Royal Albert Hall
Prom 54, Ma, Ax, Kavakos review - exquisite display of humility and communicationSunday, 01 September 2024
In their lyrical, often intensely moving afternoon concert at the Proms, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos demonstrated such seamless communication that at points it was tempting to imagine that even their heartbeats were in sync. It’s an... Read more... |
Prom 52, Carmen, Glyndebourne Festival review - fine-tuning a masterpieceFriday, 30 August 2024
If you ever doubted that Bizet’s Carmen, 150 years young next year, is one of the greatest operas of all time, this performance would have changed your mind. Among the four principals only Rihab Chaieb’s utterly convincing, consistent protagonist... Read more... |
Prom 50, Fujita, Czech Philharmonic, Hrůša review - revelations where least expectedThursday, 29 August 2024
Namedrop first: it was Charles Mackerras who introduced me to the music of Vítězslava Kaprálová, lending me a CD with her Military Sinfonietta leading the way. It piqued interest, but more as a sense of promise cut short: this abundantly gifted... Read more... |
Prom 49, Kobekina, Czech Philharmonic, Hrůša review - what an orchestraWednesday, 28 August 2024
How easy it is to fall instantly in love with the Dvořák Cello Concerto. And particularly when it is played by an orchestra as fine as the Czech Philharmonic.Everything’s there in the opening minute. We get our first, wonderful. ear-wormish... Read more... |
Prom 44, Shani, Rotterdam Philharmonic review - impressive multi-tasking by conductor-pianistSaturday, 24 August 2024
Conducting a piano concerto and playing a piano concerto are normally two separate jobs. Not at last night’s Prom, where Lahav Shani did both – and not just in a breezy Mozart concerto, but the beast that is Prokofiev’s Third. It was quite the feat... Read more... |
Prom 40, St John Passion, Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki review - finesse and feelingWednesday, 21 August 2024
Bach’s St John Passion came into the world just three centuries ago, in Leipzig at Easter 1724. This year’s Proms shower of manna from musical heaven continued with a consummately polished, sensitive and – ultimately – very moving birthday... Read more... |
Prom 37, War Requiem, Clayton, Liverman, Romaniw, LSO, Pappano review - terror and tendernessMonday, 19 August 2024
This year’s Proms programme initially gave rise to some now-customary sneers about predictability, banality and dumbing down. Well, it all depends on where you sit, and what you hear. And my seats have witnessed one absolute humdinger after another... Read more... |
Prom 36, McGill, BBCSSO, New review - summery Shakespearean mummerySaturday, 17 August 2024
My three Proms so far this year have all featured regional BBC orchestras conducted by women, all excellent, and it surely reflects well on the Proms management that they have done so much to address this gender imbalance in recent years. In last... Read more... |
Prom 32, Gillam, BBCNOW, Venditti review - belated debuts and a dancing delightTuesday, 13 August 2024
This Prom by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Nil Venditti featured a first half of Welsh composers, including the belated Proms debut of Karl Jenkins at the age of 80. It’s a sign of how Proms programming has evolved over the last 30 years... Read more... |
Prom 31, Mutter, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Barenboim review - beauty against barbarismMonday, 12 August 2024
Founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra first performed at the Proms – to a rapturous welcome – in 2003. For two decades the visits, and the audience rapture, have continued, while the region of most WEDO... Read more... |
Prom 30, National Youth Orchestra, NYO Inspire, Bloch, Jackson review - sheer youthful joy, passion and precisionMonday, 12 August 2024
Let’s begin at the end. Can the Paris Olympics' closing ceremony offer anything as classy or joyous as 260 musicians aged 13 to 18 singing the French carol-plus-farandole finale of Bizet’s L'Arlésienne music?* This encore also made Proms history as... Read more... |
Prom 26, Feldmann, BBC Philharmonic, Bihlmaier review - two warhorses and a femmageFriday, 09 August 2024
This was my first Prom of the season – always an exciting moment, even in my fourth decade as an attendee. I was hearing the BBC Philharmonic under its newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor, the excellent Anja Bihlmaier, in a programme of two... Read more... |
