised version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, Carmelite nuns who, in 1794 during the closing days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, were guillotined in Paris for refusing to renounce their vocation. Whilst rooted in this harrowing story this production also touches on the theme of persecution more generally.

There were a number of outstanding solo performances. Sally Matthews (Blanche), Katarina Dalayman (Madame de Croissy, Old Prioress, above), Golda Schultz (Madame Lidoine, New Prioress), and Karen Cargill (Mother Marie of the Incarnation). But I was particularly taken with Florie Valiquette whose portrayal of Sister Constance of St Denis was gripping throughout and singing incredibly moving – “We die not for ourselves alone, but for one another, or sometimes even instead of each other” (it was good to have surtitles of George Bernanos’ impressive text).

But if the solo performances were captivating, the playing of the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robin Ticciati was exceptional. The range in colours and timing was just enthralling with Ticciati measuring silences to magical effect.

The concluding march to the scaffold and Salve Regina with accompanying guillotine-drops were affecting and unforgettable. This was a remarkable performance of a remarkable piece.

This concert is available on BBC Sounds until early October. For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC

John Earls is Director of Research at Unite the Union and tweets at @john_earls

BBC Proms 2023 – Geneva Lewis, BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Jaime Martín – Pejačević, Grace Williams & Holst

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Prom 32 – Geneva Lewis (violin), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Jaime Martín

Pejačević Overture in D minor Op.49 (1919) [Proms premiere]
Williams Violin Concerto (1950) [Proms premiere]
Holst The Planets Op.32 (1914-17)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Tuesday 8 August 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Chris Christodoulou / BBC

Although this evening’s Prom did not quite conform to that ‘overture – concerto – symphony’ format it came quite close, with its first half bringing to the attention of a near-capacity house two representative pieces by women composers who most definitely warrant greater exposure.

The centenary of Dora Pejačević’s death has duly consolidated what was already a burgeoning reputation curtailed by her untimely demise at only 37. Written two years after her impressive Symphony, which Sakari Oramo has performed and recorded (and will revive at these concerts on August 14th) to great acclaim, the Overture is a curtain-raiser as succinct as it is eventful – ably contrasting its respectively impetuous and equable main ideas in a tensile development, then on to a coda which rounds off this immensely appealing piece with decisive affirmation.

With Jaime Martín an animated podium presence, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales gave it a rousing rendition then was no less finely attuned to the very different ethos of the Violin Concerto by Grace Williams, which it premiered (as the BBC Welsh Orchestra) 73 years ago. There have been few performances since but, on the basis of that tonight, New Zealand-born Geneva Lewis is an eloquent advocate – even if the initial Liricamente arguably needed more purposeful sense of direction for its pensive and often searching inwardness not to risk inertia.

Not that Lewis’ unforced manner or tonal elegance were other than appropriate in this music, as was demonstrated even more directly in the central Andante with its impressionist eddying of melodic phrases and fastidious timbral shading. Following without pause, the final Allegro brought the work’s only fast music in which Lewis’s deftness and articulation gained through her assured coordination with BBCNOW. The cadenza was incisively despatched, while the ensuing coda brought the work to a close the more satisfying for its teasing unexpectedness.

There cannot have been many Proms season this past half-century when Holst’s The Planets has not been played, and it would be good to have welcomed this account more consistently. As it was, the performance took time to recover from a Mars whose stolid tread and lack of textural clarity made for a less than gripping traversal. Venus was better, for all that Martín’s fluctuations of pulse undercut its essential raptness, and though Mercury started off with the requisite humour, some effortful playing in its latter stages left the music feeling earthbound.

This was less of an issue in Jupiter, whose outer sections had all the right verve and energy, even if the trio’s indelible tune verged on the blousy. Pacing its stark opening bars effectively, Martín rather rushed the baleful climax of Saturn, though the radiance of what followed was nothing if not eloquent and bought the best out of BBCNOW. Uranus was almost as fine in this respect, and if the central processional sounded affable rather than sardonic, the sudden emptiness of its closing stages prepared well enough for the otherworldliness of Neptune.

If Martín might have obtained even more hushed and inward playing in this final movement, a sensuous contribution from the London Symphony Chorus enhanced the music-making. An enjoyable reading, albeit one where the whole was less than the sum of its individual planets.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. You can also click on the link to listen to Dora Pejačević’s Cello Sonata, performed by Laura van der Heijden and Jâms Coleman as part of their Proms at Dewsbury concert on 6 August.

Meanwhile click on the names for more information on artists Geneva Lewis, Jaime Martín and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales – and for information on the composers Dora Pejačević, Grace Williams and Holst

BBC Proms 2023 – Felix Klieser, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kirill Karabits – Karabits, Mozart & Rachmaninoff

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Prom 24 – Felix Klieser (horn), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kirill Karabits

Karabits Concerto for Orchestra no.1 ‘A Musical Gift to Kyiv’ (1980-81) [UK premiere]
Mozart Horn Concerto no.4 in E flat major K495 (1786)
Rachmaninoff Symphony no.2 in E minor Op.27 (1906-08)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Wednesday 2 August 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Mark Allan / BBC

While not exactly a ‘best kept secret’, Kirill Karabits’ tenure at the helm of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (soon to enter its 16th season) might have attracted even greater national attention than has been the case, with this evening’s Prom offering various pointers as to why.

One of Karabits’ concerns has been promotion of music from Eastern Europe in general and in particular Ukraine, where the role played by his father Ivan (1945-2002) was considerable. Written across the 1980s, the latter’s three Concertos for Orchestra follow on from those by his Russian forebear Rodion Shchedrin by homing in on facets of post-war music in a direct and accessible fashion. As its title indicates, his first such piece commemorates the Ukrainian capital – here the 1500th anniversary of its founding – over the course of a single movement whose monumental if never impersonal introduction leads into a series of evocatively scored episodes that culminate in a shimmering climax replete with the pealing of bells. The ending, as atmospheric as it proves unexpected, is just the most striking aspect of this engaging work.

