BBC Proms 2016: Prom 11 - Tippett: A Child of Our Time (BBC NOW / Wigglesworth)

23rd July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

WAGNER Die Walkure - final scene
TIPPETT A Child of Our Time

Tamara Wilson (soprano)
Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano)
Peter Hoare (tenor)
James Creswell (bass)
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Mark Wigglesworth (conductor)



I first encountered Tippett's "A Child of Our Time" around the time when we had to do pre-WWII Germany history for GCSE at school. For me, at the age of 15, learning about the suffering of the Jews and the atrocity of the worst side of humanity were nothing more than academic work and storytelling because they were too distant and irrelevant. So Tippett's oratorio that is inspired by the event of "Kristallnacht" - the German retaliation on the Jews after a German diplomat was murdered by a teenage refugee abroad - hit me as a work that is merely crowd-pleasing with some cheap incorporation of Deep South American Spirituals, and the idea of "universal love" is too clichéd. The last two weeks alone, we witnessed a failed coup in Turkey, the subsequent governmental purge of educators, and numerous terrorist attacks. In preparation of tonight's Prom in this context, and that I have appreciated other Tippett works since then, I have come to look at "A Child of Our Time" with a different light. Humanity has not changed since 1940s, but neither has love - it should not have. Light and darkness form completeness and through hope and optimism we can contain evil - that is the concluding passage of his own libretto. It is clichéd because we say it too often, but does that make it less true? This is Tippett at his most accessible and lyrical, perhaps deliberately so. The BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales under Mark Wigglesworth gave a solid performance, providing great buoyancy for Tippett's cascading syncopations and the choir was very well rehearsed - the Spirituals were very groovy and the accusation scenes were very punchy. The soloists were a bit uneven and the tenor was not very audible. However, the overall performance was very moving. I don't know my Wagner so I won't comment on the "Die Walküre" first half.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 7 - Stravinsky: "Pulcinella" Suite; Poulenc: Stabat mater (BBC SO / Minkowski)

20th July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

FAURE Shylock
STRAVINSKY "Pulcinella" Suite
POULENC Stabat mater

Julie Fuchs (soprano)
Julien Behr (tenor)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Marc Minkowski (conductor)



This is a Prom of many wonders. The BBC SO enlisted the French baroque opera specialist Marc Minkowski for tonight's concert. If one has heard his recordings, particularly his groundbreaking if academically controversial compilation of Rameau's orchestral works, one has to be in awe with the fresh air he breathes into these stereotypically light and frivolous works. He adds much gravitas, shades and hues to the works by much carefully nuanced and balanced ensemble playing, often accentuating the elegant dance rhythms by putting a lot of focus on the lower register instruments. The end result is that you get a very full-bodied, sumptuous sound in a very transparent texture, which is often very energetic and invigorating too. This is exactly what you get in the first half of the programme. I don't think I have ever enjoyed any Fauré as much as tonight's "Shylock", where every opaque inner writing comes alive so vividly that you feel like you are living in a painting, with gorgeous melodies soaring above his hallmark arpeggios. Then we sharp turned to the most electrifying rendition of Stravinsky's "'Pulcinella' Suite" I have ever heard in my concert-going experience. The ripieno section in this de facto concerto grosso is just as breathtaking as the concertino, and the winds and brass were wild from beginning to end. After the interval, oddly enough, we had one of the most serious works by the two-faced composer Poulenc. Orchestral involvement is pretty minimal in this practically a capella "Stabat mater". Poulenc's homophonic writing could sound feeble and ineffective in his instrumental works (e.g. the "Piano Concerto"), but this heavy emphasis of chordal suspension and subtle harmonic shifts, and the constant battle between the concordant and discordant, generate this inexplicable mystery and charm in his choral works. It is by no means a masterwork in terms of innovation, but it hits the deepest corner of your emotional and spiritual existence. It is safe to say this is the single most beautiful concert I have been to in recent memory, both of the music, and the various human approaches to the central themes of mercy and forgiveness in the three works.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 1 - Elgar: Cello Concerto; Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (Gabetta / BBC SO / Oramo)

15th July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

TCHAIKOVSKY Overture "Romeo and Juliet"
ELGAR Cello Concerto
PROKOFIEV Alexander Nevsky

Sol Gabetta (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)



Here we go again. We actually mixed up the starting time and missed the France national anthem tribute and the Tchaikovsky "'Romeo and Juliet' Overture". Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta then took the stage and performed Elgar's evergreen "Cello Concerto". If you paid serious attention, the execution was incredibly elegant and refined, and the orchestral part was no less graceful. However, it was the classic RAH acoustic problem again, where nuances just disappeared into the ether without doing justice to the music nor the performance, and the end result sounded like the performance lacked emotional depth. Compared to, say, Alisa Weilerstein, it was perhaps a less weighty take on this Concerto, but it had some fabulous refreshing lyricism to it. It was quite enjoyable, if very frustrating. The Pēteris Vasks encore was astonishing. It called for much extended techniques on the cello and the eerie Latvian sound world pierced through the atmosphere seamlessly, and Gabetta even sang along as she played. The second half was 40 minutes of film-music-turned-cantata "Alexander Nevsky" by Prokofiev. It is not performed very often for very good reasons: musical material minimal, there is almost no substantial development, the music is completely linear, relentless and tedious. For what was worth, the performance was quite good, with some fantastic playing from the BBC SO under Sakari Oramo. Sadly, it is not a piece that can be saved by outstanding performance, but we must give credits to the respective and respectable parties.

Classical Masters of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan

14th July, 2016
Wigmore Hall, London, United Kingdom

Sirojiddin Juraev (dutar, tanbur, sato)
Alim Qasimov Ensemble
Alim Qasimov (vocals, daf)
Fargana Qasimova (vocals, daf)
Rafael Asgarov (balaban)
Rauf Islamov (kamancha)
Zaki Valiyev (tar)
Javidan Nabiyev (naghara)



Last night before the Proms: To set up the mood for a season of rather uninspiring programmes of the Proms, I was invited (read: forcibly dragged) to a concert of Uzbek and Azerbaijani classical music at the Wigmore Hall. I am not going to pretend I understand anything so I won't "review" it. However, it is interesting to note that coming from a Western classical perspective and with a reasonable amount of exposure to traditional Eastern cultures, going into the Central Asian sonic world of microtones and overtones is a rather unique experience. Sure, one would not enjoy this music in the same way as, say, a Shostakovich symphony, but these music are organic, raw and spontaneous. These cultures pass on their tradition and musical practices orally and they have nurtured some highly personal musicality that you would also find in, say, jazz. There are fascinating moments of polyphony where you simultaneously get a colourful melody, a dynamic rhythmic drive (the "bass line") and a percussive sound from a single plucked instrument which is essentially a long piece of wood with two silk strings (the dutar), all the more impressive with some dazzling virtuosity (that is comparable to, say, the Ysaye sonatas on the violin). I do not understand a single word of singing in the Azerbaijani language, but one can get a sense of the wide range of emotions and timbres from the vocal deliveries, ranging from the meditative, the festive to the downright ridiculous. Appreciating these "exotic" cultures does require one to remove expectations, avoid conforming to existing tastes and lots of patience, but it is a great reminder that no musical expression is necessarily more valid than others. It was standing ovation throughout, surely it hit the right chord amongst the informed minds.