Prom 30: Innovation, fantasy and Old Testament excess

By John Johnston, 09 August 2017

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“The National Youth Choir of Great Britain... surmounted the orchestral barrage with assured attack”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 7 August 2017

Beethoven, Symphony no. 1 in C major, Op.21

Strauss R., Die Frau ohne Schatten: Symphonic fantasy

Prokofiev, Seven, They Are Seven, Op.30

Walton, Belshazzar's Feast

David Butt Philip, Tenor

James Rutherford, Bass

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Kirill Karabits, Conductor

Ning Feng’s Korngold is not quite a “Hollywood hit” in Poole

David Truslove, 26th November

Sian Edwards takes the helm of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Britten, Korngold and Dvořák, with mixed results.

***11

A Prom of two halves: Mark Wigglesworth and the Bournemouth SO

Leighton Jones, 20th July

The BSO play a trio of 20th-century greats — Ravel and Shostakovich both taking inspiration from the age of jazz, while Walton’s First Symphony provides contrast.

***11

Die Fledermaus at The Grange: Cabaret meets G&S

David Karlin, 20th June

A fine singing cast gives creditable performances in Johann Stauss II's most famous operetta, but Paul Curran's updating of Act 2 to 1930s Berlin takes the fizz out of the Champagne.

***11

Alena Baeva delivers transcendent Berg at The Anvil

David Truslove, 25th January

Polished playing and inspirational performances in Basingstoke that underline the exciting relationship between Mark Wigglesworth and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

*****

The Rake's Progress at The Grange: richly entertaining

David Karlin, 23rd June

Singing performances are excellent, the staging is well crafted and Stravinsky's eclectic score entertains from start to finish. But it's an evening's opera that doesn't touch the soul.

****1

Voices from the East: a musical marathon with a gripping finish

Peter Quantrill, 19th May

Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra present a day of composers from the former Soviet republics with heroic skill and stamina.

****1

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John Johnston

John Johnston was a contributor to Bachtrack 2017-19. John was a true gentleman and lifelong opera "nut" who frequently travelled across Europe to catch performances, making regular pilgrimages to the Bayreuth Festival among others. His supreme knowledge and appreciation of voices meant he took to reviewing like the proverbial duck to water. We enjoyed his style and his insatiable appetite for catching rare operas and new productions wherever he could.

Prom 30: Innovation, fantasy and Old Testament excess from Bournemouth