Spectacular Walton makes for a confident start to the 2015 Proms

By Katy Wright, 20 July 2015

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“the suite is characterised by perfumed modal ideas, insistant cellular repetition... sparse textures”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 17 July 2015

Nielsen, Maskarade Overture

Carpenter, Dadaville (BBC commission World Première)

Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K466

Sibelius, Belsazars gästabud (Belshazzar's Feast), suite for orchestra, Op.51

Walton, Belshazzar's Feast

Lars Vogt, Piano

Christopher Maltman, Baritone

BBC Singers

BBC National Chorus of Wales

BBC Symphony Chorus

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Sakari Oramo, Conductor

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Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.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

*****

Ermonela Jaho gives a tragic twist to Puccini's La rondine

Peter Quantrill, 5th December

A new edition of Puccini's score springs to life in a meticulously prepared Opera Rara concert performance at the Barbican.

****1

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Katy Wright

As News Editor at Rhinegold, Katy contributes news pieces and longer features to publications including Classical Music, Music Teacher and International Piano (both digital and print editions). She writes on a freelance basis for publications including Sinfini Music and TEMPO.

Prom 1: Spectacular Walton makes for a confident start to the 2015 season