Royal Albert Hall/Cadogan Hall
London’s season of Promenade Concerts has long been, for me, a matter of eager anticipation. It offers the opportunity not only to see some of the greatest singers and musicians, but also the chance to hear an extraordinarily wide range of composers. It is not limited to what might be considered ‘classical’ music: the first week, the week which I am about to review now, included a very enjoyable evening Prom (Prom 3) from Stan Tracey and his Orchestra, an extremely lively performance of what I would consider jazz. Neither is the music restricted to our own culture – without the Proms, my small knowledge of music would be more limited yet.
This review of Week 1 of the Proms will, we hope, be the first in a series with sees each member of the Primi Divi review a week’s worth of concerts. Additionally, we will be attempting to do so using a word limit of around 6-700 words, which, I am informed, will be roughly equivalent to whatever we can fit on one page of the word processing programme, Word.
As an admirer of early music in particular, Week One of the Proms was highly promising, featuring not only operas by Handel and Purcell, but also (in Prom 2) a performance of the slightly later Creation by Haydn, performed by the Chetham’s Chamber Choir and the Gabrieli Consort and Players, led by Paul McCreesh. Mr McCreesh presided over a most wonderful performance which was not only extraordinarily beautiful, but it was full of excitement, giving a strong impression of the wonder of the creation of the world.
The six soloists, including the unnamed contralto soloist from the Chetham’s Chamber Choir, were each ideally suited to their roles, offering not only a thrilling musical interpretation, but also telling the story delightfully. Rosemary Joshua, who sang the role of Babriel, and Sophie Bevan, replacing Sarah Tynan as Eve, gave a particularly strong performance, and I would add furthermore that surely no-one would realise from Miss Bevan’s mature performance that she has entered upon her musical career only recently.
Handel’s Partenope (Prom 4) was the first opera of the Proms, and it was a welcome opportunity to hear again an opera which had received what seemed to me a rather disorientatingly extraordinary treatment by Christian Curnyn at English National Opera earlier this season, but had nevertheless been absolutely outstanding musically.
Most happily, the Proms performance, with conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen, was quite the ENO production’s musical equal. Inger Dam-Jensen was a surprisingly likeable Partenope, whilst Andreas Scholl sang Arsace’s arias as he sings his recitals, conveying such an extraordinary amount with every note he sang. The power of his performance could have been something of a distraction from the story, but Mr Scholl’s musicianship served to make his character all the more intriguing.
Glyndebourne Festival Opera appeared in (Prom 7), performing Purcell’s Fairy Queen – in a rather different performance from English National Opera’s very successful and enjoyable production of about seven years ago. The opera was devised to accompany a shortened version of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and this is exactly how it was performed at this concert. Actors performed Shakespeare’s words, with Purcell’s music as musical interludes between the scenes.
It was most interesting to see the work so performed, and it really was a highly enjoyable concert. My only slight reservation with this type of performance is that it was a play with music rather than an opera, with the actors very much the ‘stars’. This marks something of a departure from Glyndebourne’s aims. However, having said this, it is a most enjoyable departure – Susannah Wise was a delightfully spirited Hermia, whilst Desmond Barritt’s Bottom, eager and excitable rather than overbearing, rather reminded this member of the (radio) audience of the greatest Papagenos. The singers were also excellent, with the soprano Lucy Crowe and the tenor Ed Lyon (who not very long ago sang Lysander in Britten’s version of the play) particularly memorable.
Another concert which gave me initial doubt for concern was the performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross together with James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross in Prom 6. Haydn’s work is undoubtedly very fine and although I have heard and enjoyed MacMillan’s version, I was worried it might be found lacking in comparison, as well as, in a manner of speaking, performing the same work twice.
But as usual, I was worrying over nothing. Both works are intense and very moving, and, as I should have borne in mind, there are many and varied ways of expressing the same emotion through music. MacMillan’s music was an intriguing composite of musical styles including plainsong and folk music, with the addition of a distinctively contemporary element. Douglas Boyd conducted both works, with Elizabeth Watts, Renata Pokupic, James Gilchrist and Darren Jeffery as the soloists.
As I have already written more than the allocated page, I sadly cannot do justice to everything, but the first week of the Proms also included Andrew Calderwood and the Cardinall’s Musick, celebrating the anniversary of Henry VIII’s coronation (Proms Chamber Music 1); a stirring performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Bernard Haitink (Prom 5); a most interesting concert of music and performers associated with Cambridge University, which, remarkably, celebrates its 800th anniversary this year (Prom 8); an examination of eastern and western music by the half-German, half-Japanese conductor, Jun Markl (Prom 10) – and, in Prom 9, Leon McCawley, a former winner of the piano section of the Young Musician of the Year competition, gave not only an astounding performance of Gerald Finzi’s Grand Fantasia and Toccata, but also giving an absorbing and eloquent spoken introduction to the work.
Barry Tone