John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have been flavour of the month for some time now and this BBC Proms concert certainly confirmed why this is so. A programme of colourful American music showcased their many strengths.
The concert opened with the UK premiere of a short fanfare-like piece by Wynton Marsalis called Herald, Holler and Hallelujah. Pulling together many elements of American 20th-century music, it was an appropriately entertaining prelude to the programme that followed. Written for brass and percussion it was performed here with a swagger.
Aaron Copland’s Wild West ballet Billy the Kid’ was one of the works that identified the composer as ‘American’, moving him away from the European influences from earlier in his career. It is a moving tale of a about a romanticised figure from frontier history who lived hard and died young. Folk material and cowboy songs are woven neatly into the score with clarity and Stravinsky-like precision. Wilson found real purity of tone in his performance of the suite from the score, atmospheric in the opening depiction of the open prairie and crisply rhythmic elsewhere. Moving quickly into the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, the strings of the Sinfonia of London displayed their translucent beauty of tone. This was a performance that avoided the sentimental and, by its restraint, emphasised the emotion.
Gershwin’s evergreen Rhapsody in Blue was given a refreshingly detailed account. Steven Osborne tackled the solo part not in the manner of a sub-Rachmaninov warhorse, but rather the elder brother of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major. He was refreshingly clear and precise in the rapid passages and sensitive in the big tune middle section. In his hands the piece took on more stature and less schmaltz. As you’d expect the contribution of the orchestra was first rate and lively. A charming Duke Ellingtion encore by Osborne was a fitting end to the first half of the concert.
Charles Ives The Unanswered Question reopened proceedings with the strings and trumpet in the gallery and the four flutes on the stage. The impact of this mysterious fragment was greatly enhanced by this theatrical arrangement and successfully changed the tone of programme, paving the way for John Adams' Harmonielehre. A symphony in all but name, it has become the composer's most performed extend orchestral work. It has huge power and excitement and a straightforward seriousness that is sometimes missing from Adams' work. Wilson’s interpretation emphasised the intricacy of the shifting textures and securely mastered the rhythmic drive. The SoL answered every demand that was put upon it with impressive virtuosity. They appeared to be positively enjoying the challenges of the score, secure under the direction of Wilson, in a way that other longer established bands sometimes struggle to achieve. The climax found a level of intensity that I have rarely experienced in a concert hall.
Leroy Anderson's charming Fiddle-Faddle encore somehow seemed tame after the glories of the music-making that had preceded it.
