In his 150th anniversary year, there’s going to be a lot of Sergei Rachmaninov at the BBC Proms this summer: all three symphonies, three of the piano concertos, the Paganini Rhapsody and The Bells. The great pianist-composer never played at the Proms himself, but he did perform at the Royal Albert Hall, playing his Second Piano Concerto in October 1938, joining the audience for the second half during which the world premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music moved him to tears.
Sir Stephen Hough has often performed Rachmaninov at the Proms – the Paganini Rhapsody four times, plus three of the concertos (although never the Fourth, the one that most needs its champions). This was the third time Hough had played the First Piano Concerto here, joined this time by the BBC Philharmonic and conductor Mark Wigglesworth.
Hough’s Rachmaninov is crisp and unfussy, often informed by the composer’s own swift tempi when he recorded the concertos in Philadelphia. After a stoic brass fanfare, the opening movement initially felt unhurried by its Vivace marking, but Hough launched the cadenza demonstratively, a heady cocktail of defiance and ardent yearning. The sense of wistful remembrance in the Andante benefited from the pianist’s delicate touch, while the debonair finale, taken at a lively speed, saw solo and orchestral interplay beautifully dovetailed, Wigglesworth drawing sweetness from the violins. The Allegro ma non tanto section (where the triangle makes its entrance) felt over-cautious, but the coda rattled along merrily to raise the rafters, before Hough calmed the pulse with Anton Rubinstein’s charming Mélodie in F major as his encore.
The Prom had opened in the depths of night with the premiere of Grace-Evangeline Mason’s well-crafted Ablaze the Moon, inspired by the poem Tonight by Sara Teasdale. Apart from lush string writing and an undulating flute motif, there was something of a sinister feel to this particular nocturnal scene, sand blocks, fierce timpani and swooping trombones making their presence felt.
Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony opens with the first rays of dawn banishing the night. The BBC Philharmonic’s dawn was amiably depicted, its birdsong led by sparky flute and the clarinet’s insistent cuckoo calls. Wigglesworth coaxed bucolic fun and lightness from the theme Mahler recycled from his song Ging heut' Morgen über's Feld, building a fine sense of drama in the development until the movement’s joyous recapitulation.
The second movement’s Ländler was taken very fast, almost a caricature, its boisterous dance punctuated by snappy col legnos. Wigglesworth’s extreme tempo heightened the contrast with the Trio section, which had a mannered, exaggerated feel, violins leaning into portamentos. Trumpet vibrato heightened the sense of parody in the klezmer band section of the third movement, interrupting a funeral march that was kept moving with a sense of purpose.
Wigglesworth allowed the brass to relish Mahler’s barnstorming finale, but he also highlighted the movement’s darker moments such as the violas testy interruptions. The symphony’s optimistic coda never fails to raise the spirits though, the excellent BBC Phil horn section standing for their closing fanfare, the rafters duly rattled again.
