BBC Proms 2016: Prom 51 & 52 - São Paulo SO and São Paulo Jazz SO (Alsop)

24th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Prom 51

MARLOS NOBRE Kabbalah
GRIEG Piano Concerto
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 - prelude
RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances

Gabriela Montero (piano)
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)


Prom 52
A concert of Brazilian popular music

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
São Paulo Jazz Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)



So we have a post-Olympic heatwave in the UK, what do you do? Why don't we bring Brazil across. Proms darling Marin Alsop brings her São Paulo SO and Jazz SO over for two Proms back-to-back. What would happen when extravagant South American passion meets the chilled optimism of a Nordic piano concerto? The merits of the first Prom was best appreciated by looking at the second Prom, which was 1.5 h of high-octane big band jazz - the only slow number was the Jobim bossa nova. This was what Leonard Bernstein would call "total embrace" in music, and must be experienced live. You got to see nearly 100 musicians on stage giving their hearts and soul, singing and dancing, to the music of their homeland which were predominantly sumptuous mixtures of intoxicating rhythms, big colourful tunes and lush harmonies - there must be an infectious groove somewhere. In spirit, this was what they brought to the first Prom, which was by no means a top-class performance by conventional standards - in fact, the brass was particularly average throughout, and Alsop missed the orchestral entrance by a quaver in III of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" twice, messing up an entire section. It was a quirky and temperamental rendition by the Venezuelan Gabriela Montero (pictured), who would switch from some uncalled for elegant ballroom-dancing-like lilts in I to a torrential onslaught in III. There was something very laid-back about it, on top of a subtle underlying groove. It was exactly the same case in the Rachmaninov "Symphonic Dances", which I don't think anyone else took the waltz so literally as they did. It had a nice swing to it, if in a lethargic way. The bombastic minimalism of Marlos Nobre's "Kabbalah" was unnecessary, but it got blood pumping for the next 4.5 h. The highlight for me was the exquisite Prelude from Villa-Lobos' fourth "Bachianas Brasileiras", and you'd wonder why they didn't perform his symphonies instead, which they have recorded so brilliantly for Naxos. I still have reservations towards Alsop as a conductor, but the passion and dedication the performers demonstrated were radiant, and you just have to love them.