Balloons, Lang Lang and Jerusalem: it must be The Last Night of the Proms

By David Karlin, 11 September 2011

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Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 10 September 2011

Davies, Musica benevolens (Musicians Benevolent Fund commission: world premiere)

Bartók, The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Suite

Wagner, Götterdämmerung: Brünnhilde's Immolation

Liszt, Piano Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, S 124

Chopin, Grande Polonaise Brillante in E flat major for piano and orchestra, Op.22

Grainger, Mo Nighean Dubh (My Dark-Haired Maiden)

Britten, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op.34

Rodgers, The Sound of Music: Climb every mountain (arr. Jackson)

Rodgers, Carousel: You'll never walk alone

Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1 in D Major, Op.39 (Land of Hope and Glory)

Arne, Rule, Britannia!

Parry, Jerusalem (orch. Elgar)

Traditional, The British National Anthem

Lang Lang, Piano

Susan Bullock, Soprano

BBC Symphony Chorus

BBC Symphony Orchestra

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Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.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

David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. You can contact him from this link.