Music that eats into you: Schoenberg and Zemlinsky at the BBC Proms

Ryan Bancroft conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

By Alexander Hall, 23 July 2024

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“Bancroft... has a particular gift for allowing big expansive scores to unfold majestically”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 22 July 2024

Schoenberg, Pelleas und Melisande, Op.5

Zemlinsky, Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid), symphonic fantasia after Hans Christian Andersen

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Ryan Bancroft, Conductor

Nail-biting Shostakovich from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Dominic Lowe, 15th August

Before a searing performance of Shostakovich's Thirteenth from Ryan Bancroft and his Welsh forces, Benjamin Grosvenor delivers a terrific performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.

****1

Bancroft and BBCNOW at the Proms: a deeply satisfying Mahler 3

David Karlin, 11th August

Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales provide a Mahler 3 of exceptional clarity and forward momentum, with terrific posthorn solos from Corey Morris and Beth Taylor an outstanding soloist.

****1

Exciting Bacewicz and Lutosławski from Tadaaki Otaka and the BBC NOW

Nick Boston, 30th July

Strong performances of Bacewicz and Lutosławski in Tadaaki Otaka's final outing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Proms, with technically commanding and sincere Rachmaninov from Vadym Kholodenko.

***11

Nil Venditti impresses in BBC Proms debut

Christopher Woodley, 12th August

Beethoven and Sir Karl Jenkins receive top-notch performances from Nil Venditti and the BBC NOW.

****1

A choral treat to savour: Verdi’s Requiem at the BBC Proms

David Karlin, 23rd July

An outstanding choral performance by nearly 300 singers of the BBC National Chorus of Wales and the Crouch End Festival Chorus lights up Verdi’s hybrid of opera and devotional music.

*****

Playfulness and horror: Beethoven and Shostakovich in Cardiff

Simon Cummings, 11th February

Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales give an extraordinary, terrifying account of Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony, preceded by a Classical-Romantic tussle in Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.

*****

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.

Music that eats into you: Schoenberg and Zemlinsky with Ryan Bancroft and BBC NOW at the Proms