Partygoers, pomp and Paddington Bear

By Rohan Shotton, 13 September 2016

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“that king of all end-of-term parties”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 10 September 2016

Harrold, Raze (BBC commission: world premiere)

Butterworth, The Banks of Green Willow

Borodin, Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances

Rossini, La Cenerentola (Cinderella): "Si, ritrovarla io giuro!"

Donizetti, L'elisir d'amore: Una furtiva lagrima

Offenbach, La Belle Hélène: Au mont Ida, trois Déesses

Britten, Matinées musicales for orchestra (after Gioacchino Rossini), Op.24

Dove, Our revels now are ended

Vaughan Williams, Serenade to Music

Donizetti, La Fille du régiment: Ah! mes amis

Unknown, Latin American Medley

Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major (‘Land of Hope and Glory’)

Wood, Fantasia on British Sea Songs

Arne, Rule, Britannia! (arr. Sargent)

Parry, Jerusalem (orch. Elgar )

Unknown, The National Anthem (arr. Britten)

Traditional, Auld Lang Syne

Juan Diego Flórez, Tenor

Francesca Chiejina, Soprano

Eve Daniell, Soprano

Lauren Fagan, Soprano

Alison Rose, Soprano

Claire Barnett-Jones, Mezzo-soprano

Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Mezzo-soprano

Anna Harvey, Mezzo-soprano

Katie Stevenson, Mezzo-soprano

Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, Tenor

Oliver Johnston, Tenor

Joshua Owen Mills, Tenor

James Way, Tenor

Bragi Jónsson, Bass

Benjamin Lewis, Bass

James Newby, Bass

Bradley Travis, Baritone

BBC Proms Youth Ensemble

BBC Singers

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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Rohan Shotton

Rohan has reviewed concerts and opera across the UK and Europe, but chiefly in Manchester, where he enjoys conducting and playing percussion and piano. He works as a hospital doctor, having studied in St Andrews and Manchester, and tweets as @RohanShotton.

Prom 75: Partygoers, pomp and Paddington Bear