Equally unexpected, for those previously unaware, was the emergence of Felix Klieser on the Albert Hall platform to play Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto with his left foot. Not that those listening on the radio would have sensed anything unusual about this performance, Klieser’s warm and rounded tone a throwback to an earlier generation though melding seamlessly into the reduced orchestral forces. Most popular of its composer’s four such pieces (but not heard complete at the Proms for 34 years), its opening Allegro unfolded with an admirable balance between energy and grace; the Romanza exuding a charm that was never cloying and the final Rondo a pert humour. Clearly having enjoyed his appearance on this stage, Klieser returned for the finale of Mozart’s Third Horn Concerto with its even more overt hunting associations.

Prom 24 – The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kiril Karabits (Felix Klieser horn) perform Ivan Karabits: Concerto for Orchestra No. 1, ‘A Musical Gift to Kyiv’ UK premiere, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major and Sergey Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 in E minor at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 2 August 2023 Photo by Mark Allan

Karabits (above) has not yet added Rachmaninoff to his Bournemouth discography, but his account of the Second Symphony suggests he should do so. A sombre yet alert introductory Largo set the course for an opening movement whose eschewal of histrionics did not preclude a powerfully cumulative response to its lengthy development or decisive take on its brief coda. The scherzo then had the requisite incisiveness, and if Karabits slightly over-indulged the ‘big tune’, there was no lack of impetus across its headily contrapuntal trio or glinting irony in its closing bars.

Almost over-familiar now, the slow movement demonstrably gained from a flowing and even lilting tempo such as encompassed its rapturous central section as securely as its serene main melody – with Barry Deacon the eloquent clarinettist on its first appearance. Uncut or not the finale can outstay its welcome, but Karabits duly had the measure of its festive progress – his headlong tempo making for a slightly jarring transition into the secondary theme, but with the gradual subsiding of activity at the centre then its stealthy re-accumulation assuredly handled.

Nor was the focus of his approach to this movement’s culmination in doubt, the return of the work’s ‘motto’ setting the seal on an engrossing and unusually cohesive reading which augurs well for this partnership even after Karabits relinquishes his post at the close of next season.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Click on the names for more information on Felix Klieser, Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – and composer Ivan Karabits

BBC Proms 2023 – María Dueñas, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Josep Pons – Falla, Lalo, Debussy & Ravel

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Prom 8 – María Dueñas (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Josep Pons

De Falla La vida breve (1904-05) – Interlude and Dance
Lalo Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21 (1874)
Debussy Ibéria (1905-08)
Ravel Boléro (1928)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Thursday 20 July 2023

by Richard Whitehouse photos by Chris Christodoulou / BBC

The Proms went to town on Spanish music just over two decades ago, and if tonight’s concert featured only one piece by a Spanish composer, an aura of ‘Spanish-ness’ fairly pervaded this programme which likewise found the BBC Symphony Orchestra in excellent form throughout.

The piece in question was Interlude and Dance from de Falla’s opera La vida breve, once a regular fixture at these concerts and one which makes for an ideal encore or (as here) curtain-raiser according to context. Josep Pons duly brought out the drama of its initial pages, before heading into a rendition of the main section such as (rightly) predicated suavity over rhetoric, while not lacking for impetus as this music reached its effervescent close. Lasting little more than an hour, the opera ought to enjoy more frequent revival as part of a judicious double-bill.

Édouard Lalo is himself a composer worth revival, his Symphonie espagnole having regained something of its familiarity from half a century ago. Her tonal warmth and incisiveness made María Dueñas an ideal exponent, while her rapport with the orchestra accordingly underlined its concertante-like ingenuity. There was no lack of energy or pathos in the opening Allegro, the capering elegance of the Scherzando duly complementing the forcefulness of the ensuing Intermezzo before the Andante brought a finespun eloquence, itself offset by the final Rondo with its indelible main theme and never wanton virtuosity. Evidently a first-rate accompanist, Pons drew as subtle a response from the BBCSO here as in a rapt arrangement for violin and strings of Fauré’s song Après un Rêve which Dueñas offered as the entirely apposite encore.

Debussy allegedly spent just one day over the Spanish border, but his feel for that country’s musical essence in Ibéria could not be gainsaid. The unwieldly trilogy that is the orchestral Images often makes performance of this in itself a stand-alone triptych preferable, and Pons had its measure from the outset of Along the Streets and Pathways, with its characteristic alternation of decisiveness and hesitancy. Nor was there any lack of ecstatic languor in The Perfumes of the Night whose soulfulness only gradually became apparent – Pons making a rhythmically seamless transition into The Morning of a Festive Day with its vivid evoking of castanets and guitars, along with a folk-inflected élan as carried through to the headlong closing bars. Highlighting of detail never risked cohesiveness in this scintillating account.

Ravel’s Rhapsodie espagnole would have been an ideal work to conclude this concert, though few in the audience would surely have begrudged hearing Boléro in its place and Pons did not disappoint. At just over 15 minutes it was appreciably faster than the inexorable unfolding its composer most likely envisaged, but the combination of textural definition and astute placing of detail ensured this traversal enticed over the short term as keenly as it compelled across the whole. In what is a ‘concerto for orchestra’ without equal, it would seem invidious to single out individual contributions, but Alex Neal was unerring in his articulation of the side-drum ostinato, while Antoine Bedewi’s timpani steered those climactic stages through to a forceful but not overbearing denouement. If not the ultimate Boléro, this was certainly one to savour.

For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC. Click on the names for more information on the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Josep Pons and María Dueñas