Prom 56: Knussen conducts Knussen

By Madelaine Jones, 27 August 2012

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Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 25 August 2012

Goehr, Metamorphosis / Dance

Knussen, Symphony no. 3

Grime, Night Songs (BBC commission, world première)

Debussy, Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (The Martyrdom of St Sebastien)

Claire Booth, Soprano

Polly May, Mezzo-soprano

Clare McCaldin, Mezzo-soprano

New London Chamber Choir

BBC National Chorus of Wales

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Oliver Knussen, Conductor

Sakari Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 26th March

Yeol Eum Son’s Britten Piano Concerto formed the evening’s centre of gravity, played with lucid line, structural command and sudden fire. In Brahms’ Second Symphony, Sakari Oramo found conviction, proportion and a warmth that felt earned rather than applied.

****1

Sakari Oramo and Yeol Eum Son summon up vivid landscapes

Christopher Woodley, 13th March

Yeol Eum Son's superb performances of Bartók and Finzi are matched by intense and heady readings of Stravinsky and Weir by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo.

****1

From snow to sludge: Icelandic music at the Barbican Centre

Marat Ingeldeev, 22nd February

A bewildering evening at the Barbican, where ambitious Icelandic programming collapses under its lofty ambition of defying genres and making music more appealing to a wide variety of audiences.

**111

Fine Lindberg and Stravinsky double bill from the BBC Symphony

Roy Westbrook, 6th February

After a performance of Magnus Lindberg’s First Violin Concerto by Lisa Batiashvili at the Barbican, Stravinsky’s Perséphone stands the test of time.

****1

UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth impresses on scale, not substance

Susannah Moody, 23rd January

Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.

**111

Sir James MacMillan delights with his Christmas Oratorio

David Karlin, 19th December

MacMillan's large scale choral work offers a rich variety of texts and musical ideas, the composer conducts the BBC Symphony with unerring precision.

*****

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Madelaine Jones

Madelaine is a pianist and writer studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. As a winner of the Gladys Puttick Improvisation Competition as part of a dance-piano duo, she has an active interest in cross-arts collaboration. Visit here to find out more.