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.