Prom 75: DiDonato and Alsop dazzle at the Last Night

By Julia Savage, 11 September 2013

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Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 7 September 2013

Clyne, Masquerade (BBC commission, world première)

Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act 1

Bernstein, Chichester Psalms

Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending

Britten, The Building of the House for chorus or organ or brass and orchestra, Op.79

Massenet, Chérubin: Je suis gris! je suis ivre!

Handel, Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40: Frondi tenere

Handel, Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40: Ombra mai fù

Rossini, La donna del lago: Tanti affetti in tal momento!

Bernstein, Candide: Overture

Bernstein, Candide: Make our Garden Grow

Verdi, Nabucco: Va Pensiero, chorus of the Hebrew slaves

Arlen, Film music from Wizard of Oz: Over the Rainbow

Monti, Czardas

Traditional, Londonderry Air

Rodgers, Carousel: You'll never walk alone

Bantock, Sea Reivers

Lloyd, HMS Trinidad March (UK première of this version)

Arne, Rule, Britannia!

Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1 in D Major, Op.39

Parry, Jerusalem (orch. Elgar)

Traditional, The British National Anthem (arr. Britten)

Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-soprano

Nigel Kennedy, Violin

BBC Symphony Chorus

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Marin Alsop, Conductor

Iestyn Davies, Countertenor

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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Julia Savage

Julia works behind the scenes at Westminster Abbey as a PA. Outside of her job, she sings with a variety of ensembles in London and further afield, and undertakes freelance editorial and writing projects – from concert programmes to tasting notes.