Royal Albert Hall/Cadogan Hall
Prom 40 – Beethoven’s Ninth is one of those pieces of music that’s played every year, except when the hall catches fire. It’s quite a good choice to be an annual event as it’s not something you’re going to get tired of easily. Quite liked Stravinsky’s Orpheus too. Ilan Volkov conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the soloists were Rebecca Evans, Caitlin Hulcup, Anthony Dean Griffey and James Rutherford.
Prom 41 – This was the first of two Indian Proms. This one features Khyal and Kerala music. I thought the music sounded a bit the same, probably because I haven’t really heard any Indian music before. It was very interesting though, and I thought the singing was good. .
Prom 42 – This Prom was about the bollywood side of Indian music. The singer Shaan (a man) sang the whole of the concert, and he was joined by a female singer in the second half. I can’t remember her name, but she was a good singer, it was interesting to hear a soprano who wasn’t singing what I would cal classical music, in pop music they all tend to sing fairly low. Wasn’t so impressed with Shaan at first, but he explained he wasn’t well, this was obviously affecting his voice, but later on he sang a lot better.
Prom 43 – This one was an interesting mix, it started off with El amor brujo by Falla, this had a very Spanish feel that reminded me of Carmen. The next piece was quite a modern one, The Hague Hacking by Louis Andriessen, this was a world premiere, and it seemed to go down well with the audience. After the interval was Ravel’s Mother Goose ballet and Bolero, both were quite exciting, and you could imagine people dancing to it. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Prom 44 – This was another Russian Prom, there have been a few this year. I had trouble with Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, I think Barry should have reviewed this one! He probably knows about Hebrew Themes if any of us do. Leonid Kavakos then played Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 3 followed by Dvorak’s Symphony No.7 in D minor, which I quite enjoyed. Ivan Fischer conducted the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Prom 45 – There have been lots of Proms this year about quite unusual aspects of music. As well as the Indian Proms this week we were also given the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. I have heard the ukulele is quite easy to play, but I’m sure this is not true! It all sounded like fun though, and the ukulele players, which included several members of the audience, all played very well in a wide variety of songs.
Prom 46 – Another Russian Prom, this time played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Detlev Glanert’s world premiere, Shoreless River, sounded just like its title, and Rachmaninov’s Paganini themes were quite fun.
Prom 47 – This is one of not many Proms that were available to watch on TV. The entire Prom was Samson by Handel, it was good to find a piece I feel just slightly more comfortable reviewing! Susan Gritton and Iestyn Davies were brilliant as Dalila and Micah, and you almost forgot it was a concert performance, it was so dramatic. Lucy Crowe also sang really beautifully in about three different small roles.
Prom 48-49 –Daniel Barenboim conducted the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in both of these concerts, lots of music I found ‘difficult’, including Wagner, Berlioz and Berg. Daniel Baremboim’s son Michael played the violin. The performers did a good job, while I have no idea what to say about their playing, I did quite enjoy the concerts.
PCM5 – The young Welsh pianist Llyr Williams played Mendelssohn, J. S. Bach and Brahms. Sounded great and it was interesting to hear him interviewed. A geek with a Welsh accent – bet Sophie likes him!