Jimmy López Bellido – Perú negro; Rachmaninov – Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Walton, Belshazzar’s Feast. Yuja Wang, piano; Thomas Hampson, baritone; BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä conductor
This was one of the first Proms to sell out – the attraction being mainly Yuja Wang, and also some interest around Klaus Makela as an emerging conducting star – and they are of course now a couple, which might influence a few more people to come along.
This was quite a concert by the ‘power couple’. Such was the enthusiasm to see Yuja Wang that a few people slept outside the RAH overnight to get a good position in the Arena standing queue. When I arrived shortly before 5pm after a board meeting of something I am involved with, there were about 150 people in the queue. By the time 7.30pm came the Arena was full, at about 1000, and the rest of the hall’s seat were taken. When the Proms is as packed as this it is a really special atmosphere, particularly standing in the arena…….
There were clearly some interesting thematic connections between the three pieces in the programme – two of them from the Jazz age and using jazzy rhythms and sounds; all of them with propulsive thematic material, very exciting to listen to, with large percussion sections inventively used, and generally big orcheatras
The Bellido piece was not quite what I was expecting – darker, more inventive and quite varied, with different motor rhythms pushing things forward. I though it slightly outstayed its welcome – it might have been cut by 5 minutes and been a tighter piece. However, it never lost my attention and was thoroughly worthwhile to listen to.
As I have said before on this site, I can’t always tell when a pianist is technically excellent or beyond excellent in the way they manage their fingers…… What I can tell is when a pianist is making every note count, is able to offer a very broad dynamic range, is able to phrase sensitively and make every line of the music ‘sing’. Beyond the hype and the flashy short dresses, whenever I hear Yuja Wang, she makes me listen to a work as though for the first time. This performance was quite wonderful – every bar line offering something new; the way she phrased the ‘big tune’ of variation ?18 was memorable, and the sparkle and delicacy of some of the slighter variations equally so. Klaus Makela and the BBCSO offered sharply defined accompaniment, rhythmically taut and revealing some orchestral lines I can’t remember so clearly before. Yuja Wang gave two encores – a piece by Rachmaninov (a kind of jokey polka), and Art Tatum’s version of ‘Tea for Two’ – the latter very drolly played. The audience went mad……but for once rightly so.
The Walton was also very well done indeed – it must be the best I’ve heard apart from the memorable performance by Andre Previn and the LSO in the 70’s. It was certainly better than the rather soggily sung, over-fast Halle version in Sheffield 14 months or so ago. The BBC Symphony Chorus sounded impressively strident (in a good sense) and very together. Klaus Makela led a performance that probably was only slightly slower than the dismal Sheffield experience but which was much better played by the orchestra, better articulated, better balanced, and more moving in the opening 10 minutes or so. It was interesting to see his conducting style in the Walton – he pays a lot of attention to what is happening in the orchestra and controls it closely – it was noticeable how often he signalled to the orchestra to emphasise a syncopation. The Albert Hall acoustics, as has often been said, are ideal for this sort of work and the Arena the best place to hear it from – the brass bands blazed, the percussion hammered but all was able to be encompassed and balanced. The dynamics were very well managed too – so the chorus really made an overwhelming impression in its final few minutes, with the driving rhythms underneath them. Perhaps Thomas Hampson is getting a bit old to perform such a work in this big a space – his voice had really quite a wobble at first. But he was excellent in his declamatory passages, with a highly effective projection of the words.
All in all, this must be a good candidate for one of my top ten concert candidates of the year. And on to more Rachmaninov and Walton on Sunday
John's musical journey 