As the BBC Proms are in full swing at the Royal Albert Hall, The Arts Desk have been reviewing the biggest event on London’s classical music calendar.
Firstly, David Nice attended a vintage programme from the Hallé Orchestra and found himself unexpectedly at the edge of his seat during Sir Mark Elder’s first Sibelius offering, the ‘Scènes historiques’. In the next Sibelius piece however, Elder’s conducting became clunky and lacked a sense of theatre. With his seemingly effortless performances of Bartók and Schubert, classical pianist András Schiff however, kept the crowd spellbound.
Toronyi-Lalic feared the venue would drown out the Ravel, Debussy and Falla of that evening’s Prom. The issue was avoided entirely however by the BBC Philharmonic’s new conductor, Juanjo Mena who tried to hide it by reducing the orchestra’s sound in an attempt to hide from it. The macho swagger that this Prom was crying out for was missing, despite the sounds that Toronyi-Lalic could make out being tantalisingly alluring and interesting.
Sir Roger Norrington’s take on Mahler’s Ninth caused a few surprises. The conductor was in a playful mood as he led the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and demonstrating his adherence to historical authenticity, he banned all vibrato from the piece, creating an extraordinary intense effect.
Despite Verdi’s Requiem being perfectly suited to the Royal Albert Hall, as well as having a fantastic cast and three impressive amateur UK choirs, Toronyi-Lalic was left feeling baffled. He felt the piece was more theatrical these days, rather than profound and admitted his love for it was disappearing.
Finally Toronyi-Lalic believed he’d witness the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of classical music. A rather geriatric performance of the Brahms Double Concerto was heard in an earlier Prom. Every section of the orchestra was exposed however in the follow-up ‘Rite of Spring’, causing them all to step up a gear accordingly and make it remarkably fresh and transparent.